Achieving the Dream
Compton College is a proud member of Achieving the Dream - a national reform network dedicated to helping community college students complete their educational goals.
In 2020, Compton College joined Achieving the Dream (ATD), a growing network of more than 220 colleges in 43 states dedicated to improving student success. Compton College's partnership with Achieving the Dream is particularly important as the College seeks to bolster our expertise around teaching and learning. A key objective is to encourage improvement in teaching approaches through the engagement of professional development. Specifically, Compton College seeks to improve the rates at which underprepared students pass college courses, particularly college-level math and English courses.
Achieving the Dream
Achieving the Dream (ATD) is a national reform network of more than 220 colleges in 41 states dedicated to helping more community college students, particularly low-income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate, diploma, or degree. Achieving the Dream emphasizes building a culture of evidence, in which colleges use data to identify effective practices, improve student success rates and close achievement gaps. Joining the Achieving the Dream network will provide Compton College with Guided Pathways Coaching by leveraging Achieving the Dream's expertise in coaching, to advise the College on building and implementing guided pathways for student success and provide guidance for improvements for teaching and learning in the classroom, specifically in math and English.
Additionally, the Kresge Foundation has awarded Compton College with a grant in the
amount of $112,500 to help support the full execution of its master plan. Participation
in Achieving the Dream will provide expertise and networking opportunities for Compton
College to realize transformative change to improve student success.
More information on Achieving the Dream is available here.
Achieving the Dream Kick-Off Event
In July 2020, Compton College along with four other colleges of the 2020 Achieving
the Dream Cohort, participated in a Virtual Kickoff Institute to establish the framework
as an ATD Network Institution. During Kickoff, college teams met virtually with experienced
ATD coaches and advisors to initiate a strategy for student success; which will include
campus-based Kickoff work in the fall. The Kickoff experience included an introduction
to ATD's approach, a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment Institutional
Capacity Assessment Tool, that enables colleges to identify their strengths and areas
for improvement across seven institutional capacities that are essential to large-scale
change.
As a Network institution, Compton College will transform to align and scale cutting
edge reforms through work with our ATD coaches, Chris Hill, PhD and Dr. Judy Loveless-Morris
to build institutional capacity that accelerate student success.
Compton College Timeline of ATD Activities
- July 2020: Virtual Kickoff Institute Virtual kick off schedule
- August 2020: ATD Coaches introduced to campus during Professional Development Day
- September 2020: ATD Coach virtual visit
- October 2020: ATD Coach virtual visit
- February 2021: Virtual ATD Dream Conference
- March 2021: Virtual Capacity Cafe event
- March 2021: ATD Coach virtual visit
- May 2021: ATD Coach virtual visit
- Summer 2021: ATD Implementation Action Plan due
ATD Documents
