Change is a constant both in life and on the typical community college campus. Two-year institutions are constantly adjusting to demographic transitions, workforce needs and the ever-shifting requirements of underserved enrollees. Flexibility around service may also call for internal change. Some community colleges have rebranded their names--a…

In 2019, MDRC launched the Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS) project to improve college completion rates for traditionally underserved students, such as students from low-income backgrounds and students of color, at community and broad-access colleges (those that have open or minimally selective admissions…

A recent independent evaluation by WestEd of Learning Forward's What Matters Now Network looked at the ways in which a structured, facilitated network provided support for state-level coalitions working with districts, schools, and educators to improve instruction and make progress toward achieving content standards. The network was facilitated by…

Historically, community college enrollment is impacted by the economy--the better the economy, the less students seek a community college education. The enrollment at Marion Technical College (MTC) in Florida generally has followed this trend. Prior to COVID-19, the economy in the United States was seeing unprecedented growth and, thus, MTC's…

This manuscript discusses those challenges unique to community college dual-enrollment programs during the COVID-19 pandemic by highlighting the experiences of the senior leadership team of the College Credit Plus (CCP) program at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. With 69 different high schools offering Sinclair courses, the CCP office…

With enrollment down, competition increasing from company training and university associate degree programs, and people's perceptions of community colleges still lagging the robust reality of what they have to offer. Community colleges need to tell their own stories so that others do not do for them. Community colleges are often a misunderstood,…

Approximately 450 community colleges nationally are part of formal statewide or national initiatives to implement guided pathways reforms to improve student success, and many other colleges are implementing guided pathways practices on their own. Because guided pathways is a whole-college reform--and because it takes several years to fully…

As an Ohio-based (U.S.) French instructor and francophile, I explored Ontario (Canada) in search of Franco-Ontarian communities. Eager to understand their position within larger anglophone-dominant spheres -- positions that are unique from neighboring Francophone communities of Quebec--I traveled to such communities. An international border…

Each August, prior to going back to school, all school-age students and their parents in the southeast Ohio community served by the Gallia County Health Department have an opportunity to visit the county health fair. This program, which draws 350 to 400 people each year, is a collaborative effort of the county health department, job and family…

Investments in professional development have been more important than ever for community colleges this past year against the backdrop of the pandemic and all that it has changed. While some colleges are facing declining enrollments and less in the way of state funding, they are stretching every professional development dollar they can get their…

Leadership in infant and early childhood mental health must take into consideration issues of diversity, historical context, power dynamics, and difference in worldview and experiences. This article describes the importance of equitable and effective partnerships with rural/remote, underserved, and Indigenous communities in the United States and…

In rural Appalachian communities of southeast Ohio, where generational poverty is high, communities and schools worked together to both create meaningful learning experiences and ensure that basic needs were met before students started the school year. Families of students who attended Summer Advantage--a 21-day summer school program for…

The Gallia-Vinton Educational Service Center (ESC) in Ohio, USA, gained some valuable understanding about school and family collaboration through its Treasure Your Family (TYF) program. In partnership with Gallia County Job and Family Services, Gallia County Commissioners, Gallia County Local Schools, and Gallipolis City Schools, the ESC created a…

Retaining people no longer credited toward college completion--a group known in academic parlance as "stop outs"--is a core concern among administrators seeking to remove barriers to education. Preventing stop outs from becoming stay outs means re-enrolling students beset by debt, or targeting vulnerable demos close to graduation.…

This chapter describes how Clark State Community College used its TAACCCT grant in manufacturing to help drive organizational changes in the college to better serve local workforce needs.