Reports & Articles 

03/01/2015: Community Colleges' Role as MSIs Expanding, by Jamal Eric Watson, Diverse - Although they often operate at the margins, nearly 22 percent of the nation's community colleges are minority-serving institutions and are responsible for enrolling about 55 percent of college-going minorities, according to a new report released by the Center for Minority Servings Institutions at the University of Pennsylvania.

02/26/2015: Day of Protest, by Colleen Flaherty and Kaitlin Mulhere, Inside Higher Ed - It started as a simple question on social media: What would happen if adjuncts across the country walked out on the same day, at the same time? That question got answered Wednesday - sort of - on the first-ever National Adjunct Walkout Day.

02/20/2015: College, Technical Training Key to Success After High School Graduation, by Stuart Hirsch, Center For Digital Education - Three in five employers foresee hiring more four-year college graduates, and about half plan to hire more two-year college, or technical school graduates, according to a recent report.

02/19/2015: Georgia Bill Would Lower Tuition, Increase College Access For Undocumented Students, by Daniel Funke, USA TODAY, College - In Georgia , undocumented individuals are not permitted to attend large, competitive public universities like the University of Georgia (UGA) or Georgia Tech. They can instead apply to colleges that have spots left after their regular applicant pool has been chosen.

02/17/2015: Why We Need to Smash Up the Concept of the Achievement Gap in Tiny Little Pieces, by Andre Perry, The Washington Monthly, College Guide - Outcomes for male collegians of color are lagging because postsecondary leaders aren't held accountable for changing them.

02/16/2015: Who Are the Curmudgeons?, by Terry O'Banion, Community College Week - Curmudgeons are well represented in every kind of American institution-religious organizations, government, corporations, foundations, hospitals, unions, etc. They are particularly visible in the world of education, which may provide a fertile crucible for the production of curmudgeons. A recent study on curmudgeons in community colleges - the first of its kind - tells us who they are.

02/13/2015: Libraries in the Digital Age? Yes, They're Still Crucial, by Jackie Jadrnak, Center For Digital Education - A panel in New Mexico helped open eyes to the many roles already filled by libraries - a reality, panel members said, that many policy-makers sadly are not that familiar with.

02/2015: Transformative Change Initiative (TCI), Office of Community College Research and Leadership, UI at Urbana-Champaign - The Transformative Change Initiative (TCI) is dedicated to assisting community colleges to scale-up innovations that improve student outcomes and program, organization, and system performance. TCI defines transformative change as follows: Raising the individual, organizational, and system performance of community colleges to unprecedented levels without sacrificing their historic commitment to access and equity.

02/2015: Governors' Top Education Issues: 2015 State of the State Addresses, by Stephanie Aragon and Julie Rowland, ECS Education Trends - Eleven governors promised funding to develop or expand preschool and kindergarten opportunities, especially for low-income families. Governors show particular interest in expanding access to full-day kindergarten and improving the overall quality of early learning programs.  

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Reports & Articles

03/2015: Improving Online Instruction: A Case Study, League For Innovation - In fall 2009, the Chattanooga State Community College math department faced a problem not uncommon to colleges around the nation: Online course offerings had high failure rates and were not a quality experience for students.

02/24/2014: You Can Now Get College Credit Without Ever Taking a Class, by Matt Krupnick, Time - Critics fear that in the rush to compete for students by promising them credits for experience, some colleges and universities will make getting competency-based credits too easy. Accreditors are still scrambling to set up standards for the practice. And a new study by the American Enterprise Institute raises other questions that remain unresolved, including how students will earn credit in this way, how much they will be charged for it and whether they will really save money over the long term.

To view our entire Online Education section, click here.

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Reports & Articles

02/17/2015: Comprehensive College Readiness Series: Why Does College Readiness Matter?, by Julie Sweitzer,  College and Career Readiness and Success Center - It is increasingly evident that, in the 21st century global economy, completion of a postsecondary credential or degree is the best path to a middle- or upper-class income and standard of living (Goldin & Katz, 2008; Haskins, 2008). In fact, a recent estimate states that, by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs in the United States will require some form of postsecondary education and training (Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010).

02/2015: College Preparation for African American Students: Gaps in the High School Educational Experience, by Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant, CLASP -  One of the biggest challenges that must be addressed through college and career readiness reform is the grave disparity in preparation for certain racial and ethnic sub-groups, as well as low-income and first-generation college students. In particular, African American students are far less likely to be ready for college, with those in high-poverty schools being the least prepared (ACT, 2013).

To view our entire College Readiness section, click here.

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Reports & Articles

02/27/2015: Nursing - Supply and Demand Through 2020, by Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith and Artem Gulish, Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce - The end of the Great Recession will signal more nursing shortages. Many of the earlier cases supporting the existence of nursing shortages preceded the Great Recession, and the trends will likely reassert themselves after the recovery reaches full employment, which is projected for 2017.

02/19/2015: 6 Ways the Great Recession Changed Hiring, by Kazim Ladimeji, Recruiter - Employers have likely noticed that more and more resumes contain employment gaps in the post-recession world. This is not surprising, due to the high levels of unemployment experienced during the recession. It's probably also quite worrying for the job applicants who have to present their battle-scarred resumes, which contain a few too many gaps in employment. Still, the fact remains: resumes with gaps are a post-recession reality that employers and candidates must deal with.

02/18/2015: U.S. Millennials Come Up Short in Global Skills Study, by Sarah D. Sparks, Center For Digital Education - The analysis specifically highlights that the skills gap goes beyond young people who are typically seen as more "at-risk," like immigrants and high school dropouts.

02/2015: Making Skills Everyone's Business, U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education - The Department of Education (ED) asked the OECD to perform additional analyses of the U.S. data to provide a more detailed understanding of the low-skilled population and suggest policy recommendations. The resulting report, Time for the U.S. to Reskill?,1 found that 36 million adults in the United States have low skills, scoring below Level 2 on the literacy assessment.  

To view our entire Workforce Development section, click here.