Planning as strategy for improving Black and Latinx student equity: Lessons from nine California community colleges

Abstract

In 2014, California policymakers passed the Student Equity Plans (SEP) policy to address disparities in the community college system. The reform effort formalized a campus-wide planning effort that required institutions to examine their data for disparities, develop goals and strategies to mitigate identified inequities, and use new fiscal resources to realize their plans. In recent years, there has been an increase in the enactment of state-level higher education policies, but few, if any, have focused on the notion of equity or explicitly named racial and ethnic groups as policy beneficiaries. This study examines nine student equity plans in the state’s largest community college district. Drawing upon critical policy analysis, we place a focus on understanding if, and how, the planning process was used to address inequities facing Black and Latinx students. Based on our analysis we found several themes on how plans identified and address barriers facing Black and Latinx students. After examining 178 equity activities, we found only 28 promising activities that explicitly targeted Black and Latinx students with culturally relevant, data-driven, evidence-based strategies. These findings have compelling implications for policymakers seeking to develop reform efforts and institutions using policy to address current and historic inequities faced by Black and Latinx students. The use of planning for improvement is commonplace in educational policy, but we find that more training and capacity-building efforts are necessary to use planning as an opportunity to address racial inequity in community college.

Promise for Whom? “Free-College” Programs and Enrollments by Race and Gender Classifications at Public, 2-Year Colleges

“…In particular, we detected significant increases (1–2 percentage points) in the percent of students enrolled in Promise-eligible colleges who identify as Hispanic. It is critical that community colleges are prepared to serve racially minoritized students with adequate resources as well as strategies that are culturally relevant and informed by members of racially minoritized communities (Bensimon, 2017; Felix & Castro, 2018). Trends in Promise program adoption and evidence of their effects underscore the urgency of these efforts.…”

Promoting Access and Equity for Underrepresented Racial Minorities? An Examination of Policies and Practices in Community College Baccalaureate Programs

“…To enhance student success, our findings also demonstrate that CCB programs provide multiple support services, however, few efforts target URMs specifically. Such race-neutral approaches may not be surprising as emerging research documents such “one-size-fits all” approaches at community colleges are common even when equity is integral to an educational policy (Felix & Fernandez Castro, 2018). Several community colleges in one California district disaggregate data by racial groups, a critical practice to identifying equity gaps in educational outcomes, but few propose activities that explicitly describe particular racial groups to be served or provide culturally relevant plans, which may inhibit success in reducing these gaps (Felix & Fernandez Castro, 2018).…”

“…Such race-neutral approaches may not be surprising as emerging research documents such “one-size-fits all” approaches at community colleges are common even when equity is integral to an educational policy (Felix & Fernandez Castro, 2018). Several community colleges in one California district disaggregate data by racial groups, a critical practice to identifying equity gaps in educational outcomes, but few propose activities that explicitly describe particular racial groups to be served or provide culturally relevant plans, which may inhibit success in reducing these gaps (Felix & Fernandez Castro, 2018). Accordingly, providing support services to increase student success within CCB programs without targeted approaches focused on URMs is not unique but may not actively reduce inequities in baccalaureate attainment.…”

An analysis of college and career readiness emphasis in ESSA state accountability plans

“…We used a summative approach, noting the frequency with which plans cited CCR components while also applying latent content analysis to interpret how the states (as articulated via the plans) intended to implement CCR activities (Hsieh & Shannon). Through the equity-mindedness framework as applied by Dowd and Bensimon (2015), we used Critical Policy Analysis (CPA; Felix & Fernandez Castro, 2018;Mansfield & Thachik, 2016;Taylor, 1997) to critique matters of race and racial equity. CPA enabled us to identify the ways cultural, ideological, and power dynamics are represented in state CCR policy that may help to overcome some of the limitations of mainstream policy frameworks that prioritize stepby-step, technical, and structural processes that tend to mask inequities (Oakes, Welner, Yonezawa, & Allen, 2005).…”