About the Program
Hewlett Leaders in Student Success annually recognizes a number of California community colleges that are using innovative and proven methods in foundational math and English.
Program Summary and Highlights (pdf document). Written at the conclusion of the two-year program, this report describes three overarching principles that contributed to the success of the 2008 and 2009 Hewlett Leaders. Courageous Leadership; Fearless Engagement with Data and Reflective Practices; and Structured, Integrated Strategies. The report contains many examples of the ways these three principles are put into action at individual colleges.
The need
“Access without support is not opportunity.”
Vincent Tinto, chair of the Higher Education Program at
Syracuse University, and a member of this program's criteria-setting panel
Basic skills courses help underprepared students master the skills required for success in transfer-level courses, those in which students can earn credit toward an associate or bachelor’s degree. The Basic Skills Initiative, funded by the California Community College Chancellor’s office is dedicated to this issue. The need is vast. Every year roughly half a million new students enroll in a community college, but at least 70 percent are not prepared for college work. "Open Access," the mandate of the state’s community college system, depends upon robust, multi-tiered strategies to increase the success of basic skills students.
Promising models
Colleges across the state use a wide range of worthwhile strategies to build foundation skills. Hewlett Leaders are colleges that have reached beyond efforts that serve discrete groups of students to adopt strategies for scaling up and sustaining basic skills success. Many of the successful strategies that captured the attention of the Hewlett Leaders program started small, then spread into sustainable, campus-wide programs. In particular, Hewlett Leaders looked for colleges that use outcome data to validate success and that can be replicated in other schools. Sharing information is a key goal of the program. Each college honored will receive a stipend to support dissemination of its successful strategies.
Key Findings
For more about the findings of the program checkout the Resource page.
Executive Director, Hewlett Leaders in Student Success:
Program Officer for Education at the Hewlett Foundation:
Pam Burdman 2008-2009
Denis Udall 2009-
Visiting Team:
Criteria-Setting Panel:
E. Jan Kehoe, Ph.D.
Former president of the Community College Leadership Development Initiatives Foundation (CCLDI),
University of San Diego.
Member of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
K. Patricia Cross, Ph.D.
David Gardner Professor of Higher Education, Emerita, University of California, Berkeley
Rose Asera, Ph.D.
Senior Scholar,
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Estela Mara Bensimon, Ed.D.
Director, Center for Urban Education at Rossier School of Education,
University of Southern California
Vincent Tinto, Ph.D.
Chair, Higher Education Program at Syracuse University, NY.
Senior Scholar,
The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education
Writer, Media Coordinator:
Margaret Miller
Researcher:
Terrence Willett
Research Consultants:
Darla Coopoer
Craig Hayward
Program Assistant:
Loann Solem
