Development of policy affecting community colleges: a case study of the California Community College Student Success Task Force

The issue of student success has become significant if not dominant in discussions at all levels of education since the early part of the 21st century. Discussions of public education have historically focused on issues of access, stemming from the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from education. In recent years, however, the focus of this discussion has shifted to the obligation of educational institutions to ensure students not only have access to education, but that they are successful. In response to the growing concerns about student success, the California State Senate, in 2010, passed SB 1143, which authorized the California Community College Board of Governors to form the California Community College Student Success Task Force, a body led by California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott. The task force was charged with producing actionable recommendations that would improve the success of California's community college students. The Student Success Task Force produced 22 recommendations, published in the Student Success Task Force Final Report (2012). Most of these recommendations were implemented by the time this study was completed. Implementation has had a considerable impact on the California community college system and its students. While the recommendations and their implementation have received considerable attention, relatively little is known about the process by which they were formed. This case study of the Student Success Task Force was designed to examine the ways in which educational policy is formed. Specifically, the study sought to examine policy formation from a systems theory perspective. The study explored ways in which student success was defined by the task force and by individual members, the ways in which these definitions were influenced by educational research and theory, and the degree to which the task force employed formal research methodology in the formation of its recommendations. The study found that the Student Success Task Force represented an effective model for policy development, and that its structure, developed by the architects of the task force, provided a sound foundation for discussions. The deliberate inclusion of all stakeholder groups provided representation from a broad range of perspectives, though faculty, community college administrators, and outside interests, which collectively had the largest numbers of representatives, appear to have had had the greatest influence on discussions. Stakeholder obligation also played a significant role in the development of the task force recommendations. Perhaps the most important influence on the task force and the development of its recommendations was the strength of leadership provided by Chancellor Jack Scott and by the California community college CEOs.