EdSource Today: Questions surround bill proposing online course network at colleges

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California could lead the charge in developing a network of online public college courses open to all students enrolled in the University of California, California State University and the California Community College system.

Senate Bill 520, introduced by Senate president pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), would allow the thousands of students shut out of required classes due to budget cuts to enroll in an online version of the course in order to stay on track to graduate or transfer.

via Questions surround bill proposing online course network at colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Community colleges to release scorecard rivaling the president’s

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Students planning to attend one of the nation’s 4,500 colleges and universities have a new interactive College Scorecard touted by President Obama in his State of the Union address as a tool “to compare schools based on a simple criteria – where you can get the most bang for your educational buck.”

Community college leaders say the focus on costs and graduation rates is a flawed lens for measuring their worth. Give it a few weeks, though, and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office will be launching its own scorecard tailored to the broad mission and local scope of the state’s 112 campuses.

via Community colleges to release scorecard rivaling the president’s – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: University-Udacity partnership brings innovative online courses to students

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In announcing San Jose State University’s contract with the online course developer Udacity to offer three innovative math classes, Gov. Jerry Brown bristled at a press conference Tuesday when the first question from the media was, “How much would they cost?”

After comparing technology to poetry and quoting from Robert Frost in his remarks, the governor was disappointed that the reporter had left the intellectual sphere so quickly to delve into the mundane.

via University-Udacity partnership brings innovative online courses to students – by Susan Frey.

EdSource Today: EdWatch 2013: Accountability, accreditation test community colleges

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California community colleges did something counterintuitive last year, and that may put them in a strong position to rebound in 2013 with help from Proposition 30 and increased state revenues.

Even as the 112-college system was getting hit with an $809 million budget cut in recent years, it was developing and slowly rolling out a comprehensive reform plan. Now, with Gov. Brown proposing to increase community college funding by $196.7 million and some financial breathing room in sight, officials see an opportunity to speed up the process.

“There’s been some very significant progress; we feel that we laid some cornerstones last year that will fundamentally reshape how community colleges operate going forward,” said Erik Skinner, Executive Vice Chancellor for Programs in the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

via EdWatch 2013: Accountability, accreditation test community colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: More money, more accountability for community colleges

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Additional reporting by Sue Frey

Gov. Brown’s spending plan for community colleges reflects the new focus in the state’s 112-campus community college system on increasing graduation and transfer rates through a combination of technology, smoother pathways to Cal State University and, for students, tough love.

His budget would invest an additional $196.7 million in community colleges and leave it up to the Board of Governors to decide how it should be allotted. An additional $179 million would go toward continuing to pay back those IOUs known as deferrals, which total $801 million.

via More money, more accountability for community colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Academic senate influence challenged at community colleges

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An Oakland-based policy and advocacy organization is alleging that the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges drew up unlawful regulation more than two decades ago giving excessive power to faculty, in violation of state law.

The nonprofit organization California Competes this week filed a legal challenge against the regulation, which it claims has obstructed efforts to improve student success rates. The legal maneuver relies on a rarely used section of the state education code (§ 70901.5), allowing any outside organization to challenge regulations drawn up by the Board of Governors. California Competes is seeking immediate action by the Board to amend its regulations to ensure that locally elected community college trustees have ultimate authority.

via Academic senate influence challenged at community colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: Accrediting agency under federal pressure to be tougher on community colleges

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The commission that accredits California’s community colleges, and has ordered City College of San Francisco to prepare for possible closure, has come under pressure from the federal government to make sure that the colleges under its jurisdiction comply in a timely way with the deficiencies it identifies.

If it does not, the commission risks losing its federal “recognition” as a legitimate accrediting agency – which it almost did five years ago when it reapplied for a renewal of its status from the U.S. Department of Education.

via Accrediting agency under federal pressure to be tougher on community colleges – by Louis Freedberg.

EdSource Today: Winning paths to success in Pasadena, Santa Barbara Community Colleges

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Pasadena and Santa Barbara City Colleges are recipients of the 2012 Chancellor’s Student Success Award for their programs to support first-year and underserved students in community college.

“These are the types of initiatives our Student Success Task Force determined were extremely important in achieving equity and helping a greater number of students reach their educational goals,” said Community College Chancellor Brice Harris in a written statement.

via Winning paths to success in Pasadena, Santa Barbara – by Kathryn Baron.

The Educated Guess: Better quality of lifelong learning at community colleges

An increasing number of California’s community colleges are dealing with years of budget cuts by charging full price for personal enrichment classes that used to cost the same amount as academic courses. These classes run the gamut from pottery to conversational French to a slide show of someone’s trip to the Ukraine. They don’t provide any credits or lead to a degree and, until now, they didn’t have to meet any specific standards.

The Community College Board of Governors yesterday had it first look at uniform guidelines designed to ensure that students get what they pay for.

via Better quality of lifelong learning at community colleges – by Kathryn Baron.

The Reporter Columnist: Doug Ford: Measure Q funds Solano’s future

More than 20 years ago, I took a research course on the California education system at the University of California, Davis. Most of the other students were either seniors or graduates who had worked in other fields for a number of years. But almost all of them were planning to earn a teaching credential and become teachers.

About half had attended the university for four years, while the other half had attended community colleges for at least two years before transferring to the university. Of the latter, few had chosen to start at the community college level, but their life circumstances had made it their only choice. Nevertheless, nearly all of them were emphatic that they were happy, in retrospect, to have attended community colleges instead of the university for their first two years.

The said community college instructors were far more available and helpful in answering student questions, compared with university courses where lectures were given by professors to hundreds of students in a single class and questions were handled by teaching assistants, many of whom were foreign students who might not be able to communicate well in English.

via Doug Ford: Measure Q funds Solano’s future

The Educated Guess: Baron moderates discussion on “community college crisis”

By Brent Zupp

EdSource senior reporter Kathryn Baron moderated a discussion for CreaTV on the current community college crisis in California. Panel members included Dr. Rita Cepeda, Chancellor of San Jose/Evergreen Community College, and Dr. Laurel Jones, President of Mission College.

In addition to providing a knowledgeable overview of the challenges facing California community colleges, these experts offered an insiders view on the difficult decisions community colleges are making to address these enormous challenges.

via Baron moderates discussion on “community college crisis” – by Brent Zupp.

EdSource Today: New chancellor has strong support, tough job

By Kathryn Baron

The California Community Colleges Board of Governors unanimously named Dr. Brice Harris*, a longtime community college leader, as the 15th chancellor of the statewide higher education system. Just hours later he received an unexpected gift from Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed SB 1456, the Student Success Act of 2012, into law.

The bill, by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), seeks to improve graduation and transfer rates at community colleges through better academic counseling and support services, setting tougher standards for students to receive fee waivers and requiring colleges to make public completion rates of students and progress toward closing the achievement gap.

via New chancellor has strong support, tough job – by Kathryn Baron.

EdSource Today: New 2-year lease on life for 163 Partnership Academies

By John Fensterwald

Financially threatened high school career academies will get a lifeline and new career tech programs will get a lift, now that Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation committing $68 million for those and related projects over the next two years.

SB 1070 will sustain the career technology programs in high schools and community colleges that were to lose their funding and authorization at the end of this fiscal year in June. Now they will have additional time, and the Legislature will have two more years, to consider their future. The bill’s author is Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who has been a CTE champion in the Legislature.

The chief beneficiary will be 163 California Partnership Academies, about a third of the total 503 in the state, that were started three years ago under another bill that Steinberg sponsored. Their funding will continue through June 2015.

via New 2-year lease on life for 163 Partnership Academies – by John Fensterwald.

EdSource Today: “Wake up!” says retiring Community College Chancellor

By Kathryn Baron

California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott stepped down Saturday, after leading the nation’s largest higher education system through its stormiest time. Scott took the helm on Jan. 1, 2009, just as the state was entering a deep financial slide. Since then, community colleges have lost $809 million, or 12 percent of their budget, nearly doubled tuition and fees, and cut course offerings by about 15 percent, all of which knocked down enrollment by roughly 485,000 students.

“That wasn’t a lack of demand, that was a lack of supply,” Scott told EdSource Today recently, during a nearly hour-long, wide-ranging conversation as his tenure wound down. (Read the full transcript here.) “All I can say is, ‘Wake up, California! Because you’re slowly hurting your future, because educated personnel make a difference.’”

via “Wake up!” says retiring Community College Chancellor – by Kathryn Baron.

Vallejo Times-Herald: California community colleges’ wide open doors may close a bit under new policy

By Sarah Rohrs

Squeezed by lower revenues and higher demand, California community colleges are examining ways to encourage students to become more focused in their educational goals.

Gone may be the days of students taking an endless array of community college courses with no end or degree in sight, officials said.

California Community Colleges Board of Governors this week approved a new policy requiring schools to establish enrollment priorities for students with clearly defined academic pathways.

Under the new policy, classes will be available first for students with clearly defined goals, such as job training, degrees or transfer to a four-year college, according to the state.

via California community colleges’ wide open doors may close a bit under new policy.

EdSource Today: New community college chancellor may be named by end of month

By Kathryn Baron

The California Community College Board of Governors appointed Executive Vice Chancellor Erik Skinner as acting chancellor while the search continues for a successor to Jack Scott, who is retiring at the end of this week.

The Board has scheduled a special meeting on Sept. 20 to interview finalists for the post and hopes to announce the new chancellor by the end of September or sooner.

via New community college chancellor may be named by end of month – by Kathryn Baron.

KQED MindShift: Will Free Online Textbooks Become a Reality for California College Students?

By Ana Tintocalis

California is one step closer to bringing free online textbooks for state college students, a huge step for the open education movement. A historic bill on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown would give college professors, and thereby students, an option to use free online, customizable curriculum rather than print textbooks, for which students spend upwards of $1,000 per year. The measure establishes the first free digital library for the University of California, the California State University and California Community College systems.

If the bill passes, students of 50 most popular lower-division courses could access the content through an online portal at little or no cost. Faculty members would be able to remix and repurpose the digital content as they see fit, rather than having to rely on print textbooks.

via Will Free Online Textbooks Become a Reality for California College Students?.

The Educated Guess: Landmark community college bill heads to governor

One day after a survey warned that budget cuts have caused an unprecedented drop in enrollment at California’s community colleges, the state Legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill that could bring the first significant reforms in more than a decade to community colleges.

The Student Success Act of 2012, by Democratic Senators Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach and Carol Liu of La Cañada Flintridge, received nearly unanimous bipartisan support. It would give new students more support early on, including orientation and better academic counseling, in an effort to improve dismal graduation rates. Only about a third of community college students earn an associate degree or a certificate, or transfer to a four-year college within six years.

via Landmark community college bill heads to governor – by Kathryn Baron.

The Educated Guess: Report questions efficacy and fairness of college placement tests

By Susan Frey

The tests used by many community colleges and universities across the nation to determine whether incoming freshmen are ready for college-level courses are often inaccurate and pose roadblocks to student success in college, according to new research summarized in a report released Wednesday.

“With education reformers keenly focused on remedial education, new research using longitudinal data systems questions the efficacy and fairness of the very tests on which the system of remedial education relies,” says author Pamela Burdman in Where to Begin? The evolving role of placement exams for students starting college. The report was supported by Achieving the Dream, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping community college students, its affiliates, and Jobs for the Future, which develops policy solutions aimed at college readiness and career advancement for low-income youth.

The research shows that high school grades are a better predictor of student success in college than placement test scores, Burdman said. She pointed to a study of students who graduated from Long Beach Unified school district and then attended Long Beach City College. Ninety percent of the students were placed in remedial education and had to take, on average, more than five semesters of remedial coursework. However, the study found that students’ high school grade point averages and their discipline records were much better predictors of college success than the placement tests. If the college had relied on those predictors, the the number of freshmen allowed to take college-level English courses would have risen by 500 percent.

via Report questions efficacy and fairness of college placement tests – by Susan Frey.

NPR Education: Families Make Big Changes To Pay For College

by Tasnim Shamma

Maureen O’Brien told her daughter Emily Macri: dream big.

She could pick any college she wanted and they would figure out a way to pay for it.

Macri chose the University of Vermont, which costs more than $49,000 in tuition and fees per year for out-of-state residents.

O’Brien and her daughter co-signed a private student loan from Sallie Mae for $24,000 and a $30,000 Parent PLUS loan, a federal loan program for parents. And that was just for Macri’s first two years of college.

“That was one of the compelling reasons why I asked her to consider coming to a state school here in Arizona,” O’Brien says. “I just couldn’t keep doing that. And with my son going to college, too, I can’t do that for two kids.”

via Families Make Big Changes To Pay For College.