For low-income people, community colleges offer an important pathway out of poverty and into better jobs. But a host of factors, including inadequate financial aid or student services and poor developmental classes, can keep them from enrolling in and completing postsecondary education.  more

Summer Bridge Programs: Creating Opportunities for Low-Income Youth In a commentary that originally appeared in Youth Today, Rob Ivry makes the case for “summer bridge” programs for rising high school seniors who are college-bound but not yet college-ready. They would take college prep classes on community college campuses, where they would also have summer jobs. Enhancing Developmental Education in Community College: Can It Improve Students’ Language and Math Skills? MDRC Redesigns Higher Ed Section of Its Web Site U.S. Secretary of Education Names Lashawn Richburg-Hayes to New Committee on Measures of Student Success MDRC Researchers Presenting at Institute of Education Sciences Conference, June 28-30

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Reading An Impact Study at Hillsborough Community College A random assignment study of learning communities that linked a developmental reading course and a “college success” course finds that faculty collaboration and curricular integration increased over time. Overall, the program had no impact on students’ academic success, but evidence suggests that it had some positive effects for the last cohort of students in the study. Investing in Change How Much Do Achieving the Dream Colleges Spend — and from What Resources — to Become Data-Driven Institutions? Scaling Up Learning Communities The Experience of Six Community Colleges Terms of Engagement Men of Color Discuss Their Experiences in Community College