Using critical policy analysis focused on racial-ethnic equity, this study analyses state policy documents and accountability instruments governing transfer from 2-year colleges to 4-year institutions in the following states: California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin. Based on data collected in 2009, the findings indicate that state transfer policies are largely “color blind.” In contrast, accountability reporting, including data indicators such as those for underrepresented students, may serve as proxies for monitoring progress toward transfer of racially minoritized students. Recommendations are proposed for creating racially equitable state transfer policies and accountability instruments.
Understanding how educational practitioners make sense of and subsequently implement policy has been an increasingly important objective of the K-12 research community. This study extends this research into higher education via an in-depth case study of an urban public 2-year technical college. Drawing on sensemaking theory and critical policy analysis, five primary factors are discussed that significantly influence policy interpretation. These factors include common fixtures within higher education, such as institutional identity and self-interest, and other factors, such as national narratives and perceptions of the target population. The findings also suggest that policy interpretation can influence whether a policy improves equity or maintains the status quo. Finally, by highlighting the roles of race and power within this social context, this study identifies critical implications for how policy can be successfully implemented or, as in this case, resisted and opportunistically disregarded.
Using critical policy analysis, this study considers state policies that impede technical credit transfer from public 2-year colleges to 4-year institutions of higher education. The states of Ohio, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin are considered, and seven policy benchmarks for facilitating the transfer of technical credits are proposed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.