Accelerate academic transitions, extend navigational supports and serve as career bridges are three principal recommendations of a new resource guide focused on aligning the K-12 system and community colleges for student success.
Released by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and Education Strategy Group (ESG), the report “Aligning for Student Success: How Community Colleges Work with K-12 to Improve College and Career Outcomes” comes at a time when more than 40 states have incorporated college- and career-focused measures into their K-12 accountability systems and institutions are increasingly partnering with industries to prepare students for the workforce.
“Community colleges have been providing workforce education for decades,” said AACC president and CEO Dr. Walter G. Bumphus. “Now, more than ever, they are working to align educational and training programs for students with the needs of local business and industry. Those efforts are a bridge between students, education and jobs and are critical to ensuring that Americans are able to meet the needs of the 21st Century global workforce.”
Matt Gandal, founder and president of ESG, added that ACCT, AACC and ESG came together to develop the report to assist community college leaders in working collaboratively with K-12 school systems to boost enrollment and implement high-impact strategies that close college preparation gaps and increase student success.
Community college and K-12 leaders can first begin to align their efforts by providing opportunities for K-12 students to accelerate their learning through early postsecondary opportunities like dual enrollment, or to catch up to a college-ready level through senior-year transition courses, the guide said.
Because two-year institutions serve a “substantial majority” of first-generation students, low-income students and underrepresented undergraduates, institutions must prioritize putting students into the appropriate courses relative to their academic and career goals and help put them “on a path toward persistence and completion,” the report said.
Suggestions to make these efforts actionable include chairing a joint process between high school and postsecondary faculty to develop high school transition courses; using data to identify gaps in dual enrollment participation and build complementary student support services in addition to postsecondary opportunities; enacting a holistic process for placement purposes; and hosting ongoing community discussions with K-12 districts to develop a shared understanding of college readiness and success.
