Achieving the Dream
<Link to the Initiative>
Initiative Description
Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count is a national initiative aimed to increase the success of community college students, particularly those in groups that have been underserved in higher education. This initiative targets students who traditionally have faced the most significant barriers to success, such as low-income students and minority student populations. Achieving the Dream works to create changes in specific institutional practices at participating colleges; advocate state public policies in support of community colleges; research effective practices at community colleges; and outreach to communities, business, and the public. Participating colleges examine student data to identify contributing factors that impede student success and develop plans to improve instruction and services.
Partners
Implementers
In 2004, twenty-seven community colleges in five states joined in this initiative. In 2007, the initiative expanded to eighty-three colleges in fifteen states. Currently, seventeen states are participating, they include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. To view complete state profiles, click here.
Partner Organizations
Funding for the initiative’s startup and ongoing funding for several participating colleges has been provided by the Lumina Foundation for Education. Jobs for the Future leads a major strand of Achieving the Dream work which aims to influence state and national policy in support of efforts to increase community college student success. Several other partners contribute to Achieving the Dream such as College Spark Washington, The Heinz Endowments Inc., KnowledgeWorks Foundation, and the Nellie Mae Foundation. MDRC and the Community College Research Center at Columbia University have been studying program implementation at the first 27 colleges that will result in a series of reports on emerging findings and lessons learned from the initiative.
Initiative Publications
Setting Up Success in Development Education (June 2009).
This issue brief describes the important role that state policy can play in helping community colleges advance students who are placed in developmental education. It describes how fifteen Achieving the Dream participating states have concentrated their policy efforts on four key areas: preventative strategies, assessment and placement, implementation and evaluation of program innovation, and performance measurement and incentives.
It’s Not about the Cut Score: Redesigning Placement Assessment Policy to Improve Student Success (July 2008).
This Achieving the Dream policy brief describes the experiences of Virginia, Connecticut, and North Carolina as they revised their placement assessment policies, explores current policies in all states, and makes recommendations for states that seek to evaluate and revise their policies.
Test Drive: Six States Pilot Better Ways to Measure and Compare Community College Performance (July 2008).
This guide is intended to help states design and implement performance measurement and data systems to maximize improvement, particularly for students who traditionally have not fared well in college.
To see a complete list of initiative briefs and publications, click here.
Transition Tools
Strengthening Achieving the Dream Planning through Stakeholder Engagement: A Guide for Community College Leadership Teams
Public Agenda created this guide as a tool to help Achieving the Dream colleges engage important stakeholder groups in conversations about student success. It is a starting point for community colleges that have not worked extensively with the public or have had limited success with this work. Some of the techniques described in the guide can also help structure conversations with internal stakeholders. Techniques covered include focus groups, stakeholder dialogues, and community conversations.
Community Engagement Self-Assessment Matrix
The Community Engagement Self-Assessment Matrix is a self-assessment and discussion tool for colleges interested in examining their current community engagement practices and capabilities. It can be used by individuals, but is also useful as a discussion starter for small group discussion among members of a college’s Achieving the Dream Core or leadership teams, and as a means of engaging other stakeholders such as faculty, staff, and students.
For more information about the initiative, please contact:
MDC Inc., 919-968-4531 or www.mdcinc.org