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Dear SSTF Network,
It was exciting to “meet” with many of you at our Learning Network Convening on March 3 and 4! Nearly 150 of us gathered virtually – site leaders, research partners, experts in the field, and SSTF staff – sharing ideas, insights, and challenges. We looked at how the developmental education movement and our network are creating positive change, even in difficult conditions of the past year.
Essential topics were discussed over the two days we spent together. We shared lessons from the field and heard updates from our funders. As a network, we explored the impact of faculty mindsets on students and on systems change, discovered the differentiated impact of current reforms, learned the latest on virtual corequisites, and much more.
We closed the distance between us over Zoom – and look forward to meeting in-person next year!
Onward,
Brian A. Sponsler, Ed.D.
Vice President of Policy, Education Commission of the States
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LNC Highlights and Resources
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We learned so much together at our convening and are now excited to offer public access to all of the materials on our website. You can watch videos, download the latest research, and access presentations.
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One of the many highlights from the convening was the keynote from Estela Bensimon, Director of the Center for Urban Education. Her presentation addressed how dismantling redlining in higher education is essential to achieving equitable outcomes for all students.
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"This is an opportunity for us to not make the same mistakes of the past. In order for the elimination of remedial education to truly be an anti-racist project, we must find ways of decentering whiteness in the reforms that we are advocating for."
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Welcome to our New Director, Maxine Roberts!
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We're excited to introduce our new director, Dr. Maxine Roberts. Maxine has been a SSTF thought partner since we began, focusing on equity in policy-making. She steps into this new role with an understanding of the complexities of developmental education reform, bringing dedication and passion to make a difference for students, institutional leaders, and state policy-makers.
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"The research shows that students who are not being served are overwhelmingly Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander, as well as students from lower income communities and older students. I'm really looking forward to acknowledging the good work that's being done and then figuring how we get to the next level.”
Maxine sat down with us (virtually) at the convening to share how her life experiences led to a path in education reform, and ideas about how we can move the work forward together.
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Since the pandemic, Dr. Katie Hern, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the California Acceleration Project, has been reflecting on her humanity-centered teaching approach. She readily talks about how much she has grown and learned over her tenure as a Professor of English at Skyline College, and how her teaching style now better serves her students.
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“When I realized that the structure of developmental education courses was actually harming my students and were really deeply inequitable and racist, my commitment to change the structure for them kicked in.”
Learn about her journey and growth-centered approach in our latest People in the Reform.
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