As a result of systemic barriers, undocumented immigrants are more likely to enroll in community colleges and to enter these institutions with higher prior academic achievement than their peers. I explore the potential spillover benefits of this hyperselection on other students using data from a large community college system and two…

Community-academic partnerships are believed to increase the effectiveness and feasibility of action research. While factors facilitating and hindering community-academic partnerships have been identified, their influence on the collaborative process is unknown, especially during community-academic partnership initiation and development. This…

This qualitative research study sought to help community colleges aid math faculty in making a transformation in their teaching practices. The research questions were: (a) What did it take for faculty to change their teaching style from traditional lecture-based instruction to one that incorporates low-stakes collaborative practice, just-in-time…

Since the late 1960s, the enrollment of African American students in higher education has steadily increased. Furthermore, the community college system and specifically the California community college system has seen the highest rise in the enrollment of African American students. Despite the rise in their numbers, African American male students…

This paper explores Latino male community college students' perceptions of their course-related interactions with faculty at a Hispanic Serving Institution in California. Using a Critical Race Theory in Education framework, we qualitatively examine the ways in which race and racism shape students' descriptions of these interactions and the extent…

Youth development programs often provide young people with science learning experiences. We argue for reframing youth science learning from a focus on individual scientific literacy to an emphasis on collective scientific literacy--"community science"--to support young people in using science to address issues in their lives and…

This qualitative case study examined how California Community College Presidents (CCCPs) make meaning of leading a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) to evaluate how CCCPs respond to Latinx student success gaps and support initiatives at their campuses. Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) have been more visible within community college…

Community colleges hold a central piece in law enforcement training. Their curricula often based on mandates from state law enforcement boards. They had been gradually increasing their focus of these training programs on issues related to diversity, equity and racial profiling. This spotlight has led to changes (or potential changes) in areas like…

A growing number of states are launching community school initiatives to ensure family and community engagement, provide enriched and expanded learning, and offer integrated supports for students. Several states are providing technical assistance to support the high-quality implementation of community schools, either through the state education…

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…

Inquiry-based course experiences provide a scalable and equitable way to engage students in research. In this study, we describe how we introduced inquiry-based experiences to ten lower-division and upper-division courses across the biology curriculum at a regionally comprehensive public university serving the diverse population in a major…

Community college students represent a large percentage of U.S. undergraduates. In California, most of these students are low-income Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. However, despite the size of this student population, the mental health challenges these students face, and a need for alternatives to current campus mental health services,…

This qualitative case study delved into professional development's influence on job satisfaction among classified staff in California's community colleges. The study examined a convenience sample of 20 full-time classified staff who had worked for at least 1 year at a community college in California and had participated in a professional…

Editor's note: In assembling this issue, I sought to compile compelling stories of arts education cuts and the responses of local communities. I invited National Council on the Arts member Dr. Bruce Carter to share such a story. The following article begins with Carter's narrativized account of informal research on the arts partnership in the…

California Community Colleges are not producing enough educated graduates to meet future workforce needs; to address the issue, goals and initiatives have been developed in an effort to increase completion (Foundation for California Community Colleges, 2017). In this study, the Clark and Estes (2008) gap analytic framework was used to understand…