College Issues: Achievement Gap

Summary
Community college students encounter more issues transferring into universities than
students who transfer from other universities. Since many students go to community colleges to
cut costs of college, students with better socioeconomic status have a higher chance of getting
into a university. Holland believes that the answer to this problem lies in the diversity of students
and implementing better teaching strategies into community colleges. In response to the goal of
community colleges which is ensuring that millions of diverse and often underserved students
attain a high- quality education, he made a very good point. [A] high- quality education cannot
be achieved with a diverse group of students with ineffective and low- quality, passive teaching
strategies, Holland stated. He believes that instead of merely recognizing the problem, every
obstacle should be dealt with by using action plans for improvement. Holland writes about the
holistic approach to the problems. This idea should create a more active learning environment
and promotes a deeper learning that encompasses all aspects of education and life in general.
As teaching quality improves, students will begin to be better educated by community colleges.
With this success comes increased funding and ultimately a better overall education system
within community colleges. In addition to the improvement of the community college itself,
Holland believes that lower- income and minority students will feel more emotionally prepared
for college if some changes are made. In the long run, these changes in teaching strategies
should raise course completion levels and help students receive a higher quality education.

Rhetorical Analysis
The author is Tony Holland, the Dean of Instruction at Wallace Community College. His
article, Closing Achievement Gaps Can Boost Enrollment and Completion, is about the
measures that should be taken to close the achievement gap in students that go to community
colleges. His stance on the matter is that through altering/ improving teaching methods,
students will feel more comfortable in their environment and learn better. He also points out that
the better the education a community college provides, the more funding it will receive. As the
Dean of Instruction at Wallace Community College, Holland sees these issues first- hand. His
article was published in Community College Week Magazine in March 2016. As a member of
the staff at a community college, his stance is biased toward the improvement of community
colleges, but he makes valid points to back his argument. His audience includes readers of the
Community College Week Magazine. These people may be community college students,
college presidents, community college staff and faculty, or anyone who wishes to educate
themselves on issues surrounding community colleges. His target audience is probably
influential people within community colleges. The main purpose of this article is to inform people
of problems surrounding the achievement gap and provide a possible solution. He gives
reasonable solutions, explaining what attitude changes need to be made in staff. Additionally, he
provides a list of traits a good, functional community college staff should have. Holland also
wants to persuade the audience to take action regarding those problems . He discusses what is
wrong with the current system and who/what is at fault for the problems as well as why we need
to fix them.
Citations
 HOLLAND, TONY. 2016. "Closing Achievement Gaps Can Boost Enrollment and
Completion." Community College Week 28, no. 17: 44-45. Academic Search Complete,
EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2017).

Short Summary
The author claims that community colleges tend to have poor instructional quality. [A] high-
quality education cannot be achieved with a diverse group of students with ineffective and low-
quality, passive teaching strategies, Holland stated. Basically, the author believes that if the
way instructors go about teaching is improved, the students will receive a better education and
subsequently improve the quality of community colleges as a whole.

There is an achievement gap between students that transfer to universities from Community
colleges and those who transfer from other universities. The author believes that if the quality of
instruction at community colleges is improved, this gap can be closed.