Upcoming Presentations

2025 COABE National Conference

March 30–April 2, 2025
Dallas, TX

The Opportunities and Challenges of Community Colleges as Providers of Adult Education ESL

April 1, Time TBD

This session explores national research and practices in adult education (AE) English as a Second Language (ESL). Researchers from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and the Community College Research Center (CCRC) will discuss the impact of federal and state AE policies on community colleges providing AE ESL. Drawing from new CCRC research, attendees will learn about opportunities, challenges, and innovative programming strategies that support multilingual learners’ academic and career success within current federal policy constraints.

Presenters

Julia Raufman, Research Associate, CCRC

Jacob Hofstetter, Research Analyst, Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

RP Conference 2025

April 2–4, 2025
Burlingame, CA

Understanding the Support Networks of First-Generation College Students: Research Findings and Implications for Institutional Research

April 3, 10:00–11:00 AM

In this session, presenters will share findings from a four-year mixed methods social network analysis of the personal support networks of first-generation college students in their first year at two California community colleges and two universities in the California State system. The session will be structured and designed to inform efforts of institutional research professionals in gathering data about first-generation college students on their respective campuses that can inform the design and delivery of services intended to improve outcomes among this subgroup of students. Attendees can expect to take away lessons learned about who first-generation college students turn to for support and how these relationships shape their postsecondary pathway. Attendees can also expect to take away survey questions that they can modify and use at their institutions to collect more precise information about first-generation students and, in doing so, better position their colleagues to serve these students.

Presenters

Hoori Kalamkarian, Senior Research Associate, CCRC

Alex Adams, Senior Director, Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness, Student Learning Support Services, Fresno City College

AAC&U's Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS)

Bringing SDL Theories Into Postsecondary Online Learning Contexts

Date & Time TBA | Puerto Rico Convention Center

Self-directed learning (SDL) refers to 3 mutually reinforcing cognitive and behavioral processes (motivation, metacognition, applied learning) that are shown to improve postsecondary outcomes. But faculty report uncertainty about how to foster them in content area courses, especially online. Presenters will share research underpinning the framework and describe an ongoing empirical study of SDL support in online courses at community colleges and broad-access universities, including teaching strategies to improve self-efficacy and belonging (motivation), reflection (metacognition), and help-seeking (applied learning). Participants will explore how to implement teaching practices in online/hybrid courses aligned with an evidence-based, self-directed learning framework and will engage in interactive activities to identify opportunities to bolster SDL support across course types.

Presenters

Amy E. Brown, Research Associate, CCRC

Ellen Wasserman, Research Associate, CCRC

Meghan McIntyre, Senior Professor of Mathematics, Wake Technical Community College

2025 AERA Annual Meeting

April 23–27, 2025
Denver, CO

Adult Learners: Policy and Practice

April 24, 9:50–11:20 AM | Four Seasons Ballroom 1

As part of a roundtable discussion, the authors will present on a paper that presents findings on federal and state adult education English as a second language (AE ESL) policies, including the opportunities and challenges that these policies present for the delivery of AE ESL services within community colleges (CCs). CCs provide access to free or low-cost AE ESL courses and supportive services and have transformative potential for creating pathways to postsecondary education and occupational training for a wide range of multilingual learners (MLs). However, like other providers, CCs can struggle to fully meet this population’s needs, due to structural constraints, including limitations within the policies governing AE programming.

Presenters

Julia Raufman, Research Associate, CCRC

Nikki Edgecombe, Senior Research Scholar, CCRC

George C. Bunch, Professor of Education and Department Chair, UC Santa Cruz

Enabling DEEP: How States and Systems Can Support Practitioner Efforts to Strengthen Dual Enrollment

2024 NACEP National Conference
October 28, 2024
Orlando, FL

Dual Enrollment (DE) programs offer invaluable opportunities for high school students to engage in college coursework, yet disparities persist in access and quality, particularly among marginalized groups. In response to this challenge, a concerted effort has emerged to reform DE programs, aiming to broaden their benefits for all students.

In this session, presenters discussed the How States and Systems Can Support Practitioner Efforts to Strengthen Dual Enrollment report that was published by CCRC and the College in High School Alliance. Their discussion focused on three core areas central to enabling DEEP: 1) expanding access to DE; 2) strengthening DE as an on-ramp to high-opportunity Ppthways; and 3) building and sustaining DE partnerships.

Throughout their session, researchers worked with participants in engaging directly with the Policymaker Strategy Development Guide that was published in conjunction with the report. By engaging in this dialogue and adopting these recommendations, state and system leaders can play a pivotal role in advancing DE programs, ultimately fostering greater equity and success for all students in the transition from high school to college.

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Associated Papers

Participants

Senior Research Assistant and PEAR Fellow
Alex Perry
Policy Advisor
Foresight Law + Policy

Associated Project(s)