Overcoming Educational Racism in the Community College: Creating Pathways to Success for Minority and Impoverished Student Populations

Overall, nearly half of all incoming community college students “drop-out” within twelve months of enrolling, with students of color and the economically disadvantaged faring far worse. Given the high proportion of underserved students these colleges enroll, the detrimental impact on their communities, and for the national economy as a whole at a time of diversifying demographics, is enormous.

This book addresses this urgent issue by bringing together nationally recognized researchers whose work throws light on the structural and systemic causes of student attrition, as well as college presidents and leaders who have successfully implemented strategies to improve student outcomes.

The book is divided into five sections, each devoted to a demographic group: African Americans, Native Americans/American Indians, Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Caucasian students in poverty. Each section in turn comprises three chapters, the first providing an up-to-date summary of research findings about barriers and attainments pertaining to the corresponding population, the second the views of a community college president, and the final chapter offering a range of models and best practices for achieving student success.

The analyses--descriptions of cutting edge programs--and recommendations for action will commend this volume to everyone concerned about equity and completion rates in the community college sector, from presidents and senior administrators through faculty and student affairs leaders. For educational researchers, it fills blanks on data about attrition and persistence patterns of minority students attending community colleges.

Contributors
Kenneth Atwater
Glennda M. Bivens
Edward Bush
Cara Crowley
Maria Harper-Marinick
Joan B. Holmes
G. Edward Hughes
Lee Lambert
Cynthia Lindquist, Ta’Sunka Wicahpi Win (Star Horse Woman)
Angela Long
Russell Lowery-Hart
Jamillah Moore
Christopher M. Mullin
Brian Murphy
Eduardo J. Padrón
Deborah A. Santiago
Wei Song
Robert Teranishi
Rowena M. Tomaneng
James Utterback
J. Luke Wood

Angela Long is an educational researcher, educator, and author who currently serves as an independent consultant in higher education, as well as co-editor of the “Innovative Ideas for Community Colleges” national book series through Stylus Publishing.

She has participated in three White House summit meetings on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and has shared her findings before participants at the Achieving the Dream national conference, Florida Association of Community Colleges, U.S. Department of Education, the White House Summit Meeting on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in Miami, FL, the Consortium for Student Retention and Data Exchange, the American Association of Community Colleges, and the Florida Council of Student Affairs to name a few. In 2011, she worked with student leaders to found the Pathways to Persistence Scholars program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. She has experience teaching and working in the K-College setting and collaborates with leaders across the nation to publish groundbreaking data and retention metrics for at-risk student populations attending community colleges..

Walter G. Bumphus is President and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges. From 2007 to January 1, 2011, Dr. Bumphus served as a professor in the Community College Leadership Program and as chair of the Department of Educational Administration at the University of Texas at Austin. He also held the A. M. Aikin Regents Endowed Chair in Junior and Community College Education Leadership. He previously served as president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) from 2001 to 2007. LCTCS later conferred upon him the title of President Emeritus of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. From November 2000 to September 2001 he was chancellor of Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC). Prior to joining BRCC, Dr. Bumphus worked in the corporate world serving as President of the Higher Education Division of Voyager Expanded Learning. Six years prior, he served as president of Brookhaven College in Dallas County Community College District.