Obstacles and Unintended Impacts: A Study of Performance Funding at Community Colleges in Three States

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: State Policies for Performance Funding and College Readiness

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the implementation of performance funding in three states: Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee. Through the lenses of policy implementation and organizational change theory, it analyzes the obstacles and unintended impacts encountered by nine community colleges during implementation. Our results show that performance funding meets certain obstacles at the college-level, including unequal institutional capacity to respond effectively to the policy and the use of inappropriate outcome indicators that fail to adequately capture community college performance. Moreover, we find that the policy can result in impacts unintended by policymakers, including the weakening of academic standards, and restricted student admissions. Our analysis is based on interviews with state policymakers and around 15 administrators and faculty at each college.

Authors

• Hana Lahr, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Lara Pheatt, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Kevin J. Dougherty, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Sosanya M. Jones, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

• Rebecca S. Natow, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Vikash Reddy, Teachers College, Columbia University