The national demand for social justice, racial equality, and criminal justice reform rightfully and painfully continues to sweep the consciousness of this nation. Community colleges were founded on educational excellence, opportunity, and access and should reflect principles of equity, justice, and community. This mission calls upon us, the most…

In this final chapter, we reflected on the collective works presented in this volume by a diverse group of community college scholars and leaders. Through this reflection, we share how this scholarship sought to operationalize and enhance the definitions of equity-driven and social justice-oriented leadership in community colleges. After…

Increasingly, community colleges recognize the need to center transformational change on equity. This chapter presents findings from a multi-site qualitative case study on how community college presidents and chancellors can keep equity at the forefront of the transformational change process. The three community college presidents and chancellors…

Community colleges struggle with enrollment and student success challenges to enhance student experiences and improve completion through various initiatives. Despite efforts, many lack long-term sustainability efforts, leaving colleges seeking solutions. The Guided Pathways framework leverages a college's existing practices and restructures…

As a result of California Assembly Bill 705(AB705, 2017) and California Assembly Bill 1705 (AB1705, 2021), most 1st-year students will enroll directly into transfer level math and/or English courses (Baca, 2021; Lopez, 2022; Melguizo et al., 2022; Sims, 2020). Students once placed into remedial coursework before enrolling in transfer level…

Objective: Community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs are expanding across the nation, particularly in California--home of the largest and most ethnically/racially diverse community college system in the nation. CCB programs provide many benefits, two of which include providing an accessible and affordable pathway towards baccalaureate…

Equity in action starts with a leader's critical consciousness in relation to their identities, ideologies, and positionalities. In this essay, the following factors: ideologies, identities, and positionalities are explained and emphasized as they are essential factors that impact equity work. Leaders who center equity must explore their own…

Multilingual English learners (MELs) represent 10.4% of P-12 students and are the fastest-growing group of students in the United States. Another quickly growing student population are those dual enrolled (DE) in high schools and community colleges. DE increased 7% annually between 2002 and 2011, and increased by 11.5% from fall 2021 to fall 2022…

Research has shown upwards of 40% of adult learners entering community college may need developmental education intervention in reading and writing skills. Of those who enroll in developmental education, a large portion will never receive college-level credit and will leave the community college. This research investigated a compressed reading and…

In response to policy and accountability mandates requiring California community colleges (CCCs) to address disparities in student outcomes, CCCs must adapt to evolving frameworks, funding structures, and parameters (e.g., definitions, equity populations, and metrics). Recent guidance has focused on race-conscious and equity-minded approaches.…

Community colleges play a vital role in providing access to higher educational opportunities for their communities. College completion rates for community colleges, however, have been historically low and few students graduate within a two-year timeframe. Disaggregating these data also reveals significant equity gaps in these outcomes for many…

Building from Freire's ideas of liberatory education in the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," Carter G. Woodson's "The Mis-Education of the Negro," and Frantz Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth," we outline a new and audacious approach in this chapter, in hopes that it will better position a more transformative and…

As community colleges create or enhance their online learning programs, campus leaders must find ways to make these experiences equitable for all students, so that everyone has a fair chance at success. Colleges are using a wide array of innovative strategies to do this. These methods include designing online courses with inclusion in mind,…

Foster youth graduate from college at lower rates than their nonfoster youth peers. Only 10% of foster youth graduate with an associate degree, and less than 3% graduate with a bachelor's degree (Courtney et al., 2011), and there is a significant achievement gap between foster youth and nonfoster youth students (Emerson & Bassett, 2010; Hussar…

The reasons for success and well-being, and therefore of inequality, are numerous. A large number of systemic factors influence who succeeds or fails, who is healthy or sick. These factors, many of which are hard to understand or measure, interact in important and surprising ways. In contrast, humans tend to choose simple explanations of the…