Improving the success of students in passing college-level math and English is not sufficient to  improve completion rates. These efforts need to be tied to efforts to strengthen supports for students to take and pass “gatekeeper courses.”

Research on the elements of effective teaching in higher education suggests that providing students with a “big picture” of the key topics within a specific course, and how they fit together, helps to improve learning.

Instead of letting students find their own paths through college, a growing number of colleges and universities nationally are taking a different approach.  They are creating “guided pathways” for  students – by redesigning their courses to simplify students’ decisions, creating more highly structured programs with default schedules and built-in feedback and supports that help students make better choices that will lead them toward their end goals, but without limiting their choices.

On April 26, come hear about and discuss how Connecticut is adapting this innovative approach   and bringing it to the 12 community colleges and four state universities within the Connecticut State College and University system over the next four years.  Although this concept came out of community college contexts, the core principles in Guided Pathways can be adapted to almost any institution serving underrepresented, first generation and otherwise challenged students.