The U.S. Department of Education hosted last year regional community college summits, following a White House Summit on Community Colleges in 2010, to provide research and receive input on community college issues. Panelists presented preliminary research related to secondary-postsecondary alignment, partnerships with employers, and other issues. This month, the Department has released the results of this research and a report summarizing the conversations that took place during the summits.
The summary report, Scaling the Community College Summits, provides comments and suggestions from the combined 800 attendees of the summits. Recommendations from participants include:
- Increasing public recognition on the value of Career Technical Education (CTE), career-oriented education, and community colleges
- Improving access to financial aid for students in CTE certificate programs in which courses last less than a standard semester
- Using rigorous programs of study to involve students in programs mapped to careers, as is done in CTE programs, to further engage business and industry
Researchers also presented draft papers at the summits on strategies to increase student retention and college completion. The final reports are now available, and they include additions made after the summits. The reports include:
- Promoting College and Career Readiness: Bridge Programs for Low-Skill Adults
- Aligning Secondary and Postsecondary Education: Experiences from CTE
- Integrating Industry-Driven Competencies in Education and Training through Employer Engagement
The Department will convene several webinars in the upcoming months to highlight each report in greater detail, and we will provide this schedule when it becomes available. To provide feedback, please e-mail communitycollegecorner@ed.gov.
Kara Herbertson, Education Policy Analyst
Tags: community colleges