James Jacobs discusses how strengthening the relationship between guided pathways reforms and career-technical education can improve both, as colleges refocus their programs on skills that are valued in the current job market.

CCRC offers its congratulations to Diana Cruz, Hana Lahr, Florence Xiaotao Ran, and Susha Roy, all of whom worked at CCRC during their graduate studies.

Elisabeth Barnett describes the Faculty Persistence Project at Oakton Community College in Illinois, the goal of which is to improve student persistence through the use of a faculty/student engagement protocol.

Guided pathways reforms are now far enough along in a growing number of colleges that researchers can begin to examine more deeply their effects on student outcomes, as well as the institutional practices that best support these reforms. Davis Jenkins lays out the next set of questions for researchers as they seek to build the evidence base around guided pathways.

The League’s Innovations Conference in National Harbor, MD, which ran from March 18–21, gave our researchers a chance to update community college faculty and staff on several projects CCRC has been working on, and to explain interim findings that might give some answers to the common problems colleges face.