Seizing the Moment: Community Colleges Collaborating with K-12 to Improve Student Success

American Association of Community Colleges. One Dupont Circle NW Suite 410, Washington, DC 20015. Tel: 202-728-0200; Fax: 202-833-2467; Web site: http://www.aacc.nche.edu

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College School Cooperation; Community Colleges; Elementary Secondary Education; College Role; Partnerships in Education; College Readiness; Intervention; Postsecondary Education; Transitional Programs; College Freshmen; Student Needs; Educational Policy

California; Illinois; Indiana; New York; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Texas; Washington

With the national spotlight on community colleges, the sector has a unique opportunity to seize the moment and collaborate with K-12 to increase student success. Efforts to increase community college access and open doors to more students must include a complementary focus on improving readiness. Otherwise, remediation rates will remain unacceptably high, and efforts to increase access may amount to an empty promise for many young people. K-12 is raising standards to ensure that students are better prepared for college and careers. High schools are poised to use the new standards to both accelerate those students who are ready for college-level coursework and to deliver extra support for those students who need it to be college ready by the time they graduate. But K-12 cannot close the gap without higher education's help. Community colleges have a clear role to play and much to gain by forming stronger partnerships with their K-12 schools. The programs highlighted in the report show what is possible when community colleges collaborate deeply with K-12 schools to align expectations and promote college readiness for all students.

ERIC

2016

ED569348