Helping Community Colleges Better Serve Students
With $3.6 million in federal grants, UCI’s Di Xu aims to make math and career & technical education programs more effective
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November 15, 2022
By Christine Byrd UCI Associate Professor of Education Di Xu was a graduate student the first time she interviewed community college students for research. Many were single parents, working adults or people changing careers, and she was impressed by their diversity and motivation. “I vividly remember talking to one working mom who had only a high school degree and wanted to improve her academic and labor market skills, not only so she would thrive in a career, but also to provide better opportunities for her child,” Xu said. “I thought: if there was anything I could do to support this population, how great that would be. Community college is a sector that needs more research and support.” |
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That early encounter helped launch Xu’s career researching higher education from an economic perspective, with a focus on community colleges. Nearly 10 million students annually enroll at one of the nation’s 1,000 community colleges, seeking job skills, earning certificates and degrees to land better-paying jobs or preparing to transfer to four-year colleges. More than half of the students are underrepresented minorities, and more than a quarter are the first in their families to go to college.
Xu recently received $3.6 million in federal grants to evaluate the effectiveness of two recently revamped programs at 23 Virginia community colleges: one for non-credit career and technical education (CTE), and the other for gateway math courses. Using a research-practice partnership model, Xu’s research will be shared directly with educators and administrators at the Virginia Community College System throughout the multi-year grants, allowing the work to make an immediate impact and empowering colleges to adjust programs as the research continues.
The “skills gap”
With a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, Xu will lead a team researching non-credit CTE courses at 23 community college campuses in Virginia.
Non-credit CTE courses have proliferated at community colleges, largely in an effort to bridge the “skills gap” between specific job skills employers are looking for, and unemployed people in a given region. Over four million U.S. students were enrolled in non-credit community college courses in 2020, according to the American Association of Community Colleges – about 40% of total enrollment at two-year institutions.
Xu recently received $3.6 million in federal grants to evaluate the effectiveness of two recently revamped programs at 23 Virginia community colleges: one for non-credit career and technical education (CTE), and the other for gateway math courses. Using a research-practice partnership model, Xu’s research will be shared directly with educators and administrators at the Virginia Community College System throughout the multi-year grants, allowing the work to make an immediate impact and empowering colleges to adjust programs as the research continues.
The “skills gap”
With a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, Xu will lead a team researching non-credit CTE courses at 23 community college campuses in Virginia.
Non-credit CTE courses have proliferated at community colleges, largely in an effort to bridge the “skills gap” between specific job skills employers are looking for, and unemployed people in a given region. Over four million U.S. students were enrolled in non-credit community college courses in 2020, according to the American Association of Community Colleges – about 40% of total enrollment at two-year institutions.
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“I remember talking to one working mom who had only a high school degree and wanted to improve her academic and labor market skills, not only so she would thrive in a career, but also to provide better opportunities for her child. I thought: if there was anything I could do to support this population, how great that would be." – Associate Professor Di Xu |
These courses appeal to both students and employers, offering job skills from welding to public health. They tend to be shorter and less expensive than for-credit certificates and programs, even when they are for the same type of job, and can more easily be adapted to local employer needs. The courses often attract low-income students looking to efficiently improve their job skills and boost their income. But there is a dearth of research on how effective these non-credit programs are – especially whether students who complete the courses actually get better jobs and pay.
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“There’s been a lot of research focusing on economic returns to higher education, but the majority focuses on programs offered in the credit-bearing sector, such as bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or diploma,” said Xu. “The main goal of the non-credit sector seems to be the promise of economic returns for students seeking workforce training, yet we have limited knowledge of what those returns are. This research aims to delineate key – and currently unavailable – core evidence about noncredit career technical programs, including their impacts on students’ labor market outcomes.”
About 7,000 students enroll in non-credit CTE courses annually in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In June, Xu launched the research project in collaboration with VCCS, the University of Virginia and the nonprofit research organization MDRC.
Math remediation
In January 2023, Xu will launch another community college research project in collaboration with VCCS, supported by a $1.9 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. This study will dive into community colleges’ efforts to support students who are underprepared for college-level math. Nearly a decade of research by Xu and others suggests that the lengthy developmental education sequence that colleges traditionally require of students who do not meet the college math readiness threshold is not helpful in improving success rates in the gateway courses.
To address shortcomings of the traditional method, VCCS introduced Direct Enrollment Reform, redesigning their programs to support academically underprepared students. Drawing on theories and existing evidence on college success, the reform is designed to improve access to and success in gateway courses by incorporating three key components: more accurate placement, proactive advising and coaching, and a “corequisite model” that provides support as students are concurrently enrolled in the gateway course.
Xu, in collaboration with administrators and faculty at VCCS, and colleagues at the University of Delaware, will look at how those reforms are being implemented across the 23 campuses and evaluate what’s working well. As with the research project on non-credit CTE courses, Xu will provide data and research findings to VCSS throughout the process so that effective practices can be adopted promptly.
“Successful completion of gateway courses represents a critical milestone for degree requirements at community colleges and the field is still exploring promising models to increase success rates in gateway courses,” said Xu. “This project will contribute to the knowledge base on effective practices that support that success.”
For the millions of students enrolled in these community college courses, chasing better jobs and better futures, Xu’s answers to these pressing questions may help them achieve their own goals.
About 7,000 students enroll in non-credit CTE courses annually in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In June, Xu launched the research project in collaboration with VCCS, the University of Virginia and the nonprofit research organization MDRC.
Math remediation
In January 2023, Xu will launch another community college research project in collaboration with VCCS, supported by a $1.9 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation. This study will dive into community colleges’ efforts to support students who are underprepared for college-level math. Nearly a decade of research by Xu and others suggests that the lengthy developmental education sequence that colleges traditionally require of students who do not meet the college math readiness threshold is not helpful in improving success rates in the gateway courses.
To address shortcomings of the traditional method, VCCS introduced Direct Enrollment Reform, redesigning their programs to support academically underprepared students. Drawing on theories and existing evidence on college success, the reform is designed to improve access to and success in gateway courses by incorporating three key components: more accurate placement, proactive advising and coaching, and a “corequisite model” that provides support as students are concurrently enrolled in the gateway course.
Xu, in collaboration with administrators and faculty at VCCS, and colleagues at the University of Delaware, will look at how those reforms are being implemented across the 23 campuses and evaluate what’s working well. As with the research project on non-credit CTE courses, Xu will provide data and research findings to VCSS throughout the process so that effective practices can be adopted promptly.
“Successful completion of gateway courses represents a critical milestone for degree requirements at community colleges and the field is still exploring promising models to increase success rates in gateway courses,” said Xu. “This project will contribute to the knowledge base on effective practices that support that success.”
For the millions of students enrolled in these community college courses, chasing better jobs and better futures, Xu’s answers to these pressing questions may help them achieve their own goals.
