| Community colleges face many challenges in the face of demands for increased student success. Institutions continually seek scalable interventions and initiatives focused on improving student achievement. Effectively implementing sustainable change that moves the needle of student success remains elusive.;Facilitating systemic, scalable change requires an understanding of why people and institutions choose to collaborate in transformation given natural tendencies to resist change, particularly within a climate of independence and local control. Appreciating how people think and act when considering an alternative direction is often lost on change agents.;This ethnographic case study examined the cultural implications and strategic aspects employed throughout the implementation of a transformational change initiative focusing on mathematics curricular redesign. The New Mathways Project by the Charles A. Dana Center represents a situation in which all fifty community colleges in Texas, lacking centralized state-level governance, engaged in a single transformation plan addressing student success in college mathematics. Twenty-five individuals representing Texas community colleges, universities, policy groups, and the Dana Center provided context and background for the project through loosely structured, personal interviews.;Results of the study indicate colleges successfully navigating transformational change have a culture exemplifying an entrepreneurial mindset, tenacious, competitive, open to risk-taking, and providing a safe place to fail. Additionally, these institutions place high value on trust, relationships, student success, and the use of data. When studying strategic support for institutional change projects the role of leadership demonstrated significant influence. Successful institutions balanced strong support from senior-level leadership with convincing buy-in from those closest to the change. Everyone shares common vision and values, and have the confidence in one another to believe whatever is needed will be provided. Communication, collaboration, and professional development were essential mechanisms accompanying successful change. With the appropriate support structures and a culture of entrepreneurialism community colleges can successfully manage systemic, transformational change. |
