Due to the decrease in public funding, community colleges are in a position where they need to generate private gifts. Alumni represent the largest untapped pool of prospective donors, and the success of alumni giving at 4-year institutions illustrates the potential that exists for community colleges. To develop effective fundraising strategies,…

This article features The SPARK Center, a program of Boston Medical Center, located in Mattapan, Massachusetts. The Center has pioneered a whole-child approach to address the multi-dimensional needs of Boston's most at-risk children, recognizing that vulnerable children need more than educational supports to flourish. The Center's integrated model…

The number of women under community-based criminal justice supervision in the U.S. has reached an all-time high. Because of this, there is an increased need for programs meant to address the unique needs of reentry women. In this article we examine a sample of 155 such programs to determine whether currently available reentry programs in the 10…

Driven by economic and educational imperatives, public policymakers, higher education leaders, and philanthropic and advocacy groups are mobilizing aggressive national and state campaigns to bolster college completion. Campaigns to improve student success are particularly concerned about the performance of the nation's community colleges. In…

Driven by economic and educational imperatives, public policymakers, higher education leaders, and philanthropic and advocacy groups are mobilizing aggressive national and state campaigns to bolster college completion. Campaigns to improve student success are particularly concerned about the performance of the nation's community colleges. In…

Strapped for cash, a Massachusetts high school creates its own venture capital fund to incentivize teachers to create programs that improve student learning. The result has been higher test scores and higher job satisfaction. One important program is credited with helping close the achievement gap at the school, while others have helped ambitious…

In the article, "Completion Agenda for Baby Boomers", Moltz highlights how community colleges are currently implementing programs, such as the American Association of Community Colleges' Plus 50 Completion strategy, to encourage older learners to return to America's college campuses. The effects of the recent recession and the…

Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plans to launch an online-only MBA program this July. The school has forged a unique partnership with 2tor, a for-profit company led by John Katzman, the same person who founded "The Princeton Review." Katzman has become an educational reformer of sorts.…

Thanks to its dedicated teachers and committed students, Massachusetts leads the nation in student achievement and classroom innovation. Massachusetts has made education its top priority because it's the path to a more fulfilling life, a more rewarding career and a richer society. The author has personally experienced the transformative power of…

This article introduces the Citizen Scholars Program, a 2-year service-learning and leadership development program that integrates theory and practice to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and vision the authors believe they need in order to build community, be effective citizens, and advocate for social justice. The authors present 16…

Through "teacher research", teachers engage in the systematic study of their own practice to answer questions they have about teaching and learning, and their own effectiveness. This book explores what teacher research in the early childhood setting looks like, why it is important to the field of early childhood education, and how…

Given financial barriers facing community college students today, and workforce projections in science, technical, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, the costs of unnecessary delays while navigating transfer pathways are high. In this phenomenological study, we analyzed the delay experiences of 172 students (65% female) navigating community…

One of every two children in the world lives in poverty, with no access to safe water, health services or adequate shelter to the extent that 25,000 children die every day. Thirty-seven million Americans, thirteen million of whom are children, live below the poverty level. Of the developed world, despite our wealth and sophistication, the United…

Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) provides opportunities for institutions of higher education to achieve their goals of educating students, advancing teaching and scholarship, and meeting real needs of under-resourced communities and nonprofit organizations. By providing successful examples of campus and community partnership, this…

Teaching, in the 21st century is a complex vocation that necessitates high quality professional development to fortify and sustain it. As a core profession, and a critical representative of change in contemporary society, it is apparent that leaving no child behind also entails leaving no teacher behind (Stoll & Seashore-Louis, Eds, 2007).…