Grants and Partnerships Awards

Grants Awarded

2015

 Pamela Burdman ($13,000)

Pamela Burdman will author a short report focusing on the current status of alternative math pathways and pending policy decisions (particularly CSU’s General Education Advisory Committee). In collaboration with LearningWorks, she will bring together researchers, practitioners, system leaders and other state policy makers to explore implications of new placement policies/practices and present findings at several key conferences.

 Metro College Success Program, San Francisco State University ($25,000)

Metro College Success Program will write a report sharing its implementation lessons and ideas for replication in public postsecondary institutions with the higher education community.

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office ($30,000)

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) is establishing a statewide baccalaureate degree pilot program at 15 colleges. In collaboration with LearningWorks, the CCCCO will convene a two-day summit and additional convenings to support the college teams in developing policies, best practices and documentation for the pilot programs.

2014

 Pamela Burdman ($65,500)

Pamela Burdman, in collaboration with LearningWorks and Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), will author three policy briefs on topics that have bearing on understanding math readiness and intersegmental alignment. This builds on previous work published in the LearningWorks brief, Changing Equations: How Community Colleges are Re-thinking College Readiness in Math. 

California Acceleration Project, Chabot College ($30,000)

California Acceleration Project (CAP) will develop two reports covering lessons from CAP innovations and implications for future student success reform initiatives.

Umoja Community ($8,850)

Umoja will produce a report documenting the impact and promise of its practices

2013

 Brothers2Brothers, The Foundation for Compton Community College District ($40,000)

El Camino College Compton Center aims to empower males on campus with practical knowledge of how to utilize the student services and programs available through Brothers2Brothers.

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office ($27,000)

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) will create professional materials to communicate with faculty within and beyond California, and support the spread of curricular and policy innovations from California to nationwide audiences.

Los Angeles Harbor College ($40,000)

Los Angeles Harbor College aims to create meaningful faculty and staff professional development experiences and to establish a location on campus where student/faculty/staff can meet for dialogues that may be able to transcend the classroom and extend the learning process socially and inclusively.

Math Adjunct Resource Center, Cabrillo Community College District ($31,000)

 The Cabrillo CCD will administer resources to support the innovative practices of “The Math Adjuncts Resource Collaboratory (MARC)” a model to offer adjunct faculty opportunities for both an increase in collegial communication and an increase in access to professional development.

Dr. Michael Kirst, John Gardner Center at Stanford University ($50,000)

Dr. Michael Kirst, Principal Investigator, and the John Gardner Center at Stanford University, will research and write policy briefs about the role of broad-access colleges in promoting the Silicon Valley economy.

Pamela Burdman ($15,000)

 Pamela Burdman will write a policy brief about current initiatives to re-think college readiness in mathematics.

WestEd ($20,000)

WestEd will work with Peter Bahr to further his Qualitative Non-Completion Research:  1) investigate pathways of “skills-builder” students, including identification of courses taken and attendantwage gains; 2) collect qualitative data at 8-10 colleges; 3) produce a follow-up brief outlining the research; and 4) share findings widely and spark further dialogue regarding implications of findings.

2012

C.O.N.N.E.C.T. The Student Network, Psi Beta, Irvine Valley College ($10,000)

Psi Beta will continue to implement “C.O.N.N.E.C.T. The Student Network”, a peer-mentoring program at Irvine Valley College that promotes the academic success and retention of community college students through increased student-to-college connectedness and assess its value as a mechanism for improving student completion.  Additionally, Psi Beta will explore the potential institutional, programmatic, policy implications, effectiveness and potential for scaling to other colleges

The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group) ($10,000)

RP Group, working with Peter Bahr, will develop an inquiry guide applying the findings of Peter Riley Bahr’s study with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office,  within the context of attaining degrees, certificates and transfer, to better understand student’s goals by examining course-taking behavior and its relationship to student success,  measures to better assess community college impact and  potential impacts of current completion reform efforts.  The guide will support both college based and policy discussions.

UMOJA Community, Chaffey College ($45,000)

Building on evidence from effective practices pioneered in the field, UMOJA will collaborate with LearningWorks to create professional communications materials to inform state and national policy audiences, as well as faculty within and beyond California, and support the spread of curricular and policy innovations from California to nationwide audiences.

2011

 California Acceleration Project, Chabot College ($40,000)

The California Acceleration Project will support faculty from the state’s 112 community colleges to redesign their developmental English and Math sequences.  The CAP will also work with LearningWorks to create professional communications materials and briefs, and support the spread of curricular and policy innovations from California to nationwide audiences.

 EdSource ($30,000)

EdSource will conduct research about how diagnostic information about new students is gathered and used at the community college level, and the connection between that and emerging policy issues, including new K-12 goals as defined by the Common Core State Standards.

WestEd ($22,000)

WestEd will facilitate development of an independent California community college research network to: 1) share knowledge and develop collaborative projects; and 2) plan and implement ways to connect research with practice, policy, and the public.

Barbara Baran, Workforce Learning Strategies ($25,000)

Workforce Learning Strategies will explore reform of California’s system of postsecondary basic skills education and the important choices that confront California and what are the implications of those decisions.  Two publications will be produced: 1) a short policy brief regarding the rationale for reform and 2) a research brief identifying specific models and practices from other states that could inform California as it considers reforms of Adult Education and Community College basic skills programs.

Partnership Grants Awarded

2011-2013

The California Community Colleges Success Network (3CSN), Los Angeles Community College District ($182,000)

The CCC Success Network (3CSN) funded by the CCC Chancellor’s Office via the Los Angeles CCD, is engaged as an organizational partner of LearningWorks and as a member of the LearningWorks’ leadership team via the active participation of Deborah Harrington.

The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group) ($182,000)

The Research and Planning Group (RP Group) is engaged as an organizational partner of LearningWorks and as a member of the LearningWorks’ leadership team via the active participation of Rob Johnstone.