A Historical Mission in the Accountability Era (original) (raw)
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Broken Mirrors: Black Student Representation at Public State Colleges and Universities
2019
As tax-exempt, taxpayer-supported entities, U.S. public colleges and universities should advance the public interest by ensuring all U.S. residents-regardless of race or ethnicity-have an opportunity to earn a college education. The idea that public institutions should reflect the demographics of the population has been a longstanding proposition of The Education Trust 1 and is grounded in the belief that a more racially and ethnically representative public higher education system can help reduce the racial and ethnic inequities that exist in this country. Public institutions are particularly critical because they enroll nearly 75 percent of the country's undergraduates and produce nearly 70 percent of undergraduate degree earners. Moreover, compared to for-profit and nonprofit colleges and universities, publics are able to offer a more affordable path to a college education, thanks to taxpayer support from states. With these factors in mind, it is imperative that we scrutinize the racial and ethnic composition of our public colleges and universities. It is particularly important that we pay close attention to the college enrollment and completion data for Latinos, as they are the second largest racial and ethnic group in the country but have the lowest college attainment among the nation's major racial and ethnic groups. 2 As our economy becomes more reliant on a college-educated workforce, 3 failure to improve college attainment for Latinos will threaten the nation's economic security and competitiveness. Change will require addressing a broken immigration system, racism in our P-12 schools and institutions of higher education, and the racial and ethnic biases that permeate our society (e.g., criminal justice, housing, etc.). While Latinos are not a monolithic group, and factors-such as age, language, cultural background, race, 4 and citizenship status-may complicate efforts to expand effective pathways to a college degree for Latinos, both native-and foreign-born, higher education leaders must do more to advance Latino success.
2017
Social equity, often understood to be the third pillar of public administration, relies on the values of fairness and equality in the delivery of public services. Nevertheless, these are intangible features that are often more difficult to measure than efficiency and effectiveness. The higher education system in the U.S. is an ideal area to examine the equitable delivery of a public service, especially given its importance in a knowledge economy and the persistent race gap in education access and achievement. Therefore, this study looks at the use of performance information by administrators of men of color initiatives in U.S. colleges and universities as a way to address equity concerns and outcomes. This study began by using a qualitative research design consisting of semi-structured interviews in the first phase, followed by a quantitative research design consisting of a survey in the second phase. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data in the first phase, followed by exploratory factor analysis and bivariate correlation in the second phase of data analysis. Men of color diversity programs were stratified into Ivy League institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), university systems, community colleges, and senior colleges. There were six senior college administrators, three community college administrators, four HBCU administrators, one Ivy League administrator, and one university system administrator interviewed, resulting in a total of 15 administrators. Once the initial qualitative phase of the data collection was completed, an online survey was developed based in part on the interview findings, and sent to a list of 140 men of color initiative administrators nationwide. The response rate for the survey was 45%. The quantitative results provide unique and original data on the program design, number of students participating, structural/institutional barriers, and outcomes of men of color initiatives across the US. Interestingly, the results from the qualitative phase of the study indicates that equity is not generally measured, exposure to informal mentoring shaped how administrators designed their programs, representativeness is critical to ensuring diversity, and institutional commitment is necessary for men of color initiatives to succeed. While the results from the quantitative phase confirms these findings, it also emphasizes that mentoring is the most widely used service or activity for men of color initiatives, retention rates, and graduation rates are the two most widely collected data points; equity, efficiency, and effectiveness outcomes can co-exist without tension. Overall, this study has provided deeper insight into the challenges of including equity into the practice of performance measurement and management.
Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, 2011
The Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy is a student-run publication that facilitates informed public policy decision-making processes by providing innovative analyses of and solutions to the problems facing the African American community. We are currently accepting submissions for Volume XVIII to be published in spring 2012. Manuscripts are accepted from all policy areas, academic disciplines, and related organizations. In addition to articles, the journal welcomes essays, lectures, speeches, community-based initiative profiles, symposia, position papers, interviews, and book reviews. The journal seeks innovative and solution-oriented strategies that address the relationship between policy making and the political, social, and economic environments affecting African Americans at local, state, and national levels in the United States. The deadline for submission is December 10, 2011. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES To be eligible for the editorial review: • Articles must be original and unpublished. • Articles should be 5 to 30 double-spaced pages. • Articles should be formatted in any version of Microsoft Word. • References and endnotes should be formatted according to the guidelines and author-date system of the Chicago
2021
The world's leading research center on student access and success in higher education, the Pullias Center for Higher Education advances innovative, scalable solutions to improve college outcomes for underserved students and to enhance the performance of postsecondary institutions. The Pullias Center is located within the USC Rossier School of Education, one of the world's premier centers for graduate study in urban education. Since 1995, the mission of the Pullias Center for Higher Education is to bring a multidisciplinary perspective to complex social, political, and economic issues in higher education. Our work is devoted to the key issues of college access, retention, and accountability for underserved students-and the effectiveness of the colleges and universities that serve them. Both directly
In this article we introduce and explain a funding framework for advancing an equity agenda at the community college. The need for the framework is premised on (a) Dowd's observation that the traditional community college commitment to student access no longer suffices as an adequate strategy to achieve greater equity in society and (b) the recognition that community colleges are becoming more entrepreneurial as a result of challenges posed by privatization, state performance accountability systems, and marketization. A new approach to advancing equity is needed in this environment. We propose a funding framework that reflects lessons learned from a review of funding systems used in English further education systems and community college systems in Colorado and California.
Policy implementation as a tool for advancing equity in community college
Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2021
This special issue examines the role of policy implementation in the community college context and the ways reforms are enacted to achieve or advance educational equity. In this introduction, we provide an overview of policy implementation, its current landscape within higher education, and the role it can and must serve for community colleges as a tool to advance equity efforts. The articles in this special issue provide a well-rounded overview of policy implementation efforts across various states and institutions. Authors examine promise programs, equity initiatives, articulation agreements, federally funded support programs, and race-conscious implementation. The community college context serves as a critical site of inquiry given that almost half of the undergraduate population is enrolled at a community college. Therefore, the following articles explore how to leverage policy implementation as a tool toward more equitable outcomes.