Promoting High-Quality Distance Education: A Case Study of the Los Angeles Community College District

Wednesday, May 8, 2 PM ET/ 11 AM PT | Webinar
ARCC Project: Online Education in Los Angeles

In this session, researchers from the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California will share practical takeaways from an ongoing mixed methods research study focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on student enrollment and success, as well as faculty and student experiences in distance education courses. They will be joined by community college educators from Los Angeles. Gain valuable insights into adapting teaching methodologies, supporting student success, and prioritizing faculty well-being in the face of ongoing challenges. Presenters include Wendy Bass, distance education coordinator at Los Angeles Pierce College; Elise Swanson, senior research manager at Center for Education Policy Research; Soumya Mishra, postdoctoral research associate at Pullias Center for Higher Education; and Jessica Drawbond, distance education coordinator at Los Angeles Community College District.

Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Practice: Community Colleges’ Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds

Sunday, April 14, 1:15–2:245 PM | 2024 AERA Annual Meeting
ARCC Project: Spending of Federal Recovery Funds

This symposium session presented a comprehensive review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on community colleges and their subsequent recovery efforts. Presenters shed light on specific recovery efforts including the use of Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds at community colleges, responses to sweeping declines in community college enrollment, and impacts on economic opportunities and transfer pathways that community college students rely on to more affordably obtain bachelor’s degrees. Through an interactive panel discussion, participants engaged in discussion about pandemic recovery efforts and needs, leaving with valuable insights into ways to address racial/ethnic disparities at community colleges and steps to guide policymakers and practitioners in crafting effective strategies for equitable student success. The presenters included Tia Monahan, senior research assistant and PEAR fellow at CCRC, and Hollie Daniels, research associate at CCRC.

Wages and Community College Enrollment Since Covid: Evidence From California

March 16, 2024, 10 AM EST | AEFP Annual Conference
ARCC Project: Online Education in Los Angeles

Enrollment at community colleges declined substantially with the onset of COVID and has remained depressed; these declines have been particularly pronounced among students above 25. Fewer students pursuing post-secondary education is consequential for those students, their communities, and the broader economy, as well as the viability of institutions that rely on enrollment. Yet it remains unclear why the drop-off in enrollment persisted after the initial public health shock of the virus, especially among students aged 25 and up. Prior work has shown the important relationship between labor market conditions and community college enrollments; in this paper, we investigate whether student sensitivity to labor market conditions changed with the onset of the pandemic in ways that explain the enrollment losses. In this presentation, Harvard Graduate School of Education PhD candidate Anthony Bald shared estimated sensitivity (elasticity) of community college enrollment to wages among adults aged 25 and older with a high school diploma or GED using statewide data from California. Possible changes in these elasticities since the onset of COVID may help explain why two-year public college enrollments have not recovered.

Funding Recovery: Exploring Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds at Community Colleges

Thursday, March 7, 2:00–3:00 PM ET | Webinar
ARCC Project: Spending of Federal Recovery Funds

In this webinar, researchers from the Community College Research Center present findings from the Accelerating Recovery in Community Colleges (ARCC) Network’s analysis of Higher Education Emergency Relief funds at U.S. community colleges. The webinar includes an overview of the amount of funds awarded to community colleges, insight into how much funding was spent, and a preview of an interactive dashboard for exploring pandemic relief funding. The presenters are Hollie Daniels, research associate at CCRC, Tia Monahan, senior research assistant and PEAR Fellow at CCRC, and Megan Anderson, project assistant at CCRC.

Slides | Recording

Aligning CTE Programs to Local Labor Markets: Access to High-Value Opportunities & Economic Mobility

Tuesday, February 20, 12:15–12:45 PM ET | DREAM 2024 Annual Conference
ARCC Project: Florida Career and Tech Education

In this session, WestEd presents data from a statewide research study of Florida colleges’ practices aligning CTE programming to labor market demand. The results describe how colleges develop, offer, and update market-aligned CTE programs of study. Valencia College provides a deep dive into the institution’s successful strategies and how it addressed challenges. This session examines issues of access and mobility and highlights the importance of data empowerment and community connectedness. The presenters include Angela Estacion, senior research associate at WestEd, Nasser Hedayat, assistant vice president of career & workforce education at Valencia College, and Molly McIntire, assistant vice president of career & workforce education at Valencia College.

Instructional Strategies to Support Student Success in Distance Education Courses

Tuesday, February 20, 11:30 AM EST | DREAM 2024 Annual Conference
ARCC Project: Online Education in Los Angeles

A critical question for community colleges is how to ensure distance education courses offer high-quality learning opportunities and promote student success. The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), one of the largest community college systems in the country, has been wrestling with this as distance education modalities become more prevalent- and popular among students. This session offers insights from LACCD into the prevalence of distance education courses, challenges for faculty teaching distance education, and promising instructional strategies to support students in distance education courses. The presenters are Wendy Bass-Keer, distance education coordinator at Pierce College in LACCD, and Elise Swanson, senior research manager at the Center for Education Policy Research, Harvard University.

Resilience in Recovery: Campus Innovations for Student Re-engagement and Success

November 18, 2023, 8 AM PST | Community College League of California 2023 Annual Convention

As California Community Colleges remake themselves in a new context few imagined before March 2020, many of their pandemic-era adaptations are here to stay. This presentation features CEO reflections on institutional agility and findings from a Wheelhouse and PPIC research partnership revealing powerful innovation underway statewide. The presenters are Tammeil Gilkerson of Evergreen Valley College, Michal Kurlaender of Wheelhouse, Olga Rodriguez of PPIC, and Angelica Suarez of Orange Coast College.

Success Coaching at Community Colleges: Early Findings from Two Experimental Pilots

October 6, 2023, 4 PM EST | 2023 NACADA Annual Conference

The Coaching Project is a grant-funded effort by TBR—The College System of Tennessee to increase credit accumulation and persistence for community college students through a new model of success coaching. Coaches provide enhanced advising to their assigned students, including frequent text and email outreach, helping students set goals, counseling students about major selection and career alignment, and connecting students to resources. In this session, we will provide background on the project, describe the coaching intervention and its experimental design, and share early results from the first year of the Coaching Project.

Pandemic Impact on Community College Students and Their Pathways to a Baccalaureate: Latest Updates for Fall 2022

June 29, 2023, 2 PM EDT | ARCC Network Webinar

Based on the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s Transfer and Progress fall 2022 report, this webinar will offer the latest updates on transfer and mobility for community college students and highlight disparities in transfer patterns among student subgroups as well as gaps in access to transfer pathways across different types of community colleges.

Slides | Guiding Questions

Developing and Testing a Career and Technical Education Survey for Sub-baccalaureate Institutions

April 22, 2023 | Council for Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) Conference

Angela Estacion, Cameron Sublett, Jenna Terrell, and Diana Roldan-Rueda from WestEd will discuss the development of a survey of CTE administrators in Florida’s community and district technical colleges. The survey explores how sub-baccalaureate institutions align their CTE programs to the labor market.