Two years ago, the American Association of Community Colleges provided a stark assessment of its members' shortcomings,calling for a broad transformation to meet the evolving needs of students and the economy. On Sunday, as thousands of educators gathered here for the group’sannual meeting, they got a guide for how to go about attaining that goal.
When the association took stock in 2012, its message was blunt: "As they currently function, community colleges are not up to the task before them." Enrolling about 13 million students each year, the nation's community colleges face growing expectations to raise graduation rates and to prepare workers for high-demand jobs.
The new guide outlines specific strategies to achieve objectives the association has set forth: by 2020, to reduce by half the number of students who come to college unprepared, to double the number who finish remedial courses and make it through introductory college-level courses, and to close achievement gaps across diverse populations of students.
"It is time for community colleges to reimagine and redesign their students' experiences," Walter G. Bumphus, the association's president, said in a written statement. Students, he said, need "a clear pathway to college completion and success in the work force."
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Community-College-Association/145795