This report is the result of the participation of hundreds of students, families, school educators, and researchers who dedicated their time and energy to investigating the critical role that families and communities play in ensuring students and schools can flourish. It is a culmination of over two years of collaborative research and hundreds of…

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to explore community college graduate lived experience as it relates to retention and persistence. Data was collected from 15 California community college graduates from multiple community colleges who earned an associate's degree and were 18 years of age or older. Collecting participant data provided…

This study aimed to understand why and how community college practitioners act for institutional change in support of undocumented students--drawing on concepts from the tempered radicals framework. I used qualitative inquiry and exploratory interviews to understand how community college practitioners make meaning of the changes they have been…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) involve a process of collaboration, focus on student data and best instructional practices, and serve as a way for all students can receive an equitable education. Many schools implementing PLCs considered the term a noun, not a verb, leading to an inequitable education for high school students across…

California Community Colleges (CCC) served over 20,000 Justice-Impacted Individuals (JII) between 2021 and 2023, and the California State University (CSU) system saw a 280% growth in the number of justice-impacted students participating in their PRb program pursuing graduate studies between 2018 and 2021. (CCC Chancellor's Office--Data Mart, n.d.;…

Effective communication about science is a core skill undergraduates should learn, but little research has explored how students communicate about culturally controversial science topics. In this study, we explored how Black undergraduate science students took on the role of science communicators in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

The primary purpose of this paper is to emphasize and reiterate the centrality of the faculty role in tutoring and learning centers, where peer-to-peer, discipline-specific collaborative learning is the primary objective. This paper provides a breadth of content for practitioners in the field and also assists those seeking to understand the unique…

Longstanding inequities exist in community colleges across the United States. To address these inequities, California Community Colleges educators have engaged in a variety of practices including the writing of equity plans and participation in equity data inquiry. However, there is an urgent need for greater focus on racial equity and for more…

Discourses about educators in continuation high school suggest that many of them are forced or pushed out to work in this educational sector by their school districts as a form of punishment. Yet, whether this still holds truth requires an examination of the experiences of educators in continuation high schools. This phenomenological study…

There is a need for Vietnamese language education for the Vietnamese American community in the United States, and the Vietnamese Language Program at Westminster High School (WHS) in Orange County, California, has been able to preserve the Vietnamese language. Students in the program also learn about their heritage and culture to stay connected to…

To realize California public education's vision of fostering an environmentally literate citizenry, students will require a strong foundation in environmental education, especially during their elementary years. Yet, many students are not exposed to the foundational knowledge and authentic experiential learning necessary to develop environmental…

Few things can impact the success of students at community colleges more than budget and planning. Faculty must therefore have a basic comprehension of budget processes and of faculty roles in them. This paper aims to serve various purposes. It provides a primer on how the system-wide budgeting process works prior to colleges receiving monies from…

A focus on faculty professional learning, given the challenges that California community colleges and students face, must remain a high priority and continue to evolve. The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) has long been an advocate for the development of robust professional development policies as part of senate purview…

In California, approximately 47,000 students live in foster care (in 2018-19, around 0.7% of the student population). The reasons for entry into foster care are multiple, complex, and often intertwined with the social and environmental challenges associated with poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the social and environmental…

Part of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) research series titled "Time Matters: Teacher Collaboration for Learning and Leading," this cross-case study and accompanying research brief were gathered as part of a larger study of four public schools across the United States that organized teacher time and work…