Relational (Dis)trust and Developmental Education Reform Implementation in a Community College District

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Curriculum and Pedagogy

Abstract

Questions about the effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness of pre-requisite remediation started in the early 2000s and have grown in subsequent years, precipitating research that has illustrated the myriad negative effects of developmental education (DE) on student retention and persistence. This research has informed the creation and implementation of evidence-based DE policies and reforms. In California, the empirical context for this study, the state assembly passed Assembly Bill 705 (AB705) in 2017, which mandated that the state’s 116 community colleges use “multiple measures” (e.g., high school GPA and grades) for placement and increase the likelihood that students complete transfer-level English and math in one year. In this study, we explored how practitioners respond to AB705 through the lens of relational trust (Bryk & Schneider 2002). Interviews with practitioners across a community college district revealed an environment of low relational trust across the district. This larger sense of distrust had negative consequences for policy implementation. It reduced any sense of collective efficacy and contributed to low morale among faculty across the district. Our findings have implications for local and state policymakers implementing reform.

Authors

• Elif Asli Yucel, ECMC Foundation

• Cheryl Ching

• Soumya Mishra, University of Southern California