Academic programs

I-BEST success in Miss.

Napoleon Miller spent his childhood as a ward of the state of Mississippi, bouncing from home to home and school to school. “I grew up in Mississippi’s foster care system,” Miller said. “I decided to…


Encouraging experimentation

Editor’s note: The article is part of a series focusing on MentorLinks, a program funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the American Association of Community Colleges. The MentorLinks: Advancing Technological Education program…


Commentary: The challenge of a lifetime

This excerpt comes from the American Association of Community Colleges’ 21st-Century Center. I was fortunate enough to be part of a team at Tulsa Community College that competed in the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC),…


The virus hunters

They’re a dream team at Del Mar College. Daiyuan “Daisy” Zhang and John “Rob” Hatherill, both PhDs and professors in the Texas college’s department of natural sciences, are not only inspiring students to pursue careers…


AACC seeks colleges ready for STEM improvements

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is announcing a national grant competition for its MentorLinks: Advancing Technological Education program. MentorLinks uses mentoring, networking, technical assistance and professional development to help community colleges improve technician…


Using the MentorLinks community to improve STEM programs

All 10 of the colleges in the 2014-2016 MentorLinks cohort made progress on their STEM program improvement goals with advice from a mentor and professional development — and each other. Comments by the mentees during…


More colleges use open educational resources

Students at Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC) in Arizona have done just as well academically with open educational resources (OER) as with traditional, high-priced textbooks.      In addition, students and faculty are more engaged in…


Not ready for college-level work

This article comes from The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. It is reprinted with permission. The vast majority of public two- and four-year colleges report enrolling…


Commentary: Pathways Project becomes a movement

Editor’s note: This is an except from the AACC 21st-Century Center. It’s hard to believe that the American Association of Community Colleges’ Pathways Project has been underway for just over a year now. It has…


Commentary: Turning the dial on developmental outcomes

Many of us have been working on developmental education reform for years with frustrating results, achieving incremental improvements, but not truly “turning the dial” in significant ways — until recently. Improving developmental outcomes remains one…