Equity and Efficiency of Community College Appropriations: The Role of Local Financing

The study analyzes the equity of community college financing and demonstrates intrastate variations in appropriations to community colleges. The ratio of 90th to 10th percentile values ranges from 2.0 to 2.8 in half the states analyzed, levels which are considered high in comparison to K-12 finance inequities. In 10 states with high revenue disparities, the direction of revenue deviations is more often progressive in state-funded than in local-share states, suggesting the local role may undermine equity. Differences in economies of scale, geographic costs, and program costs are explored as factors determining funding disparities

Computing Variances from Data with Complex Sampling Designs: A Comparison of Stata and SPSS

Most of the data sets available through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) are based on complex sampling designs involving multi-stage sampling, stratification, and clustering. These complex designs require appropriate statistical techniques to calculate the variance. Stata employs specialized methods that appropriately adjust for the complex designs, while SPSS does not. Researchers using SPSS must obtain the design effects through NCES and adjust the standard errors generated by SPSS with these values. This presentation addresses the pros and cons of recommending Stata or SPSS to novice researchers. The first presenter teaches research methods to doctoral students and uses Stata to conduct research with NCES data. She uses SPSS to teach her research methods course, due to its user-friendly interface. The second presenter is a doctoral student conducting dissertation research with NCES data. In his professional life as an institutional researcher, he uses SPSS. NCES data sets are a rich resource, but the complex sampling designs create conceptual issues beyond the immediate grasp of most doctoral candidates in the field. The session considers and invites comment on the best approaches to introducing new researchers to complex sampling designs in order to enable them to use NCES data.

Manter a mudança para a equidade racial através de ciclos de pesquisa

Many national, state, and institutional policies and initiatives advocate for change in higher education through structured forms of data use. The case study of “Old Main University” presented in this article shows how local reformers (n=9) drew on data and data use tools provided by a long-term action research project implemented at the university to advance racial equity goals at their university. The case narrative utilizes practice theory, cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), and narrative inquiry to illustrate how administrative leaders and faculty at Old Main University coordinated their efforts in a sustained manner through two cycles of practitioner inquiry that was responsive to policy goals. The findings show that data use is productive to promote racial equity when data and data use protocols are used iteratively and in interaction among practitioners who use them to identify inequities rooted in their own practices. The findings support the conclusion that, to sustain change efforts as long-term (mesogenetic) projects, policy makers and local reformers should plan to iteratively redesign data tools, practices, and policies to institute changes in everyday (microgenetic) work practices. Such purposeful redesign holds potential to re-structure professional interactions, sustain motivation and organizational learning, and acculturate practitioners to equity as a standard of practice. Muchas políticas e iniciativas nacionales, estatales e institucionales abogan por el cambio en la educación superior a través de formas estructuradas de uso de datos. El estudio de caso de “Old Main University” presentado en este artículo muestra cómo los reformadores locales (n = 9) recurrieron a datos y herramientas de uso de datos proporcionadas por un proyecto de investigación de acción a largo plazo implementado en la universidad para avanzar objetivos de equidad racial en su universidad . La narrativa de casos utiliza la teoría de la práctica, la teoría de la actividad histórica cultural (CHAT) y la investigación narrativa para ilustrar cómo los líderes administrativos y la facultad de Old Main University coordinaron sus esfuerzos de manera sostenida a través de dos ciclos de investigación profesional que respondían a los objetivos de las políticas. Los resultados muestran que el uso de datos es productivo para promover la equidad racial cuando los datos y los protocolos de uso de datos se utilizan de forma iterativa y en la interacción entre los profesionales que los utilizan para identificar las inequidades arraigadas en sus propias prácticas. Los hallazgos respaldan la conclusión de que, para sostener los esfuerzos de cambio como proyectos a largo plazo (mesogenéticos), los responsables de las políticas y los reformadores locales deberían rediseñar iterativamente herramientas, prácticas y políticas de datos para instituir cambios en las prácticas laborales cotidianas (microgenéticas). Tal rediseño intencionado tiene potencial para reestructurar las interacciones profesionales, mantener la motivación y el aprendizaje organizacional, y aculturar a los profesionales a la equidad como un estándar de práctica.Muitas políticas e iniciativas nacionais, estaduais e institucionais defendem a mudança no ensino superior por meio de formas estruturadas de uso de dados. O estudo de caso da “Old Main University” apresentado neste artigo mostra como os reformadores locais (n = 9) recorreram aos dados e ferramentas de uso de dados fornecidos por um projeto de pesquisa de ação de longo prazo implementado na universidade para avançar objetivos de equidade racial em sua universidade. A narrativa de casos utiliza a teoria da prática, a teoria da atividade histórica cultural (CHAT) e a pesquisa narrativa para ilustrar como os líderes administrativos e os docentes da Universidade Principal Antiga coordenaram seus esforços de maneira sustentada por meio de dois ciclos de atividades. pesquisa profissional que respondeu aos objetivos da política. Os resultados mostram que o uso de dados é produtivo para promover a equidade racial quando os dados e protocolos de uso de dados são usados de forma iterativa e na interação entre os profissionais que os utilizam para identificar desigualdades enraizadas em suas próprias práticas. Os resultados apóiam a conclusão de que, para sustentar os esforços de mudança como projetos de longo prazo (mesogenéticos), os formuladores de políticas e os reformadores locais devem redesenhar iterativamente ferramentas, práticas e políticas de dados para instituir mudanças nas práticas de trabalho cotidianas. (microgenética). Esse redesenho intencional tem o potencial de reestruturar as interações profissionais, manter a motivação e o aprendizado organizacional e aculturar os profissionais para a equidade como um padrão de prática

Data Don't Drive: Building a Practitioner-Driven Culture of Inquiry to Assess Community College Performance

Reviews three types of benchmarking activities -- performance, diagnostic, and process -- and assesses their value in raising accountability in a new culture of inquiry emphasizing meaningful analysis of data on student learning and progress

Becoming Institutional Change Agents in STEM

57 minute audio lecture with Powerpoint slides.In releasing its 2010 report Preparing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators, the National Science Board emphasized the need to make STEM fields more inclusive of underrepresented students and called for a “renewed aspiration towards equity and excellence in U.S. STEM education.” The Board recommended greater investment in professional development for STEM educators to assist them in identifying talented students from diverse backgrounds, creating “supportive learning ecosystem(s),” and offering curricula based on inquiry-based learning and real-world problem-solving. This presentation describes an emerging science of agency and “praxis” in STEM focused on understanding the kinds of professional development STEM educators need to become “institutional agents” on behalf of underrepresented racial-ethnic groups in STEM. Based on case study research supported by the National Science Foundation, the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California has characterized the role of “institutional agents” in STEM and is now evaluating the factors that enable STEM educators to act as the agents of equity and excellence called for in the Board’s report.National Science Foundatio

Collegiate Grading Practices and the Gender Pay Gap

Extending research findings by R. Sabot and J. Wakeman-Linn (1991), this article presents a theoretical analysis showing that relatively low grading quantitative fields and high grading verbal fields create a disincentive for college women to invest in quantitative study. Pressures on grading practices are modeled using higher education production functions

Community College Revenue Disparities: What Accounts for an Urban College Deficit?

[Excerpt] This study takes a political-economic perspective to examine predictors of revenue variation in U.S. community colleges using the IPEDS 2000 Finance Survey data. Descriptive analyses of the IPEDS data indicate it is common for colleges at the 90th percentile of a state’s revenue distribution to have twice the per student resources as colleges at the 10th percentile. Ordinary least square regression results indicate progressive funding explains 7% of the revenue variation. Colleges serving higher proportions of students with financial need have higher revenues relative to other colleges in their states. Colleges located outside urban areas have revenues 13% to 18% higher than those in large cities, controlling for enrollment size and the proportion of part-time students. These findings, which explain 28% of revenue variation, may indicate differences in entrepreneurial revenue capacity or political compromises that “level up” spending to all legislative districts irrespective of student need. An urban community college research agenda is proposed to examine the political-economic mechanisms that create funding disparities.cheri_wp74.pdf: 481 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Developing Supportive STEM Community College to Four-Year College and University Transfer Ecosystems

This paper, commissioned by the 2011 summit on Community Colleges in the Evolving STEM Education Landscape, describes the challenges to creating effective transfer pathways for students in STEM fields. Author and Associate Professor Alicia Dowd recommends the following approaches: 1) Create regional think tanks and research centers, called Evidence Based Inquiry Councils (EBICs), involving STEM faculty, deans, and department heads in geographic clusters of two-year and four-year colleges and universities to invent, experiment with, and evaluate innovative curricula, pedagogies, and assessments of student talents and learning. 2) Provide financial resources to transfer students by fully funding Pell grants, creating a STEM work-study program through the HEA Reauthorization, and establishing public and privately funded STEM transfer scholarships and Individual Development Accounts, giving EBICs oversight of the selection of students to benefit from these resources to engage them in rethinking admissions criteria and talent identification strategies