Based on a novel data set that links college administrative information with earnings records from a state college system for both public two‐year and four‐year colleges, this study quantifies the ...impacts of exposure to different types of instructors during students’ initial semester in college on their subsequent academic and labor market outcomes. To minimize bias from student sorting by type of instructor, we combine course‐set fixed effects with an instrumental variables approach that exploits term‐by‐term fluctuations in faculty composition in each department, therefore controlling for both between‐ and within‐course sorting. The findings suggest that two‐year students, particularly racial minority students, have substantially higher levels of exposure to adjuncts with temporary appointments than four‐year students. Two‐year students taking a heavy course schedule with temporary adjuncts are adversely affected in college persistence and subsequent credit accumulation, and the penalty is particularly pronounced among males and racial minority students with stronger academic potential. Such negative impacts on academic outcomes do not translate into poorer short‐ to medium‐term labor market performance. In the four‐year setting, no significant distinction is identified between different types of instructors on either student academic or labor market outcomes.
Nearly two-thirds of students require some form of remediation before taking college-level classes, and community colleges have become increasingly important in providing this education. ...Unfortunately, relatively few students complete the developmental courses required to make a transition to college-level work. Based on a three-year study of over twenty community colleges, Basic Skills Education in Community Colleges analyzes developmental education practices, exploring what goes wrong and what goes right, and provides a series of recommendations for improved practice.
Including both classroom observations and interviews with administrators, faculty, and students, this valuable book balances critique with examples of innovation. Part One explores the instructional settings of basic skills-the use of drill and practice and remedial pedagogy in math, reading, writing, and ESL, as well as innovations in colleges that show developmental education need not follow remedial pedagogy. Part Two examines institutional factors shaping basic skills and provides recommendations for improving the quality of basic skills instruction. The research-grounded observations and recommendations in Basic Skills Education in Community Colleges make this an invaluable resource for scholars, administrators, and faculty aiming to help students progress through developmental education to college-level work and beyond.
Over the last sixty years, administrators on college campuses nationwide have responded to black campus activists by making racial inclusion and inequality compatible. This bold argument is at the ...center of Matthew Johnson's powerful and controversial book. Focusing on the University of Michigan, often a key talking point in national debates about racial justice thanks to the contentious Gratz v. Bollinger 2003 Supreme Court case, Johnson argues that UM leaders incorporated black student dissent selectively into the institution's policies, practices, and values. This strategy was used to prevent activism from disrupting the institutional priorities that campus leaders deemed more important than racial justice. Despite knowing that racial disparities would likely continue, Johnson demonstrates that these administrators improbably saw themselves as champions of racial equity. What Johnson contends in Undermining Racial Justice is not that good intentions resulted in unforeseen negative consequences, but that the people who created and maintained racial inequities at premier institutions of higher education across the United States firmly believed they had good intentions in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. The case of the University of Michigan fits into a broader pattern at elite colleges and universities and is a cautionary tale for all in higher education. As Matthew Johnson illustrates, inclusion has always been a secondary priority, and, as a result, the policies of the late 1970s and 1980s ushered in a new and enduring era of racial retrenchment on campuses nationwide.
This book provides an in-depth view of the roles and responsibilities of the chief diversity officer, diversity strategic planning, and examines the various roles of diversity leaders at community ...colleges and will significantly benefit those interested in learning more about diversity and inclusion at community colleges.
Leaving Home State for College Niu, Sunny X.
Research in higher education,
06/2015, Letnik:
56, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Using the College Board SAT registration and questionnaire data of 2010 high school graduating seniors, we found clear patterns by race/ethnicity and parental education on two outcomes: out-of-state ...score-sending and out-of-state college attendance. White students had the highest rates and Hispanic students had the lowest rates, and there was a clear gradient by parental education with the students with collegeeducated parents having the highest rates of out-of-state score sending and college attendance. Substantial differences by race/ethnicity and parental education still persist after considering students’family income, academic preparation, high school characteristics and state of residence. State-specific estimates show that Hispanic and Asian students’ low likelihood of out-of-state college-going based on all SAT takers are largely driven by students’ choices in a few states where they are highly concentrated or their presence are substantial. In contrast, the concentration of Black students and presence of HBCUs in a state seem irrelevant to whether Black students stay or leave home states for college. It seems that high performing Black and Hispanic students and those with parents lacking a Bachelor’s degree gained much in their access to a private and selective college by leaving their home states.
Cross-national research finds that “shadow education”—educational activities outside of formal schooling—tends to confer advantages on already privileged students. Shadow education in the United ...States, such as test prep for college entrance exams, has received considerably less attention. Drawing on the National Education Longitudinal Study, we analyze the likelihood of participation in, and the implications of, SAT preparation. Social class inequalities in test preparation, particularly costly SAT courses and private tutoring, are notable and have at least moderate consequences for SAT scores and selective college enrollment. We also find racial/ethnic variations in the use of test preparation. We consider the implications of these findings for understanding shadow education, stratification and educational mobility in the United States.
Despite a general rise in the return to college, likely due to technological change, the cost-benefit calculus facing prospective students can make the decision to invest in and attend college ...dauntingly complex. Philip Oreopoulos and Uros Petronijevic review research on the varying costs and benefits of higher education and explore in full the complexity of the decision to invest in and attend college. Optimal college attainment decisions are different for all prospective students, who diverge in terms of what they are likely to get out of higher education and what specific options might be best for them. Earnings of college graduates depend in important measure on the program of study and eventual occupation they choose. Students uninterested in or unable to complete a four-year college degree appear to benefit from completing a two-year degree. Prospective students may also face both financial constraints, which prohibit them from taking advantage of more education, and information problems and behavioral idiosyncrasies, such as reluctance to take on debt, which keep them from making optimal decisions about attending college. In their discussion of how student debt figures in the college investment, the authors note that some students borrow too little and, as a result, underinvest in their education. Carefully calculating the return on the college investment can help determine the "appropriate" amount of debt. Students are more likely to benefit from postsecondary education the more informed they are about the expenses associated with college and the potential options for financial aid, which can be extremely complex. To make the best college investment, Oreopoulos and Petronijevic stress, prospective students must give careful consideration to selecting the institution itself, the major to follow, and the eventual occupation to pursue. For any particular program at a particular school, anticipated future labor market earnings, the likelihood of completion, the costs, and the value of any student debt must all be factored into the assessment.
We analyze a Massachusetts merit aid program that gives highscoring students tuition waivers at in-state public colleges with lower graduation rates than available alternative colleges. A regression ...discontinuity design comparing students just above and below the eligibility threshold finds that students are remarkably willing to forgo college quality and that scholarship use actually lowered college completion rates. These results suggest that college quality affects college completion rates. The theoretical prediction that inkind subsidies of public institutions can reduce consumption of the subsidized good is shown to be empirically important.
This study addresses a longstanding question among high school mathematics teachers and college mathematics professors: Which is the best preparation for college calculus—(a) a high level of mastery ...of mathematics considered preparatory for calculus (algebra, geometry, precalculus) or (b) taking calculus itself in high school? Mastery of the mathematics considered preparatory for calculus was found to have more than double the impact of taking a high school calculus course on students' later performance in college calculus, on average. However, students with weaker mathematics preparation gained the most from taking high school calculus.
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