More Essential Than Ever

“More Essential Than Ever is exactly what is needed for practitioners at this moment in the evolving student success movement. Recognizing the challenges in whole college transformation and citing important lessons from researching a decade of guided pathways implementation in practice, the authors advance five important next frontiers for community college reform, refining their original framing of guided pathways, and setting the stage for an important ‘redesign of our redesign.’ Most importantly, in my view, the book offers as one of the five frontiers, a long overdue call to action to reimagine innovation in teaching and learning as a key student success strategy.”–Karen Stout, president and CEO, Achieving the Dream“Community colleges are essential to social mobility and economic opportunity in the United States, but we must move the needle on completion rates at these institutions. More Essential Than Ever outlines proven, data-backed strategies for community colleges to remove systemic barriers standing between students and degrees of value.”–Yolanda Watson Spiva, president, Complete College America“This book presents impressive research and actionable strategies to help community colleges ensure that their programs of study and completion reforms are aligned with bachelor’s degree pathways and good jobs. It also makes a compelling case that such alignment will not only benefit students but be essential for community colleges to thrive in the future.”–Josh Wyner, founder and executive director, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program

Davis Jenkins is a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, and a research professor in education and social policy analysis at Teachers College. He is the coauthor of Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, which helped to catalyze the national guided pathways community college reform movement.

Hana Lahr is assistant director of research and director of applied learning.

John Fink is a senior research associate and program lead.

Serena C. Klempin is a research associate.

Maggie P. Fay is a senior research associate.

All are at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.