Demographic and Academic Characteristics of Pell Grant Recipients at Community Colleges
Using data on more than 50,000 community college students who first enrolled during the 2005–06 academic year at one of nine community colleges in three large states, this paper presents demographic and academic characteristics of students who did and did not receive a Pell Grant. The descriptive findings suggest that, despite lower levels of initial college readiness, Pell recipients had a stronger academic focus than non-Pell recipients. Yet, while Pell recipients had higher credit completion ratios and were more likely to complete an award, they were also more likely to be enrolled in the same college with more than 30 credits after five years. This suggests that Pell recipients at community colleges may be taking a longer period of time to complete an academic credential than is prudent.
Can College Outreach Programs Improve College Readiness? The Case of the College Bound, St. Louis Program
In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of community- and school-based college readiness programs designed to increase the participation of students who have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education. However, few of these college readiness programs have been empirically evaluated. This study examines the impact of one such intervention, the College Bound, St. Louis (CB) program. Using propensity weighting and doubly robust modeling, we found CB participants were more likely to reach proficiency on the End of Course exams, to obtain at least a B grade in a number of foundational college courses, to take more AP or honors courses, and to attend a 4-year postsecondary institution than similarly situated non-participants. Future directions for evaluating similar college readiness programs are discussed.
Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy
Many people were elated when Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in May 1954, the ruling that struck down state-sponsored racial segregation in America's public schools. Thurgood Marshall, chief attorney for the black families that launched the litigation, exclaimed later, "I was so happy, I was numb." The novelist Ralph Ellison wrote, "another battle of the Civil War has been won. The rest is up to us and I'm very glad. What a wonderful world of possibilities are unfolded for the children!" Here, in a concise, compelling narrative, Bancroft Prize-winning historian James T. Patterson takes readers through the dramatic case and its fifty-year aftermath. A wide range of characters animates the story, from the little-known African-Americans who dared to challenge Jim Crow with lawsuits (at great personal cost); to Thurgood Marshall, who later became a Justice himself; to Earl Warren, who shepherded a fractured Court to a unanimous decision. Others include segregationist politicians like Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas; Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon; and controversial Supreme Court justices such as William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas. Most Americans still see Brown as a triumph-but was it? Patterson shrewdly explores the provocative questions that still swirl around the case. Could the Court-or President Eisenhower-have done more to ensure compliance with Brown? Did the decision touch off the modern civil rights movement? How useful are court-ordered busing and affirmative action against racial segregation? To what extent has racial mixing affected the academic achievement of black children? Where indeed do we go from here to realize the expectations of Marshall, Ellison, and others in 1954?