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

Unlocking Opportunity: Eight Strategies To Strengthen the Value of Community College Credentials

February 19, 2025
Philadelphia, PA

Evidence consistently shows that fewer than half of certificate holders and associate degree holders earn more than $35,000 per year two years after completion—below most living-wage standards. And in both transfer and workforce pathways, students of color and low-income students are least likely to enroll in and complete programs that are aligned with high levels of post-graduation success.

Through the Unlocking Opportunity network, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program and Community College Research Center have begun to address these challenges and gleaned early insights on how to improve post-graduation outcomes for community college students by ensuring that more students are on pathways that lead to living-wage jobs or efficient transfer and bachelor’s completion. During the session, attendees learned about eight scaled areas of reform that have emerged from Unlocking Opportunity and how they might implement similar strategies at their own institution.

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Participants

Marcia Ballinger
President
Lorain County Community College
Greg Williams
President
Odessa Community College
Jason Wood
President
Southwest Wisconsin Technical College
Millicent Bender
Director, Leadership & Field Engagement
Aspen Institute
Senior Research Scholar
Community College Research Center