Transfer Program Between California Community Colleges and California State University Hits Milestone of 1,000 Associate Degrees for Transfer Developed

[Within the broad ICT cluster, traditional Computer Science is so far the only Transfer Model Curriculum to be developed and approved in this process.  Efforts to create a Transfer Model Curriculum pathway related to hands-on IT/ICT were rejected, because not enough CSU programs exist already to handle the massive need for a transfer pathway in that area.  Efforts to create a Transfer Model Curriculum pathway related to business information systems that would end up in CSU business department programs were rejected, because there is not enough room in the curriculum to substantially differentiate business information systems from standard business degree pathways.  So far, there have been no efforts to create a Transfer Model Curriculum pathway related to Digital Media.  The chaotic wild west of the ICT revolution continues.]

MEDIA RELEASE November 21, 2013
Contact: Paul Feist, California Community Colleges
Office: 916.327.5353 / Cell: 209.670.6240
Office E-mail: pfeist@cccco.edu
Contact: Mike Uhlenkamp, California State University
Office: 562.951.4834 / Cell: 562.756.7935
Office E-mail: muhlenkamp@calstate.edu


Transfer Program Between California Community Colleges and California State University Hits Milestone of 1,000 Associate Degrees for Transfer Developed

Students now have wide range of options for degrees that guarantee admission to CSU

SACRAMENTO – The state’s new streamlined transfer program developed by California Community Colleges and California State University now offers 1,000 associate degrees for transfer in a wide variety of disciplines, making it easier for students to transfer to CSU and earn a bachelor’s degree.

California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice W. Harris praised the academic senates from both systems for working diligently to develop the new degrees offered at the system’s 112 colleges in a way that properly aligns course requirements for smoother transfer.

“Development of 1,000 degrees over a two-year period is an astonishing feat,” Harris said. “These degrees guarantee admission to CSU, and students are quickly finding this is an attractive path for transfer. This program makes both systems run more efficiently and will go a long way in helping California meet its need for more college-educated workers.”

The Associate Degree for Transfer program allows community college students who complete an Associate in Arts for Transfer or an Associate in Science for Transfer degree with 60 units (two years) priority admission to a CSU program that is similar to the community college major as determined by CSU. Once admitted to CSU, students only have to complete an additional 60 units to earn a bachelor’s degree. (Click on the image to see one Associate Degree for Transfer student’s success story.)

“Creating more than 1,000 Associate Degrees for Transfer is an important testament to the combined work of both educational systems and a win-win achievement for our students and state,” said Chancellor Timothy P. White. “By earning both an associate’s and bachelor’s degree through this new endeavor, our graduates ‘win’ by being more competitive in the job market and earning higher wages. With the need for at least 1 million additional degreed professionals by 2025, our state also ‘wins.’ By advancing degree completion, this new transfer pathway is supporting the economic vitality of California.”

Past studies showed that community college students transferred with an average of 80 units when only 60 units are required for an associate degree. Then, upon arrival at the California State University, they often took excess units to make up for courses that did not transfer from their community college.

“The degree with a guarantee program means the world to me. It means a better life for me and my family,’’ said Maria Brown, who started at Cuyamaca College and transferred to San Diego State University. “As a former foster youth, I grew up with no parents, and I never learned about college or the opportunities that were available to youth. This program guaranteed me a spot, and it gives other former foster youth and other people of challenging backgrounds a chance to be something they never thought they could be."

In the 2012-2013 academic year, the first full year transfer degrees were available, 1,730 Associate of Science for Transfer and 3,571 Associate of Arts for Transfer degrees were awarded to California community colleges students.

For more information about the transfer program and to hear from students who have already earned these degrees and made the jump to CSU, visit ADegreeWithAGuarantee.com.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation. It is composed of 72 districts and 112 colleges serving 2.3 million students per year. Community colleges supply workforce training, basic skills courses in English and math, and prepare students for transfer to four-year colleges and universities. The Chancellor’s Office provides leadership, advocacy and support under the direction of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.

The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, approximately 437,000 students and 44,000 faculty and staff. The CSU awards about 96,000 degrees annually and since its creation in 1961 has conferred nearly 2.8 million. The CSU is renowned for the quality of its teaching and for the job-ready graduates it produces. The mission of the CSU is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever changing needs of the people of California. With its commitment to excellence, diversity and innovation, the CSU is the university system that is working for California. Connect with and learn more about the CSU at CSU Social Media. Show how the CSU matters to you and take action.

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Time for the United States to Re-Skill ?

Time for the United States to Reskill? The Survey of Adult Skills, shows that our highest-skilled adults remain on par with those in other leading nations, but that, on average, American students are behind other nations in every other measure. The international rankings show that in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in a technology-rich environment, the U.S. average performance is significantly lower than the international average. The data also show that the skill levels of U.S. adults have remained stable over two decades, and that our youngest learners are not improving their skill levels. In some other countries, young adults score well above older ones and also outpace their American peers. This shows that the disadvantages children face often persist into adulthood and learning gaps, fueled by opportunity gaps, exist among American adults.  

Importantly, the report findings shine a spotlight on a portion of our population that has historically been overlooked and underserved: the large numbers of adults with very low basic skills. Adults who have trouble reading, doing math, solving problems, and using technology will find the doors of the 21st-century workforce closed to them. The OECD report offers general recommendations as to how the U.S. can be more strategic in our reforms for the low-skilled adult learner population.  

The report offers seven broad policy recommendations for the U.S. to consider. The first is to “take concerted action to improve basic skills and tackle inequities affecting sub-populations with weak skills.” This recommendation addresses the fact that there are significant weaknesses in the skills of the U.S. population, particularly among identified subgroups, where the long-term consequences of the achievement gap can be seen in the adult population. For example, Hispanics and blacks are three-to-four times more likely to have low literacy skills than whites. While the achievement gap in K–12 schooling has been closing steadily, it is not erased and the adult population’s skill profiles still bear the signs of early inequities. The OECD calls on the United States to coordinate and align federal, state, private and philanthropic efforts to improve workforce development efforts and maximize the effectiveness with which efforts reach the scale and efficacy required to make real and lasting changes to the current skills profile.  

The second recommendation, to “strengthen initial schooling for all....” also derives from the long-term effects of poor K–12 schooling, which remain a drag on adults’ skill proficiencies. Current education reforms, such as attention to early learning, dropout prevention, and adoption of more rigorous standards, should be strengthened, accelerated, and evaluated for their continued effectiveness in preparing students with strong skills. The OECD points to the experiences of other countries, such as Korea and Finland, that leveraged early PISA findings (an international skills survey conducted among 15-year-olds) as a wake up call to marshal education reforms that have yielded lasting improvements. The reforms undertaken and the measures of their success are described in a previous OECD report: Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for the United States. 

“Ensure effective and accessible education opportunities for young adults” is the third recommendation. It echoes President Obama’s call for more Americans to complete at least one year of postsecondary education and training in order to succeed in the 21st century global economy. It also reflects the efforts that are underway to reform high schools by making career and technical pathways available to more students. The OECD recognizes that although the pipeline to education exists, many low-skilled and low-income youth and adults are not able to complete their degrees or training programs. Reforms to college access, cost, and developmental education are urgently needed.  

“Link efforts to improve basic skills to employability.” This fourth recommendation draws on previous OECD work in career and technical education, recognizing that the integration of basic skills and work-based learning can be a powerful accelerator for disengaged or low-skilled youth and adults. It opens what OECD calls a “virtuous cycle” of synergistic learning and motivation. This recommendation requires cooperation with employers and industry groups to embed work experiences of all kinds into education pathways and to keep job-specific skills updated in the curriculum.  

“Adapt to diversity,” the fifth recommendation, notes that within the U.S. adult profile is a range of distinct sub-populations with a variety of needs, including young immigrants with language barriers, disconnected youths, adults with learning disabilities, and dislocated workers facing digital literacy challenges. Accordingly, the adult low-skilled population is not homogenous. The OECD recommends developing a range of interventions specifically targeted to the needs and strengths of the various learners and their capacities to engage in education and training.  

The sixth recommendation, to “build awareness of the implications of weak basic skills among adults, their links with other social factors…” refers to those social factors linked to skills as revealed in this survey. These include positive civic behaviors such as voting and volunteering, as well as improving health status and prevention behaviors. In the U.S., the correlation between poor health status and low literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills is twice as strong as the international average. In fact, U.S. adults with low skills are four times more likely to report only “fair” or “poor” health. This combination presents great challenges to both the individual and the health providers to communicate and address the prevention, management, and treatment of disease and unhealthy behaviors.  

The final recommendation, to “support action with evidence,” recognizes that the U.S. capacity for research and evaluation is unsurpassed and calls on the research community to pay more attention to the education and training of low-skilled youths and adults to identify a repertoire of effective, replicable, and scalable practices. To jumpstart this focus, the OECD and the Educational Testing Service are co-sponsoring a researcher training on the dataset and analysis tools this week (registration is full). The Department has also committed to further training opportunities for researchers. Future issues of OVAE Connection will give information on how to participate in these opportunities.  

Stay up to date with all the PIAAC-related publications, briefings, and events at www.piaacgateway.com.

The overview and main findings of the Survey of Adult Skills were released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This direct assessment, part of the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competencies, (PIAAC), was conducted with nationally representative samples in 23 countries, among adults aged 16 through 65. Based on the survey, OVAE requested OECD to prepare the report, Time for the United States to Reskill? What the Survey of Adult Skills Says. This report analyzes data from the survey and details the status of American adult competencies within our economic, demographic, and social structures and makes policy recommendations to boost adult skill levels. 

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7 Ways to Find the Best IT Jobs

• by Linda Christensen, Robert Half Technologies
• November 21, 2013

 

Top tips for finding the best tech jobs

From software engineer to mobile apps developer, systems analyst to database administrator — there’s little doubt that technology jobs are hot! But where do you start when you’re ready to begin your job search?

A few simple guidelines can help ensure that you’re on the right track to finding the best IT jobs.

1. Build and maintain your personal brand online. This doesn’t mean just posting your resume online anymore. Today’s employers are using a variety of online tools when recruiting for IT jobs. In addition to using the right keywords in the resume that you are uploading to IT job search engines and job boards, you should do the same in your LinkedIn profile. You can also synchronize all of your social media profiles so hiring managers can find you more easily. Just be sure that all of the details on your social media accounts are professional and appropriate for potential employers’ eyes.
2. Develop a target list of companies that you’d like to work for. There is an abundance of information available online, well beyond company websites. Once you identify the companies in your market that interest you, do your homework – check out Glassdoor and Yelp reviews for additional insight and be sure to follow the companies’ Facebook and LinkedIn pages, as well as their Twitter feeds.
3. Review postings on the search engines and job boards that feature IT jobs such as DICE and CareerBuilder. Keep your searches tight using keywords that match your interests and the location where you want to work. Narrowing your criteria will lead to more targeted and relevant job listings and less weeding through non-relevant job listings.
4. Focus on your social network. Maintaining an active network is critical at every stage of your career, whether you’re seeking a new IT job, looking to advance in your current role or developing your skills. Social media channels allow you to easily leverage existing contacts who can help you find new ones. Because you can see who members of your network are linked to, you can ask for introductions. These channels also give you access to groups with similar interests and career focuses.
5. Once you secure the interview, make sure you do everything you can to ace it! Employers expect candidates to come prepared. Thoroughly research the company in advance and be prepared to answer frequently asked interview questions. Follow-up is also key in securing an IT job. Send a personal thank-you note within 24 hours to thank the interviewer (and anyone else you met with) for taking the time to meet with you. This will help differentiate you from other candidates while providing an opportunity to reiterate your interest in the position.
6. Work with a tech recruiter.  A specialized recruiter can introduce you to the right tech opportunity and help accelerate your job search. Recruitment firms have well-developed relationships with employers and are very familiar with workplace trends and the specialized skills that are currently in demand. Perhaps most importantly, specialized technology recruiters frequently know about jobs that have not yet been advertised.
7. Stay positive. We all know searching for a new job can be stressful. But if you feel negative or unenthusiastic, it could come across when you are meeting potential employers and have a negative impact on your prospects. Keep in mind that a positive attitude goes a long way during the job search. As an IT professional, you are working in one of the fastest growing industries around and that in itself is something to feel positive about!

— Linda Christensen

Linda Christensen is the senior director of field marketing and public relations for Robert Half Technology. She has worked in the recruiting industry for 18+ years, focusing primarily on local public relations and marketing strategies. Linda is well-versed in career search trends and frequently tapped by friends for job search and career advice.

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Cal Poly Announces Major New Initiative In Cybersecurity Education

Part of the cybersecurity initiative, the Cal Poly -- Northrop Grumman Cyber Lab is set to open for classes in January

November 20, 2013 Security Dark Reading

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- With the establishment of a Cybersecurity Center, the opening of a new cyber lab and the development of cybersecurity curriculum, Cal Poly is poised to become a leading supplier of cyber-ready experts, professionals and innovators.

Spearheaded by the College of Engineering, the major new educational initiative encompasses a comprehensive and collaborative program that spans the polytechnic university and partners with public and private organizations. The goals of the program include educating thousands of students in cybersecurity awareness and readiness; producing experts in cyber technologies and systems, including many professionals who will serve the military and defense industry; and graduating cyber innovators who are prepared for advanced study and applied research in emerging cyber issues.

The Cal Poly Cybersecurity Center serves as the nexus for a wide range of activities that involve faculty and students collaborating with experts from other academic institutions, private companies, defense industries and government agencies, and research labs. A nationwide search for a founding director of the Cybersecurity Center is now underway.

Part of the cybersecurity initiative, the Cal Poly – Northrop Grumman Cyber Lab is set to open for classes in January 2014. The undergraduate and graduate teaching facility -- the first of its kind in the nation -- was made possible by support from the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

With 32 workstations, projectors, presentation center and expansive whiteboard space, the lab will enable student and faculty experimentation in network security and cyber defense, exploitation, attack, research and development, analytics and visualization. The lab's associated server center offers a robust research environment, including all of the elements of an enterprise-scale information technology operation.

Not only did the Northrop Grumman Foundation provide funding for hardware and software, but the company helped design the facility and sent Dale Griffiths, chief scientist in the Northrop Grumman Intelligence System Division in McLean, Va., to set up and configure the lab.

A unique aspect of the Cal Poly – Northrop Grumman cyber collaboration includes access via network connection to the Northrop Grumman Virtual Cyber Lab, thereby expanding educational and research capabilities for Cal Poly students and faculty.

"Our shared investment in the cyber lab will be the foundation for a meaningful cyber partnership between Northrop Grumman and Cal Poly," said Ron Smith, Northrop Grumman Information Systems sector vice president for programs and engineering.

Cal Poly's momentum in cybersecurity education builds upon an already-established focus in the area, including a two-year-old cybersecurity project lab established with funding from Raytheon. The company also sponsors White Hat, the Cal Poly student club dedicated to making the internet a safer place by protecting personal computers, private data and information systems.

The addition of Zachary Peterson to the faculty in fall 2013 ensures expansion of cybersecurity research and curriculum from entry-level to advanced, specialized topics. An expert in secure storage systems, applied cryptography, and law and policy, Peterson has received funding from the National Science Foundation for research in cybersecurity education. Cal Poly is now searching for another faculty member with expertise in secure infrastructure.

Future course offerings in cybersecurity may include cryptography engineering, study of cutting-edge malware research and analysis, and examination of the major controversies affecting today's Internet resulting from the interplay of policy, law and technology.

"Whether you're a private citizen, private company or government agency, cyber threats are a real and growing concern," said Debra Larson, dean of Cal Poly Engineering. "Our cyber facilities and education offer every student the opportunity to learn about the risks associated with the use of cyber technology.

"More importantly, through Learn by Doing instruction, Cal Poly will educate the Day One-ready cyber experts who know how to defend, secure, tactically engage and restore the cyber-space. By partnering with businesses and government, we are creating a framework of education, applied research and public service that will benefit the nation."

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New Milestone for CompTIA Troops to Tech Careers Initiative: 16,000 Veterans Certified for IT Skills

Nov 08, 2013  CompTIA


Downers Grove, Ill., November 8, 2013 – CompTIA, the non-profit association for the global IT industry, said today its Troops to Tech Careers initiative has reached a new milestone in the number of military veterans certified in the skills that can lead to post-military careers in IT.

Some 16,000 veterans have earned nearly 22,000 CompTIA certifications between the launch of Troops to Tech Careers in October 2011 and Veteran’s Day 2013. In the last year, the number of participants has doubled.

“Veteran’s Day reminds us how important it is to support our nation’s veterans as they transition from active duty to civilian life,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA. “Critical to this transition are creating opportunities for veterans to find meaningful employment in careers that offer long-term options for advancement and growth.”

The IT industry is one in which veterans with the right mix of business, communication and technical skills can find rewarding careers.

During Q3 2013, there were 615,192 core IT job openings in the U.S., according to Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights. This at a time when unemployment for post-9/11 veterans continues on an upward trend – 10.1 percent in September, compared to the nationwide unemployment rate of 7.2 percent.

“This is unfortunate, because veterans know what hard work is and frequently enter or re-enter the civilian workforce with sought-after skills,” Thibodeaux noted. “We established Troops to Tech Careers to signal CompTIA’s commitment to our veterans and encourage our members and the broader IT industry to join us in this effort.”

Troops to Tech Careers offers veterans a way to hone their existing talents and fill in any gaps through training and certification in the IT skills most sought after by employers.

CompTIA Security+ is currently the most sought after certification among Troops to Tech Careers veterans, with some 9,700 earning the credential. CompTIA A+ is next, with 6,670 veterans certified; followed by CompTIA Network+ (4,490). Veterans have also attained certifications in project management, server technologies, green IT, Linux and storage.

CompTIA is a participant in the White House’s IT Training and Certification Program, a public-private partnership that will enable thousands of service members to earn industry-recognized IT certifications before they transition from military service.

CompTIA also participates in the Department of Defense Information Assurance Program and contributes to the Wounded Warriors Project through its foundation, Creating IT Futures.

About CompTIA
CompTIA is the voice of the world’s information technology (IT) industry. Its members are the companies at the forefront of innovation; and the professionals responsible for maximizing the benefits organizations receive from their investments in technology. CompTIA is dedicated to advancing industry growth through its educational programs, market research, networking events, professional certifications, and public policy advocacy. Visit www.comptia.org, http://www.facebook.com/CompTIA and http://twitter.com/comptia.



Contact:
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
630-678-8468
smostrowski@comptia.org

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Career tech at community colleges should not be undervalued, report says

November 18th, 2013
By Kathryn Baron   EdSource



Many students turn to community colleges for career technical courses, yet those students are overlooked when measuring college success rates, a new study says. Credit: Dan Figueroa for the Career Ladders Project

A massive reform effort to increase graduation and transfer rates at the state’s community colleges is in full swing since passage of a 2012 law requiring campuses to significantly increase graduation and transfer rates.

Yet a new report turns those goals slightly askew by arguing that the relentless focus on such traditional notions of success as earning an associate’s degree or certificate or transferring to a four-year college ignores a large population of students who achieve their goals through shorter programs. Overlooking that impact undercuts a key mission of community colleges and ultimately distorts campuses’ accomplishments, the report said.

“There are fields where you can take a (community college) class or two and bump your earnings by 15 percent. What other options do people have to raise their salaries that much?” said report co-author Kathy Booth, a researcher with WestEd, a nonprofit education research, development and service agency. Yet, under current accountability measures “these students are counted as failures,” Booth said.

She and co-author Peter Riley Bahr, associate professor at the University of Michigan, call these students “skills-builders,” first-time college students who have already been working for a number of years – their average age is 37 – and who enroll in a limited number of courses in a specific discipline to increase their salaries or improve their workforce skills.

“They needed something quick, it helped them with their jobs and they got in and out quickly to do that,” said California Community Colleges Vice Chancellor Patrick Perry.
Career boosters

The study identified about 50,000 students, or one in seven students entering community college for the first time each year, as skills-builders. They typically take career technical education courses – construction, manufacturing, engineering, industrial technology, corrections or specialized computer programs such as Microsoft Excel.

Because they’re supporting themselves, and often families, these students need the flexibility to be able to take a couple of narrowly focused courses instead of the full slate of liberal arts classes required for degrees and many certificates. Night courses are popular for this reason, Booth said, as are programs that can be taken in bursts, such as child care programs, where it takes six credits – about two courses – to become an assistant teacher, 12 credits for an associate teacher, and 32 to be certified as a site supervisor.

“For a woman with young children who must juggle child care and a job, a skills-builder pathway in child development (or) early care and education may be her first rung on a ladder out of poverty,” Booth and Bahr wrote in the report.

Many campuses also offer their own certificates to prepare people for specific local industry needs that may require as few as six units. Others prepare students to pass state and professional licensing exams and certifications, such as in welding, child care and firefighting. About 41 percent of skills-builders say they’ve earned one of these, but since the chancellor’s office doesn’t collect this information, the achievements go unreported and the students end up being classified as dropouts.


Students described as “skills-builders” can get a bump in their salaries by taking just a few very focused community college classes. Source: WestEd & Learning Works

Students say they’re getting what they want from these classes. In a separate survey of nearly 11,600 skills-builder students at 35 California community colleges, more than half said they were “very satisfied” with their courses and another 35 percent were satisfied community college customers.

Given their salary boosts it’s no wonder. The survey reported an average wage gain of 28 percent, from $18.34 to $23.51 an hour.
A different measure

Paychecks are a big motivation for many of these students, Perry said, and if they got a raise or promotion as a result of taking a few classes, that should be one of the college accountability measures tracked by the chancellor’s office, the state Legislature and local college boards of trustees.

Because the outcomes of these students aren’t tracked, community colleges may have a lot more successful students than they get credit for, the report’s authors said. That could work against them, Bahr said.

“Given the current fiscal constraints and the pressure on community colleges to demonstrate performance, there is a great risk that workforce-related programs will be cut significantly,” Bahr said.

Making the case for short-term programs will require a lot more information. For starters, not much is known about these students.

The difficulty is in “trying to capture a piece of the population that’s traditionally been seen as a failure of the system,” Perry said.

His office has been working to identify skills-builder students, to look at what courses they take, how it helps them and which campuses show the best outcomes. One they get that data, Perry said it could be included in the community college system’s Student Success Scorecard, an online site that lets prospective students see which programs and campuses have the best success rates.

Booth and Bahr are also continuing their research to help colleges better understand the needs of these students and design better strategies to help them.

Until they know more, it’s too soon to draw any definitive conclusions, said Linda Collins, executive director of Learning Works, an Oakland-based nonprofit that provided some funding for the study.

“I wouldn’t want to take this research to say certificates and degrees aren’t important,” Collins said. “I would take it to say they’re not the whole story.”



Contact senior reporter Kathryn Baron and follow her @Tcherspet. Sign up here for a no-cost online subscription to EdSource Today for reports from the largest education reporting team in California.

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CTI: Tech Leaders Warn IT Talent Shortage Could Curb Hiring Plans

Technology companies are looking to hire more employees over the next year, but worry that there will not be enough qualified IT jobs candidates to fill the vacancies.

By Kenneth Corbin CIO
Thu, November 14, 2013

CIO — In an economy marked by conflicting indicators, technology companies are looking to hire more employees over the next year, but worry that there will not be enough qualified candidates to fill the vacancies, according to a new survey from the trade group Technology Councils of North America.

TECNA's poll of more than 1,700 technology executives highlighted the contrasting views of the business climate that have marked the shaky economic recovery. Broadly gauging sentiment about the overall business conditions today, the survey reported a score of 56.4 on a 100-point scale, up from 46.3 a year ago. At the same time, respondents cited a lack of confidence and economic paralysis as the biggest impediments to business activity.

"Mixed economic messages have been the pattern for several years now. A few indicators will show positive improvement, while a few will show weakness," says Bob Moore, TECNA's executive director.

"Consequently," Moore adds, "it can be difficult to reconcile conflicting signals."

Where Are All the Tech Pros?
Amid that tepid optimism, tech leaders fret over shortfalls in the talent pool that could stall their hiring plans. Sixty-three percent of respondents said that they intend to add staff in the next 12 months. That figure was even higher among executives at small and midsized business, segments in which more than 70 percent of respondents are looking to expand their workforce.

But 69 percent of the respondents bemoaned a "shortage in the quantity and quality" of workers with technology skills.

The results of the survey come as the latest argument advanced by tech sector groups in favor of policies to boost the labor force, including efforts to further education in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math, andreforms to the immigration system to bring in more skilled foreign workers.

Moore stresses his group's support for comprehensive immigration reform, "in particular the high-skilled aspects that increase H-1B visas for STEM workers."

"We strive for reform either as one large package or through piece-meal legislation that is put together down the road," he says, calling the current system "broken."
Would Immigration Reform Help?

Immigration reform appears stalled at the moment in Washington, however. The Senate has passed a comprehensive bill, but on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner said that he would not consider the legislation, saying that "we have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill."

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LearningWorks: THE MISSING PIECE: Quantifying Non-Completion Pathways to Success

” . . . in the California Community College system . . . nearly one-third of students took an average of just two courses over about two years and overwhelmingly succeeded in these courses, but rarely attained a degree, certificate, or transferred to a four-year college.”

THE MISSING PIECE:
Quantifying Non-Completion Pathways to Success


Community college students increase earnings of up to 15% after taking just a handful of courses in workforce-related fields, such as water and wastewater technology, criminal justice, electronics, information technology, and manufacturing, according to a study by University of Michigan Associate Professor Peter Riley Bahr. The findings point to the importance of employment outcomes in addition to degree attainment in measuring the success of community colleges. Fully 1 in 7 first-time California community college students enroll in six or fewer credits per semester, succeed in those courses at a very high rate, but do not attain a community college credential or transfer to a four-year institution. LearningWorks has published a brief on the new research entitled The Missing Piece: Quantifying Non-Completion Pathways to Success. The brief, written by Bahr and WestEd Senior Research Associate Kathy Booth, examines students opting to build a few skills rather than complete a degree or certificate.

With budgets tight, policy makers and colleges have to make difficult choices about educational priorities. If degree attainment is the primary metric of success, pathways that lead to workforce-related successes may be de-prioritized because they tend to produce lower graduation rates. However, career and technical education programs are vital to rebuilding and sustaining the economy and helping people secure a better wage. Examining skills-builder opportunities and better measuring employment outcomes will help states quickly get skilled workers back into the workplace, support students in choosing the right level of education to meet their goals, and encourage colleges to develop workforce-related programs that better connect students to jobs.

As more states seek to link funding to student outcomes, colleges need ways to measure and evaluate employment-related gains. For skills-builder students, these may include the following.
External credentials, such as industry certifications and state licenses, which may hold greater value in the workplace than a community college credential
Improvements to working conditions, such as finding a job in their field of study or transitioning from part-time to full-time work
Job retention that is dependent on periodic recertification in specific skills or bodies of knowledge
Earnings gains that clarify how much earnings increased relative to wages before college and whether these increases help students secure a family-sustaining wage

Click here to download the full report.

Click here to download the executive summary.

[ICT students very frequently achieve the success they seek in community college ICT related classes, without seeking or achieving academic transfer, degree or certificate completion.  We need to be sure those successes are counted as successes, not failures.]

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IT budgets, headcount set to grow in 2014: study

Companies are increasing IT spending, yet economic uncertainty remains a concern, SIM reports.

By Ann Bednarz, Network World
November 12, 2013 08:13 AM ET

A majority of IT leaders are reporting modest growth in budgets, salaries and headcount, according to the latest survey data from the Society for Information Management (SIM).

Companies are still concerned about the economy, but that hasn’t stopped them from funneling more of their revenue to the IT department this year than they did in recent years, SIM reports. In 2013, the average IT budget was 4.95% of corporate revenue. That’s only a marginal increase from 4.94% in 2012, but it’s a full percentage point higher than the average rate of 3.96% measured over the past nine years.
SIM, which counts 4,500 CIOs and IT executives among its ranks, is hosting its SIMposium conference in Boston this week. The organization’s annual IT survey includes these highlights:

Most IT leaders expect budget increases. Looking ahead to 2014, 65% of survey respondents say IT budgets will increase, 23% expect to see a decline, and 12% are forecasting no change. The average increase is projected to be 1.48%.

Headcount increases outnumber reductions. Nearly half of companies (47%) reported an increase in internal IT employees in 2013, while 23% said staff numbers declined. The average increase was 1.10% in 2013. Next year, 55% of respondents anticipate growing headcount; 18% expect reductions.

Raises are the norm. A decisive 89% of respondents said average IT salaries climbed in 2013, while only 4% reported decreases. The average pay increase was 2.24% in 2013. Next year, 90% expect to boost salaries by an average of 2.45%; 4% expect reductions in pay.

Staff turnover is accelerating. After stalling for a few years, staff turnover increased among IT pros this year. The rate of turnover hit 6.58%, up from 5.23% in 2012, 5.51% in 2011, and 5.5% in 2010.

Training budgets are rebounding. In 2013, companies allocated 4.68% of their IT budgets for education and training -- a sizable increase from 2012, when 2.87% of budgets went to training.

Most IT monies are spent internally, domestically. IT leaders allocated 73.2% of their 2013 budgets to in-house, domestic spending. Another 22.9% was outsourced (17.2% outsourced to domestic providers, 5.7% outsourced offshore). The remaining 3.9% was allocated to in-house offshore spending.

On-time delivery matters. IT leaders ranked the most-used metrics for measuring IT success, and on-time project delivery placed first, followed by: projects delivered on budget; increased customer or client satisfaction; SLA targets; and productivity improvements.

Analytics rule... Survey respondents were asked to rank their largest or most significant IT investments in 2013, and analytics/business intelligence was the clear standout, cited by 42% of respondents. Other popular priorities include: CRM (19.5%), cloud computing (18.6%), and ERP (16.6%).

… yet analytics are worrisome. IT pros were also asked about their greatest concerns, and analytics/business intelligence topped the list of worries. Security ranked second among IT concerns, followed by disaster recovery, cloud computing, and BYOD.

The forecast is cloudy. SIM’s survey found that 81% of organizations use the cloud. On average, 26.5% of all IT services are cloud‐based. Among those, 54% are provided by a public or external cloud, and 46% are provided by a private or internal cloud.

Business alignment remains an imperative. When asked about the most important IT management concerns for the organization, the most pressing issue cited is a familiar one: alignment of IT with the business. IT pros also said the organization is concerned about business agility, business productivity, business cost reduction/controls, and IT cost reduction/controls.

Similarly, when IT pros were asked about their own IT management concerns, IT/business alignment also ranked first. But priorities shifted after that. The next most worrisome issues for IT pros are security, followed by talent shortages and business continuity/disaster recovery.

Economic uncertainty is still taking a toll. While the majority of respondents reported positive gains in IT spending and personnel, not everyone did. To recap, 27% of respondents cut IT budgets this year, 23% trimmed IT headcount, and 4% saw reductions in average salaries.

Ann Bednarz covers IT careers, outsourcing and Internet culture for Network World. Follow Ann on Twitter at @annbednarz and reach her via email at abednarz@nww.com.

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Bay Area Computer User & Network Support Marketplace, Sept13, 2013

December 13, 2013, please join the Computer User & Network Support Marketplace - a convening of Bay Region employers with Bay Region community colleges - to better prepare the future workforce!  Please also share this invitation with your faculty contacts, advisory group members, business and industry contacts and social media! 
 

 

 

The Computer User & Network Support Marketplace is an event for Bay Region employers and community college representatives to meet and develop clear, common understanding of computer user, help desk and network technical support workforce needs, so students have efficient and effective pathways to those jobs, and employers have access to the quality workforce they need to support strategic ICT users and infrastructure. 


It will be a valuable use of your time and energy!  Please join us:

Friday, December 13, 2013
9AM-2PM (Breakfast served at 9:00 a.m. Meeting starts at 9:30 a.m.)
Ohlone College (www.ohlone.edu/core/mapsdirs/)
Fremont Campus, 43600 Mission Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539
Building 7, Admissions and Records - ROOM 7101
Link to Campus Map
Agenda and Parking permit forthcoming (will also be posted at baccc.net)

Breakfast and Lunch provided

Please RSVP by populating this link:  RSVP 12/13/13

This event is being co-convened by:

• the Bay Area Community College Consortium, a strategic collaboration of 28 Bay Area community colleges
• Bay Area Region ICT Deputy Sector Navigators
• The Mid-Pacific ICT Center (MPICT)

California Community Colleges (CCCs) and Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) have identified Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as an important strategic sector for California and Bay Area economies.  As part of the CCC Doing What Matters for Jobs and the Economycampaign, Bay Area community colleges are coming together to proactively, strategically, efficiently and effectively meet ICT economic and workforce development needs in the greater Bay Area.  This marketplace meeting is part of that effort.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is an umbrella term, widely used outside the U.S. and in the United Nations, to encompass all rapidly emerging, evolving and converging computer, software, networking, telecommunications, Internet, programming, information systems and digital media technologies.

Thank you for all you do to improve ICT education and workforce!

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Hour of Code Tutorials Are Ready to Try - 1.5m Students from 141 Countries Planning to Participate

Hour of Code tutorials are ready to try -- with options for every age, every device, and even "unplugged." While this is still a work-in-progress, we invite you to check out the options, and give us feedback.

In particular, Code.org’s own tutorials are ready for preview - learn basic sequencing, repeat loops, and if-then statements from Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Angry Birds.

Please check them out and host an Hour of Code for students in your school or community. See all the tutorials

1,500,000 students and growing
We just passed 1.5 million students planning to participate in the Hour of Code across 141 countries! It’s now on track to be the largest online education event in history, proving that the demand for relevant 21st century computer science education knows no boundaries. See every school participating here.

Join now to win laptops or a video chat with Bill Gates.
Odds of winning are still exceptionally high in many states. To qualify:

1) Registerfor your entire school to participate in the Hour of Code by Nov. 15.
2) Then, email us your school’s Hour of Code “logistics plan” to prizes@code.orgto enter the running for a class-set of laptops. Details

With CSEdWeek (Dec. 9-15) only 5 weeks away, please help your students join in on this record-breaking event. Join us now

Hadi Partovi, founder, Code.org

P.S. Why are you receiving this? You watched our video and signed the petition at http://code.org, to bring more code and computer science to all our schools. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a monthly newsletter, we’ll only send you rare, but important, updates. You’ll hear from us more between now and December, and then we’ll dial it down).

More questions about the Hour of Code? Ask on our forum

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ICT jobs in California ripe for the picking

November 01, 2013 by Matthew Grant Anson  California Economic Summit



(photo credit: Mike Poresky)

Mike Rowe knows a thing or two about skilled work. For a decade he’s jumped headfirst into all sorts of skill-heavy modes of employment for Dirty Jobs, and his time embracing the dirty has resulted in some economic wisdom.

“The thing I hear over and over and over and over again from small business owners and entrepreneurs is how hard it is to find workers with the combination of the right skills and willingness to work their butts off,” he told Inside Edition back in August.

Although Rowe was talking about skilled workers like mechanics and plumbers, this quote rings just as true in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT). The rapid growth of the ICT field is the California economy’s best kept secret, but the California Workforce Association and the California Workforce Investment Board are looking to change that.

The first step in getting the word out was an October 30th webinar, which was the first of many bringing together economic big-shots from across the state to talk about what ICT is and how the skills involved will be the lifeblood of the California economy for years to come.

“We’re living in a changed world today,” said James Jones, executive director of the Mid-Pacific ICT Center. “Twentieth century economies were dominated by transportation and energy and manufacturing, while 21st century economies are increasingly dominated by information knowledge and innovation. ICT’s a paradigm shift that a lot of people have not yet gotten their heads around.”

First, a bit of clarification: The difference between ICT and IT is virtually negligible. They are mostly interchangeable, but while IT is a somewhat generic term, ICT stresses “the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications.” What’s important, however, is that these jobs in computers, software, and programming are exploding in a way that benefits the economy at large.

“ICT workers were responsible for 75 percent of US productivity growth from 1995 to 2002, and its workers contribute three to five times more productivity than non-ITC workers,” Jones said. “From 2001 to 2011, ICT jobs increased by 22.2 percent. [The sector] grew 95 times faster than employment as a whole, and its workers earn 74 percent more than the average worker.”

And therein lies the problem: the jobs are there, but there aren’t enough bodies to fill them. Despite the fact that each ICT job creates 4.3 more in the economy and ICT workers earn double the median wage in California, over half the companies in California report difficulty finding appropriately skilled ICT workers.

“That’s completely messed up in this period of high unemployment,” Jones said. “The situation is going to get worse because a large proportion of the existing ITC workforce is getting ready to retire.” Translation: it’s already hard to fill these jobs now, and the situation for employers is about to get worse. If people were properly trained, the unemployment rate would likely plummet in the coming years at the hands of the ICT sector alone.

So, how well is California getting its citizens trained for a chance at one of these jobs? The answer is troubling. San Francisco and the Bay Area at large may be the fastest growing ICT job market in the US, but 50 percent of the high schools there do not offer a single ICT-related class option for students.

Additionally, what is offered in California is far from standardized, as what is considered compulsory teaching in one program may not be in another. Jones stressed that 3 out 4 employers say a common training framework for ICT education is paramount.

Tim Rainey, executive director of the California Workforce Investment board, put the litany of data and figures into some context. “We’re in a retraining economy,” he said. “To be successful today, people need to have broad-based and employable skills. It no longer works to train people for a specific job or occupation.”

It’s simple wisdom – diversify and thrive – but that’s what makes it powerful. The California Economic Summit has made creating the next-generation workforce one of its seven Signature Initiatives. The Workforce Action Team will emphasize careers in high-demand fields through CTE partnerships and STEM career pathways.

Moving California forward isn’t just about creating new industries, but taking advantage of the opportunities in ones that are already here. That’s why California Forward, in partnership with the California Stewardship Network, is going all in on the California Economic Summit. Just one week away (!), the Summit will set an economic path down which California can move fluidly and confidently.

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Joint Workforce Development, CBO and MPICT Webinar Recording: ICT, a New Kind of Sector that Affects Almost Everything

Please feel free to share with organizations and people you think may be interested in the topic.

The next webinar will be live-cast from the California Workforce Association Youth Employment Conference, January 28 - 30, 2014.  We will have a webinar that includes both in-person and online participation.  Registration information for the webinar will be available in December.

We look forward to learning with you again soon!

Bob Lanter, Executive Director

California Workforce Association

Tim Rainey, Executive Director

California Workforce Investment Board

Barrie Hathaway, Executive Director

The Stride Center

Jennifer Riggs

California Emerging Technology Fund

James Jones, Executive Director

Mid-Pacific ICT Center (MPICT)

www.mpict.org

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CA Career Briefs: Manage Emotions

Workplace Skills

California Career Briefs      

“It is very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it is not the triumph of heart over head — it is the unique intersection of both.”

                             - David Caruso, PhD, Co-founder EI Skills Group

 

Manage Emotions

Did you know?

Emotionally intelligent employees are more productive, more likely to meet goals, and have greater rates of retention. While “technical skills’ are essential, in today’s workplace “relationship skills” are the new currency. Employees must not only know what to do (the task), but how (through relationships) to do it. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as one’s ability to understand and effectively manage one’s own emotions as well as a capacity to understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of others. Today’s activity will introduce students to an EI vocabulary.

Do this…

• Ask students a few questions. Find out what they already know about EQ.

What does IQ stand for? (Intelligence Quotient)What does EQ stand for? (Emotional Quotient)Why would EQ be important to employers? (Those with high EQ are more productive, effective, and successful.)

• View video.
• Review some of the important information in the video clip.

What are the four areas of EI?What happens in schools that have EI programs?What happens to a person’s EI as he/she grows and develops?

• Distribute the Student Activity, review directions and complete.
• Review and discuss the correct answers:
  1,k; 2,f; 3,e; 4,d; 5,g; 6,b; 7,h; 8,a; 9,o; 10,m; 11,j; 12,i; 13,l; 14,n; 15,c

Get Real!

Have students identify 1 or 2 traits they would like to work on for a week and report back the outcome.  For more on EI building strategies, Google offers this innovative approach to inspire their workforce.

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New law increases transfer degrees between community college, CSU

October 15th, 2013 |
By Kathryn Baron



A new law offers community college students more degree options to transfer into Cal State campuses. Credit: Deanne Fitzmaurice, Napa Valley College

Community college students will have more opportunities to transfer into California State University with a degree that’s guaranteed to help them graduate faster under a controversial bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown days before the deadline to take action on this session’s legislation.

Senate Bill 440, by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, puts more teeth and more choices into a bill he sponsored three years ago, SB 1440, which created the Associate Degree for Transfer Program. Yet faculty leaders at both community colleges and Cal State take issue with the latest bill, which they say adds more complexity to the difficult and lengthy process of creating transferrable course units and represents a legislative intrusion into academic policy.

The earlier legislation required community colleges and the university to agree on courses and associate degrees in about two dozen majors that, once completed at the community college level, would be accepted for full credit by Cal State. Students who complete the lower-division transfer degrees are guaranteed a spot at one of the CSU campuses as juniors. In all but a handful of majors, they’ll only need to earn another 60 credits, the equivalent of about two years as full-time students, to graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

But progress was slow. Padilla introduced SB 440 after the state Legislative Analyst’s Office reported uneven progress by the state’s 112 community colleges and 23 Cal State campuses in implementing the transfer degrees. Padilla said the degrees were needed to streamline the transfer from community college into four-year universities, which has not been highly coordinated between the systems and has been complex and difficult for students to navigate.

“While both the California Community Colleges and the California State University have made progress in implementing (SB 1440), they have fallen short,” said Padilla in a statement Oct. 10 when Brown signed the follow-up legislation. “Community college students deserve a clear and certain pathway to admission to California State University and a college degree.”
‘Areas of emphasis’

Community College and Cal State officials said they were moving as fast as they could given the time and effort required to get both systems to agree on curricula for upwards of two dozen transfer degrees.

But what really concerns them about SB 440 is that it adds new categories of community college majors to the transfer program that Cal State officials say are so broad they’re not sure it’s possible to make them fit into the guarantee. The new categories are called ”areas of emphasis.” Instead of a major in biochemistry or anthropology, an area of emphasis degree could be in the broader category of general sciences, or social and behavioral sciences, for instance.

That’s inconsistent with the goal of SB 1440, argues Diana Guerin, chair of the CSU Academic Senate. She said the new categories require community colleges and CSU to create majors that are both comprehensive enough to fit a variety of concentrations within a subject yet narrow enough to fulfill the course prerequisites for specific majors.

“Asking us to prepare a student for all of those areas when they are taking two years of a transfer curriculum is the opposite of what we’re trying to get them to do. We’re trying to get them to focus in so they’re ready for upper-division work,” Guerin said. ”The question is, can we put together a meaningful set of courses at the lower-division level that will help students transfer and complete a degree? Our initial research is that it will be very tough.”



Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima

Supporters say that’s a mischaracterization of Padilla’s bill. The original intent of SB 1440 was to provide flexibility for students, said Jessie Ryan, associate director of the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity, which co-sponsored the bill.

“The hope had always been to create a pathway that would be the preferred pathway for community college transfer students statewide, and in order to do that you have to have flexible degree options and acknowledge that students don’t always know day one as they enter a community college what major they want to transfer into,” Ryan said.

Since the bulk of coursework toward a major occurs once a student has transferred into a university, a lower-division associate degree in an area of emphasis allows students to focus on rigorous general education coursework while also doing “some exploration in those critical first couple of years of their college journey,” she said.

Padilla’s urgency on this issue stems from the abysmal completion and transfer rates at the state’s community colleges, and what that means for the students and the economy. A 2010 study by the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy at Sacramento State University, called Divided We Fail, found that six years after enrolling, 70 percent of “degree-seeking” community college students had not transferred to a university, nor had they completed a certificate or degree.

“For California to compete in the 21st century economy, we must dramatically improve the rate at which students transfer from community colleges and graduate from four-year universities,” Padilla said in the Oct. 10 statement.
Mission control

To some extent, Padilla’s bills put in a place a key component of the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education – more than half a century after it was adopted. The master plan, a blueprint mapping out how the public colleges and universities should work in California, identified “the transfer function” from community colleges “as a central institutional priority of all segments of higher education.”



Credit: Legislative Analyst’s Office

But as the Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded in its status report, “Despite this emphasis by the state, however, (community college) students often must navigate a complex maze of transfer course requirements which can make accessing and completing a baccalaureate program difficult.”

Neither SB 1440 nor SB 440 specifies how many transfer degrees must be established, but does require them for the most in-demand subjects, such as psychology, math, physics and business administration. So far, 25 transfer degrees have been approved, yet not every community campus offers all the programs.

A recent survey by the Campaign for College Opportunity found a wide range of access to the transfer degrees at the state’s community college campuses. According to the survey, only 18 community colleges had at least 80 percent of the degrees in place, while 34 were only halfway there. In some cases entire community college districts are lagging. Out of nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District, all but two were far behind schedule in developing the transfer degrees required under Padilla’s original bill.

“That, to us, is an issue of equity,” said Michele Siqueiros, executive director of the Campaign. Where students live shouldn’t determine whether they have access to all the transfer degrees available, she said.

There were some late amendments to SB 440 that made it more palatable to faculty at CSU and community colleges. Initially, the bill included the specific areas of emphasis that colleges had to establish. Padilla agreed to withdraw that after the faculty senates of both systems voted to oppose the bill. The Cal State Academic Senate switched to a neutral position afterward.

But faculty are still irked that advocacy groups and lawmakers keep trying to set academic policy.

“It’s possible that good people have what they think are good ideas, but when you implement them you might have to go in a different direction,” said Beth Smith, president of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. “Faculty should make the determination of whether that’s the best path for students and we’re not sure that it is and that’s our concern with the legislation.”

That legislation is now law, however, and a bigger challenge for the colleges is whether there’s enough room at CSU for the transfer students. Many campuses had closed their doors to spring transfers during the recession, but accepted students with transfer degrees under SB 1440. Still, the transfer guarantee doesn’t extend to a specific campus. Under SB 440, Cal State has to offer transfer students a place at another campus if their first choice has run out of room.

The program is still new and the numbers of students taking advantage of it reflect that. The statewide Community College Chancellor’s Office is still waiting for the fall census figures that will tell how many of their students are enrolled in the transfer degree program. Just under a thousand students were participating as of last spring. When numbers for the current semester are in, the chancellor’s office expects that to double.

Going deeper

ADegreeWithAGuarantee.com, statewide website for the Associate Degree for Transfer Program

Implementation of Associate degrees for transfer by California community colleges and CSU, Campaign for College Opportunity, Sept. 24, 2013

Senate Bill 440 Fact Sheet

Divided We Fail: Improving Completion and Closing Racial Gaps in California’s Community Colleges, Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, Sacramento State University, 2010

Reforming the State’s Transfer Process: A Progress Report on Senate Bill 1440, California Legislative Analyst’s Office, May 11, 2012

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Landmark community college bill heads to governor
Salary tracker shows earning power of community college grads – often more than graduate degree holders
“Wake up!” says retiring Community College Chancellor

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CA EDGE Campaign: California "Moves Forward" on Workforce Development

Education
Diversity and
Growth in the
Economy

The California EDGE Campaign is a non-partisan coalition of groups with diverse and even divergent outlooks but united in the belief that California's future economic growth rests in large measure on the skill base of its workers.

California "Moves Forward" on Workforce Development

California made significant legislative and administrative progress this year on workforce development policy in the areas of adult education, career pathways, and regional and sector-focused partnerships. The California EDGE Coalition just released a policy brief, Moving Forward: Workforce Development in California, that identifies the key achievements made this year and points to a number of implementation challenges the state faces along with action recommendations to help ensure that California succeeds in transforming a fragmented delivery system into to one that works effectively for students, job-seekers, and employers alike.

Visit our website at www.californiaedgecampaign.org 

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Career Ladders LearningWorks Report Highlights Benefits of Revamping Math Education

career ladders project       n e w s f l a s h    O C T O B E R  1 5 , 2 0 1 3

New LearningWorks Report  Highlights Benefits of Revamping Math Education      "Together, the high proportion of community college students requiring math remediation, and the relatively low proportion who succeed in required remedial sequences, make placement in developmental math one of the single greatest barriers to college completion."   CHANGING EQUATIONS: How Community Colleges are Re-Thinking College Readiness in Math     Experiments to reverse low community college completion rates by redesigning the remedial math most students must take are yielding promising results, defying assumptions about the kind of math students really need.  In a major departure from the traditional one-size-fits-all remedial math sequence that emphasizes intermediate algebra, a growing number of the nation's community colleges are part of a movement to prioritize statistics and quantitative reasoning.   Early results - including a dramatic jump from 6 to 51 percent in the share of students completing college-level math in their first year of college -- are lending credence to the theory that the alternative pathways are better tailored to college majors that don't require intermediate algebra. About a quarter of California's 112 community colleges, as well as numerous colleges in about a dozen other states, have begun to develop these alternatives for non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) students.   This brief was written for LearningWorks by Pamela Burdman, a nationally recognized education policy analyst, philanthropy professional, and journalist.   For more information and to download the brief click here.

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