Achieving Racial Equity From the Bottom-Up? The Student Equity Policy in the California Community Colleges

Abstract

<jats:p> Can equity policies foster success and close the outcome gaps experienced by racially minoritized students in community colleges? Using a critical policy analysis and equity-mindedness framework, we examine whether and how the design and early implementation of one such policy—the California Community Colleges’ Student Equity Policy—addresses racial equity. Findings show that attention to race and racial equity diminished over time in state policy documents, and varied widely in colleges’ response to the policy, suggesting that its potential to tackle racial inequities is so far unexploited. Implications are discussed and recommendations for policy, practice, and research are proposed. </jats:p>

“All lives matter”: How districts co-opt equity language and maintain the status quo

“…Scholars have long critiqued the neutral tone and positivist approach to policy research (Ching et al, 2018;Diem et al, 2014;Milani & Winton, 2017;Nakagawa, 2000;Taylor, 1997). Because the topic of this paper calls for a methodology and analytic tool embedded with a critical lens to carefully examine policy rhetoric and how it constructs the context for the Community Schools initiative, I use qualitative case study methods with Horsford, Scott, and Anderson's (2018) critical policy analysis (CPA) framework as a guide.…”

“…Critical policy analysis calls for scholars to critically scrutinize the problem a policy was intended to solve, how a policy was constructed, by whom and to whom it was intended to benefit (Ching et al, 2018;Taylor, 1997). For this study, it was critical to understand how these policies were framed to the public so I made the decision to only include documents which were publicly available at this time.…”

“…Though he challenges the practices of past administrations, he does not describe how the Community Schools policy may interrupt the policies or practices that caused the divisions. Rather, he emphasizes how students and families will be remedied (Ching et al, 2018) without situating them in their lived contexts with oppression and discrimination. Not only does de Blasio's statements reflect further abstractions, they also mirror the disconnected power analysis, a tenant of color-blind racism.…”

“…Another major concern for some equity-oriented policies is how policy makers define equity and discuss their equity plans. Scholars suggest all educational policies are socially constructed and may superficially address certain widely held concerns like educational equity while they recklessly swap out equity plans for more traditional goals such as college and career readiness for all students (Ching et al, 2018;Wolk, 2007). For example, in her study of policymaking in an urban school district, Trujillo (2012) found policies that were meant to provide equitable distribution of resources and opportunities and centered diverse learning strategies were constantly scaled back or unenforced.…”

For Latinx, by Latinx: Race-conscious leadership in policy implementation

“…In recent years, California policymakers have passed several reforms to increase funding for community college (AB-1809(AB- , 2018, provide additional financial aid to students (AB-19, 2018), address developmental education issues (AB-705, 2017), and improve transfer pathways (SB-1440(SB- , 2010. Although well-intentioned, many of these reforms fail to achieve their lofty goals of improving outcomes for students upon implementation (Ching et al, 2018). Of particular interest for this article is the Student Equity Policy (SB-860, 2014) and its mandates requiring campuses to develop a student equity plan that a) documents the extent of inequity for specific student populations (e.g., racial/ethnic groups), b) establishes goals and metrics to address identified equity gaps, and c) allocates funds to create or scale-up initiatives to achieve equity goals (Student equity plans, §78220, 2014).…”