Kathleen M. Shaw

Culture and Ideology in Keeping Transfer Commitment: Three Community Colleges

KATHLEEN M. SHAW is Assistant Professor of Urban Education in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her research interests include issues of equity and access to postsecondary education; the intersection between educational policy and broader social policy; and the subjective experience of social mobility among first-generation college students. With James R. Valadez and Robert A. Rhoades, she published Community Colleges as Cultural Texts: Qualitative Explorations of Organization and Student Culture (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1999). She currently directs a national study of the effects of welfare reform on poor women’s access to college. HOWARD B. LONDON is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he is also Professor of Sociology. His research interests include first-generation college students, community colleges, and general education reform. With Sandra Kantor and Zelda Gamson, he coedited Revitalizing General Education ion a Time of Scarcity: A Navigational Chart of Administrators and Faculty (Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 1996). This research was funded by grants from the Ford Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. The authors are solely responsible for the conclusions expressed in the article. Address queries to Kathleen M. Shaw, 252 Ritter Hall, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122; telephone: (215) 204-8046; e-mail: kshaw001@ nimbus.temple.edu. Culture and Ideology in Keeping Transfer Commitment: Three Community Colleges

Market Rhetoric Versus Reality in Policy and Practice: The Workforce Investment Act and Access to Community College Education and Training:

This article examines the impact of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 on access to community college education and training. The market-oriented, customer-focused rhetoric of WIA is compared to the realities of WIA implementation in three states: Rhode Island, Illinois, and Florida. The authors first discuss the emergence of WIA in the context of recent market-driven pressures on community colleges. Next, they provide an overview of the relevant components of WIA. Finally, they examine how the implementation and practice of WIA affects the ability of low-income populations to obtain postsecondary education. They find that WIA’s rhetoric, intended to promote educational quality and increase customer choice, is not reflected in either formal policy or implementation. Important policy elements such as accountability measures and the focus on multiple customers have undercut the rhetoric of free choice. Thus, in practice, WIA has actually limited access to education and training at community colleges.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Work-First Policies on College Access

The college participation rates of African Americans and Latinos continue to lag behind those of other racial and ethnic groups in the United States, despite the efforts of financial aid and affirmative action policies. Two recent federal policies that are “work-first” in nature threaten to further exacerbate racial and ethnic disparities in college access. This article examines the complex ways in which the 1996 welfare reform and the 1998 Workforce Investment Act differentially affect opportunities for college enrollment among disadvantaged adults. Utilizing national and state-level data, the authors argue that both policies restrict access to postsecondary education through the implementation of their guiding philosophy, “work-first,” which emphasizes rapid job placement as the strategy of choice in achieving stable employment and moving out of poverty. These policies have reduced the size of the clientele receiving welfare and restricted access to education and training for those who remain on the rolls. Moreover, this reduction in access is particularly acute among African Americans and Latinos. Thus, the findings indicate that these work-first federal policies serve to limit higher education opportunities available to these already disadvantaged populations.

Challenges in Evaluating School-Linked Services

School-linked services have emerged as one response to the steady decline in childrens educational prospects caused by a host of nonschool factors. Given the political, fiscal, and administrative pressures under which these efforts operate, evaluation stands to play a critical role in the development of school-linked services policy and program design. This article identifies the challenges inherent in evaluating these efforts and then analyzes data from 18 school-linked services initiatives to determine whether and how evaluations address these challenges. Using the results of these analyses, the authors present a comprehensive evaluation framework designed to overcome the challenges of evaluating school-linked services and provide a more complete understanding of these initiatives.