For too many students, access to higher education does not automatically lead to equal opportunity or successful outcomes. Longstanding structures in higher education are built on inequality and pose barriers that exclude these students, preventing them from completing college.
This reality has a direct impact on states’ abilities to meet their workforce and economic goals, as well as being a moral and social justice issue. States must be willing to change the status quo to improve completion rates among students who have experienced racial, economic, and other forms of inequity.
Beyond Good Intentions provides action steps and tips for states to craft equity-driven policies that will lead to transformational change at colleges and universities, as well as support state goals. It builds on findings from Race-Conscious Implementation of a Developmental Education Reform in California Community Colleges, a companion report by the University of Southern California (USC) Race and Equity Center.
Beyond Good Intentions provides a guide for states to craft equity-driven policies that are specific, actionable, measurable and well-funded. It outlines four major steps states should take when considering and creating new policy:
Step 1: Examine the Data to Set the Goal for the Policy: Specific types of data to consider when identifying the inequity the policy will address.
Step 2: Determine Policy Recommendations: Steps to ensure that the policy development process will include input from a range of stakeholders and examine potential strategies, supports, and funding streams.
Step 3: Craft the Policy: Details to include when writing the policy, such as why this policy is being developed and whom it affects, what the policy requires and how it will be funded, how it will be implemented, and how progress will be reviewed.
Step 4: Plan for the Rollout: Actions to ensure that people understand why the policy is important and how to implement it.