A reFRAMEWORK

To Reimagine Racial Equity in the California Community Colleges Over the Next Decade and Beyond

Let’s Begin by Documenting the Efforts of Students, Practitioners, Leaders, and Institutions over the Past Ten Years

Racial Equity Resource Hub

Resource Hub with solutions, practices, and insights for pressing racial equity problems and everyday challenges. 

Racial Conscious Leadership and Guided Pathways

An illustrated series of solutions briefs with testimonials and stories of equity champions and advocates who are infusing race-consciousness into Guided Pathways.

The California Flavor of Guided Pathways and Racial Equity 

Approaches and models for integrating racial equity and Guided Pathways from the CCCs.

In Winter 2021, a commission of 33 leaders joined together to reimagine racial equity in California over the next decade and beyond. The Commission met over two years to develop a racial equity framework for the California Community Colleges.

a reFRAMEWORK

The Commission for Racial Equity in the California Community Colleges includes student leaders, counseling faculty, academic senate leaders, college and system administrators, researchers, and system partners.

Introducing the Commission

  • Abduce Luong

    Former Student, Evergreen Valley College

    Student, San Jose State University

  • Amari Joseph

    Former Student, Diablo Valley College

    Student, Clark Atlanta University

  • Citlali Mia Gonzales

    Associate Dean of Counseling

    Mt. San Jacinto College

  • Dolores Davison

    Professor and Chair, Departments of History & Women’s Studies Foothill College

  • Dr. Adrián Trinidad

    Associate Director of Community College Partnerships

    USC Race and Equity Center

  • Dr. Amanuel Gebru

    President

    Los Angeles City College

  • Dr. Angélica Garcia

    Superintendent/President

    Santa Rosa Junior College

  • Dr. Craig Hayward

    Associate Vice Chancellor, Analytics & Innovation

    Kern Community College District

  • Dr. Cynthia Olivo

    President

    Fullerton College

  • Dr. Darla M. Cooper

    Executive Director

    The RP Group

  • Dr. Edward Bush

    President

    Cosumnes River College

  • Dr. Eric Felix

    Associate Professor

    San Diego State University

  • Dr. Eric Ramones

    Vice Chancellor of Human Resources

    West Valley-Mission Community College District

  • Dr. Frank Harris III

    Professor

    San Diego State University

  • Dr. Karen Chow

    Professor

    English, Asian American Studies, & Women’s Studies

    De Anza College

  • Dr. Keith Curry

    President

    Compton College

  • Dr. LaTonya Parker

    Professor, Counselor

    Moreno Valley College

  • Dr. Mark Akiyama

    Dr. Mark Akiyama

    Dean of Guided Pathways and Special Projects

    Diablo Valley College

  • Dr. Minh Tran

    Director of Racial Equity Research Partnerships

    USC Race and Equity Center

  • Dr. Monique Greene

    Associate Professor, Counselor

    Riverside City College

  • Dr. Pamela Luster

    President Emerita

    San Diego Mesa College

  • Dr. Ray Ramírez

    Director of Student Equity & Success

    Fresno City College

  • Dr. Shaun Harper

    Founder and Executive Director

    USC Race and Equity Center

  • Dr. Sonya Christian

    Chancellor

    California Community College Chancellor’s Office

  • Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson

    President

    Evergreen Valley College

  • Dr. Teresa W. Aldredge

    Counselor

    Cosumnes River College

  • Dr. Tina M. King

    President

    San Diego College of Continuing Education

  • Emilia Sanchez

    Former Student, Pasadena City College

    Student, UC Santa Cruz

  • Emmanuel Gómez

    Student

    Pasadena City College

  • Gregory Smith

    Acting Chancellor / Vice Chancellor of People, Culture, and Technology Services

    San Diego Community College District

  • Gudelia Cisneros-Whiterock

    Student

    Mendocino College

  • Karla Kirk

    Professor, African American Studies, Fresno City College

  • Sharr Daijah Alexander

    Student

    Southwestern College

  • I'm raising two young black boys. I think about the system I'm going to send them into that was not created for them, how they will be treated and the experiences that they will have. If I could prevent some of those barriers to their success, I'm willing to dedicate my career to that. When we look at data, a lot of times we're just looking at the numbers, not realizing those are individual humans. Those numbers are my sons.

    Monique Greene

  • Seeing that level of understanding conveys to students, “What your experience is, is tremendously significant and may be different from what others experience, but that doesn’t make your experience any less valued and less important.”

    Dolores Davison

  • Going back to my Central Valley roots, driving up the 99 outside of McFarland, I just kept thinking about the path, like what would it look like if we thought of the student path not as this fixed road. We add a winding road to it, and I'm thinking about the immigrant story that might be traversing water or mountainous terrain. I think of the gang community where the path is knowing kind of which blocks to walk just to make sure you can get to your destination. The path of public transportation, knowing which bus routes connect in a way that make it seamless. How do we challenge that paradigm, so we don't assume everyone is walking the same path, not to mention the abelism that goes with using my feet? If we're really going to be about students, then let's acknowledge that not everyone is coming from the same soil, and that's actually the beautiful part of our community.

    Angélica Garcia

  • As an Indigenous Native American from Northern California, I'm speaking for those, who like myself, have experienced inter generational trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Culture and practices have been stripped away, and we are just gaining these back. Education has been my stepping stone in regaining a sense of self determination. Education was not designed in an affirming way, and the movement through this commission is going to aid in appropriate education for all groups of color.

    Gudelia Cisneros Whiterock

Despite our best efforts and progress during the last decade, we have fundamental barriers to racial equity as a state.

“The system wasn’t built for us.” In this quote by a student commissioner, the “us” represents the over 70 percent of students of color that currently make up the California Community Colleges. The “system” includes the longstanding consequences of the 1960 California Master Plan for Higher Education which created deep inequities in the ways community colleges are funded, governed and the role they play in public higher education. We must do better for the 1.7 million students served by our community colleges in California.

Persistent racial inequities in student success will not lead to economically and socially empowered communities if the following historical barriers remain unaddressed: (1) uneven racial and ethnic representation between students and employees; (2) lack of data tools to critically examine the underlying causes of racial inequities to create change; (3) governance systems that are unresponsive to student needs and do not uphold racial equity as a priority; (4) lacking accountability measures for funding of various reforms and (5) evaluation processes that do not prioritize competencies in culturally affirming practices, equity-mindedness and race-consciousness. The future of our state demands thriving communities where students are empowered and prepared to tackle a range of diverse issues in our society.

  • Racial Equity Gaps in Success Outcomes

    Our racially diverse state is not meeting its labor force needs and the social mobility goals of students.

    We are experiencing declining enrollment as well as low persistence, degree completion, and transfer among students of color.

  • Empowering Students with Critical Educators

    Currently, employee’s racial and ethnic composition is not comparable to the over 70 percent of students of color in the system.

    Systemwide, existing qualifications for hiring and evaluation processes are neutral on racial equity.

    Training of college leaders rarely examines racism as the underlying problem to achieving racial equity.

  • Bureaucratic Systems Prioritize Compliance over Students Needs

    Shared governance is not proactive in gathering student input, unresponsive to student needs, poorly allocates resources that directly impact students, and serves as a barrier to racial equity.

    Policies lack cohesion and funding streams are disconnected.

    Status quo is maintained.

A reFRAMEWORK: Freedom Dreaming for Liberation

As we sought to create a bold new framework for racial equity, we thought of ‘Freedom Dreaming for Liberation’ as the inspiration for this process. ‘Freedom Dreaming’ refers to critically reimagining antiquated and racially exclusionary policies and practices that do not serve students of color. ‘Liberation’ refers to the action of changing and transforming ourselves to affirm the educational experiences and aspirations of students and their communities.

‘From the Minimum to the Mountaintop’

Cultural Competency is Essential for Evaluating Educators

reFramework Part 1

Now that 70% of our enrollments are students of color, could the criteria for employee evaluation, promotion, and hiring be centered around culturally affirming practices, which are known to increase student success rates? Minimum qualifications, such as subject matter expertise, should be balanced with additional essential qualifications, such as demonstrated use of equity-minded practices in advising, teaching and supporting students.

  • ● Identify current models of excellent program review templates and hiring rubrics that require employees to demonstrate the use of culturally affirming practices.

    ● Develop a system to evaluate effectiveness based on student success outcomes and demonstrated use of practices known to increase success rates for students of color measured by the following:

    ✓ Employee service and roles on committees to advance racial equity within governance structures

    ✓ Race-conscious advising practices

    ✓ Submitting culturally relevant course materials (e.g., readings, slides, handouts, assignments, exams/essay prompts/assessments, syllabi, and lesson plans)

    ✓ Student evaluations and peer instructor classroom observations that are attentive to the salience of race and the realities of racism

    ✓ Course success rates of students disaggregated by race and ethnicity

    ✓ Meaningful participation in racial equity training and professional development

    ● Reform education code (Article 3-87360) to evaluate and hire employees based on demonstrated skills and competencies in culturally affirming practices, equity mindedness and race consciousness as reflected in student success outcomes.

    ● Expand the definition of “expertise” to include equity-mindedness and race consciousness.

    ● Require that a proportion of professional development is dedicated to developing racial equity practices and competencies.

    ● Recognize instructors by inviting them to lead professional development efforts that increase adoption of equity-minded practices. Compensate and credit them for leadership and service.

  • ● The EEO Diversity Best Practices Handbook provides useful recommendations: https://www.cccco.edu/-/media/CCCCO-Website/docs/report/cccco-eeoreport-062022-a11y.pdfla=en&hash=058FE2BE64503C9FEE2FF37E8E0BFB04F2ED5346

    ● Schmeichel, M. (2012). Good teaching? An examination of culturally relevant pedagogy as an equity practice. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44(2), 211-231.

    ● Moriarty, M. A. (2007). Inclusive Pedagogy: Teaching methodologies to reach diverse learners in science instruction. Equity & Excellence in Education, 40, 252-265.

    ● Whitinui, P. (2010). Indigenous-based inclusive pedagogy: The art of Kapa Haka to improve educational outcomes for Maori students in mainstream secondary schools in aotearoa, new zealand. Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 6(1), 3-22.

    ● Tsevat, R. K., Sinha, A. A., Gutierrez, K. J., & DasGupta, S. (2015). Bringing home the health humanities: narrative humility, structural competency, and engaged pedagogy. Academic Medicine, 90(11), 1462-1465.

    ● Lundberg, C.A., Kim, Y.K., Andrade, L.M., & Bahner, D.T. (2018). High Expectations, Strong Support: Faculty Behaviors Predicting Latina/o Community College Student Learning. Journal of College Student Development 59(1), 55-70.

    ● Alcantar, C. M., & Hernandez, E. (2020). “Here the Professors Are Your Guide, Tus Guías”: Latina/o Student Validating Experiences With Faculty at a Hispanic-Serving Community College. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 19(1), 3–18.

    ● Valentine, K., Prentice, M., Torres, M. F., & Arellano, E. (2012). The importance of student cross-racial interactions as part of college education: Perceptions of faculty. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 5(4), 191–206.

    ● Chang, J.C. (2005). Faculty-student interaction at the community college: A focus on students of color. Research in Higher Education, 46, (7), 769-802.

    ● Komarraju, M., Musulkin, S., & Bhattacharya, G. (2010). Role of student faculty-interactions in developing college students’ academic self-concept, motivation, and achievement. Journal of College Student Development, 51, 332-342.

    ● Levin, J. S., Walker, L., Haberler, Z., & Jackson-Boothby, A. (2013). The divided self: The double consciousness of faculty of color in community colleges. Community College Review, 41(4), 311-329.

    ● Lundberg, C. A., & Schreiner, L. A. (2004). Quality and frequency of faculty-student interaction as predictors of learning: An analysis by student race/ethnicity. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 549-565.

    ● Thompson, M. D. (2001). Informal student-faculty interaction: Its relationship to educational gains in science and mathematics among community college students. Community College Review, 29(1), 35–58.

‘Getting Out of the Data Quicksand’

     Actionable, Transparent, and Accountable Data Systems

reFramework Part 2

Why are data systems mainly used for compliance reporting purposes rather than critically examining the root causes of racial inequities to create institutional transformation? Develop an actionable data system that provides shared tools to examine the root causes of inequities. Colleges would use data to promote a culture of inquiry, where data disaggregation and transparency are not punitive but rather for progress.

  • ● Colleges vary in terms of resources and capability for data inquiry. Create an accessible system-wide data dashboard for campuses and departments, with actionable tools and real-time data, including student outcomes by course/instructor disaggregated by race and ethnicity.

    ● Establish a "culture of inquiry" for data use. The necessary components include equity-minded leaders (e.g., institutional researchers, deans, chairs) and instructors who engage in critical reflection and take responsibility for eliminating inequities by changing practices.

    ● Identify faculty who show excellent course success outcomes disaggregated by race and ethnicity through the data dashboard. Spotlight them as models for department faculty and for students to make informed course enrollment decisions.

    ● Train and provide equity data coaching for employees. Offer professional resources to effectively use new data system.

    ● Identify examples of institutions and departments that embrace equity-mindedness and a culture of inquiry.

  • ● Dowd, A. C., & Liera, R. (2018). Sustaining change towards racial equity through cycles of inquiry. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26, 65-65.

    ● Resources equity initiatives and grading: https://crescendoedgroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Equitable-grading-Leadership-Mag_NovDec.pdf

    ● Equity Toolkit from Achieving The Dream: https://achievingthedream.org/achieving-the-dream-releases-equity-toolkit/

    ● Data tools from Center for Urban Education: https://www.cue-tools.usc.edu/all-tools

    ● Peña, E. V. (2012). Inquiry methods for critical consciousness and self-change in faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 69-92.

    ● Bensimon, E. M., & Gray, J. (2020). First-generation equity practitioners: are they part of the problem?. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 52(2), 69-73.

    ● Fujii, S. J. (2010). Observations, values, and beliefs about ethnic/racial diversity by members of community college faculty search committees. Arizona State University.

    ● Papageorge, Nicholas W. and Gershenson, Seth and Kang, Kyungmin, Teacher Expectations Matter. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10165, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2834215 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2834215

reFramework Part 3

‘Inclusive Governance, Empowered Communities!’

Governance and Accountability Systems for Student Success

What prevents meaningful participation of student and student-facing group voices (e.g., classified employees) in existing participatory governance processes? The current decision-making process prioritizes representative interests and impedes progress on achieving racial equity.

What are the accountability systems for state-wide student equity and success reforms? Limited clarity exists on how policies, reporting processes, and funding allocations translate to measurable gains in student equity.

  • Inclusive Governance

    ● Study how existing constituency-based governance model may hinder advancement of racial equity.

    ● Reimagine processes for meaningful and inclusive (selection process, availability of members, compensation, avenues of feedback, etc.) constituency group participation in governance.

    ● Define principles of inclusive governance used to select and include people who have competencies and commitments to advance racial equity.

    Accountability for Racial Equity

    ● All system-wide reforms to advance student success and equity should be evaluated cohesively through a streamlined reporting process.

    ● Review existing policies and system-wide reforms purported to advance student success and equity. Examine how allocated funding supports reforms to achieve their racial equity goals.

    ● Adopt state-wide and regional policies should adopt explicit racial equity goals.

    ● Allow colleges increased flexibility to focus Student Equity and Achievement efforts to address the student populations that experience long-standing disproportionate impact.

  • ● To review Chancellor's Office updates on Equity in the Vision for Success 2023, please visit: https://www.cccco.edu/-/media/CCCCO-Website/docs/report/Vision-2030-A-Roadmap-for-C[…]lleges.pdf?la=en&hash=3B83F5221C4A7A8BEFA7E94D5BCBF540D2718013

    ● Cole, K., Giordano, J. B., & Hassel, H. (2023). A Faculty Guidebook for Effective Shared Governance and Service in Higher Education. Taylor & Francis.

    ● Kater, S. T., & Burke, D. (2022). Getting to shared governance: New perspectives for implementing governance. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2022(200), 37-50.

    ● Lozano, J., & Hughes, R. (2017). Representation and conflict of interest among students on higher education governing boards. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 39(6), 607-624.

    ● Smith, C. J. (2018). Perspectives on the Role of Student Trustees. Community College League of California.

We invite community engagement and dialogue to evolve the bold ideas presented in the reFRAMEWORK.

Stay tuned for campus town halls happening in your local communities.