Enhancing College and Career Readiness via the Community College Baccalaureate: The Road to Teacher Education

• In Event: 52.050 - The Challenge of College and Career Readiness: Definitions, Policies, and Implications for Underrepresented Students

Abstract

Four-year college degrees have become increasingly important for achieving a middle-class income and a high quality of life. For example, between 1973 and 2007, the share of jobs held by workers with a bachelor’s degree rose from 9% to 23%, and demand for skilled labor is expected to grow (Carnevale & Rose, 2011). However, underrepresented students are more likely than their privileged peers to attend less selective institutions in general and two-year colleges in particular (Roderick, Coca, & Nagaoka, 2011). Community colleges enroll a larger share of low-income, first generation, female, part-time, adult-aged, and non-White students than any other tertiary sector (Baum, Little, & Payea, 2011). Beginning at a community college diminishes a student’s likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree; higher rates of two-year students report intentions to transfer than ultimately do (Reynolds, 2011). Enhancing college and career readiness for underrepresented students thus requires broadening opportunity structures in the two-year sector.

This study will focus on the community college baccalaureate (CCB), a program designed to increase bachelor’s degree attainment among two-year college students. Established in 18 states by 2010, CCB programs allow students to earn a bachelor’s while enrolled in community college (Floyd, Skolnik, & Walker, 2005; Russell, 2010). Participating students can take classes to advance toward a four-year degree at their community college campus and for lower cost relative to traditional universities. In Florida, community colleges have developed CCB programs in high-need fields as identified by the state. Teaching has been labeled as high-need due to rising student enrollments, increasing teacher retirements, and a soaring teacher turnover rate (Ingersoll, 2001).

I will examine via a differences in differences design whether the introduction of CCB programs has had a discernable effect on postsecondary enrollment and degree production specifically for teacher education in the states that have adopted them. The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) contains institutional-level data on such elements as baccalaureate degrees awarded. Preliminary descriptive analyses show a rising number of students and graduates of these CCB programs, particularly in Florida. Findings will offer insight into the potential of CCB programs to broaden college and career opportunity for underrepresented students, who comprise the majority of the two-year college population.

Author

• Toby Park, Florida State University