Completion Agenda in Community Colleges - (The Futures Community Colleges) by Chris Baldwin (Paperback)

About the Book

The Completion Agenda in Community Colleges is intended to improve understanding about the complex issues surrounding the national college completion agenda by highlighting the origins of this agenda and the dilemmas and opportunities it creates for community colleges.

Book Synopsis

The Completion Agenda in Community Colleges is intended to improve understanding about the complex issues surrounding the national college completion agenda by highlighting the origins of this agenda and the dilemmas and opportunities it creates for community colleges.

Review Quotes

As the college completion agenda reaches a new level of sophistication and promise, Baldwin insightfully steps in and asks higher education leaders to reflect on whether they have their eyes on the right prize. Pressures to improve student completion are converging on higher education--from state policymakers, foundations, employers, the federal government--that, if pursued uncritically, could easily lead to drawbacks and unintended consequences. Baldwin's work is an important correction, reminding higher education to chart a course to completion that refuses to compromise on so much that is held dear--particularly equitable outcomes for students historically underrepresented in postsecondary education, and the quality of the entire enterprise.

Dr. Baldwin writes cogently about the many dimensions of the challenge of how best to improve graduation rates at community colleges without sacrificing quality or ignoring the needs of students with low-income or low levels of college readiness. This book is recommended reading for anyone who wants to chart where we've been with the completion agenda, and contemplate the opportunities ahead for better helping all community college students achieve their educational goals.

In The Completion Agenda in Community Colleges, Baldwin ably guides us through the last decade of completion reform offering cogent analysis and prescient insight for what needs to be done to maximize completion and promote equity at the same time. Essential reading for institutional practitioners and policy makers alike, but especially for those interested in the direction of community college completion reform.

About the Author

Dr. Christopher Baldwin has spent 15 years working at the national, state, and institutional levels to improved the outcomes of students in community colleges. He has played a leading role in several national initiatives designed to bring about institutional reform that will result in an increased number of community college students earning a credential with value in the labor market.