National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

Webcast Addresses the Use of Data to Drive Change and Focuses on Closing 
Achievement Gaps

The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education will 
present a webcast entitled "Achieving the Dream: Improving Community 
College Student Achievement" on Monday, March 6, 2006, from 3:00 to 4:30 
p.m. EST. This interactive event, and previous webcasts, can be viewed on 
any computer with Internet access at http://www.nccte.org.

This webcast presents the multiyear national initiative "Achieving the 
Dream: Community Colleges Count." The initiative's imperative is to enhance 
opportunity and success for the growing number of studentsparticularly 
low-income students of color who have traditionally faced significant 
barriers to successfor whom community colleges are the point of entry to 
higher education. "Achieving the Dream" emphasizes the use of data to drive 
change and focuses on measurable outcomesespecially closing achievement 
gaps. Thirty-five community colleges in seven states participate in 
"Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," which is funded by Lumina 
Foundation for Education, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, and Nellie Mae 
Education Foundation. MDC, Inc., is the lead partner in this initiative, 
which includes 10 national partner organizations.

The presenters for the webcast are Leah Meyer Austin, Senior Vice President 
for Research and Programs, Lumina Foundation for Education (Indianapolis, 
IN); Larry A. Calderon, President of Broward Community College (BCC; Fort 
Lauderdale, FL); Carol A. Lincoln, Senior Associate with MDC, Inc., a 
private nonprofit organization (Chapel Hill, NC); Byron L. McClenney, 
Project Director for Achieve the Dream for the University of Texas (UT; 
Austin); and Margaret Rivera, Vice President for Member and Information 
Services at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC; 
Washington, DC).

Austin has dedicated her career to education and youth development at 
philanthropic and educational organizations. Before joining Lumina 
Foundation as a vice president in 2003, she served as program director for 
the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's youth and education area, where she 
developed, managed, and led initiatives to improve the lives of young 
people through education and community development. Austin provided the 
leadership that helped Kellogg Foundation launch and expand Middle Start, a 
Michigan-based initiative that sought to improve academic outcomes among 
middle-grades students, especially those who were economically 
disadvantaged. Now expanded to other states, Middle Start is considered a 
successful local, state, and national model for middle-grades school 
reform. Austin holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of 
Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. She also has pursued advanced studies in adult 
education, evaluation, management, and youth development.

Larry A. Calderon is the fifth president of Broward Community College 
(BCC)a diverse, multi-campus community college headquartered in Fort 
Lauderdale, FL. Recognized as an expert in strategic planning, Calderon 
recently unveiled BCC's Education Master Planthe first strategic plan in 
the college's 45-year history. Under his guidance, the college has been 
awarded $16 million in grants to support the plan's goals.
Before coming to BCC, Calderon served as president and district vice 
chancellor for economic development at Ventura (CA) College from 1995 to 
2004. Previously, he served as Ventura's coordinator of student financial 
services. He also served for 10 years as vice president of Oxnard (CA) 
College and 6 years as assistant dean for student services at Los Angeles 
City College.

Calderon received a doctorate in higher and postsecondary education and a 
master's degree in education from the University of Southern California 
(Los Angeles). His bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology is from the 
University of California at Santa Barbara. His educational career began at 
Ventura Collegea community college.

Carol A. Lincoln is Senior Associate with MDC, Inc., whose mission is to 
provide communities and their leaders with the research, strategies, and 
assistance they need to advance equity and opportunity. Since 2003, Lincoln 
has been directing "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count."

Her 35-year career has centered on creating economic and educational 
opportunity for at-risk youth and adults. From 1994 through 2003, she 
directed the Rural Community College Initiative's (RCCI) national 
demonstration program to increase educational access and economic 
opportunity in distressed rural communities. From 1998 through 2004, she 
co-led MDC's international work in Namibia and South Africa where lessons 
from RCCI were used to help four-year institutions become catalysts for 
development in impoverished rural regions. She coauthored Let's Do It our 
Way: Working Together for Educational Excellence and America's Shame, 
America's Hope: Twelve Million Youth at Risk, which led to a national PBS 
television project to raise public awareness of the large numbers of youth 
leaving school unprepared for postsecondary education or careers.

Byron N. McClenney has served as a community college chief executive for 32 
years and as an educator for 42 years. He serves as project director for 
the UT involvement in "Achieving the Dream." He also serves as a member of 
the three-person Initiative Consultant Team for the Ford Foundation's 
national "Community College Bridges to Opportunity Initiative." An 
appointment as adjunct professor completes his assignment.

McClenney has served as a consultant to institutions, state higher 
education systems, state governments, and professional associations in 45 
states and internationally. His numerous publications and speaking 
engagements have focused on strategic planning, organizational development, 
institutional effectiveness, leadership, and developmental education. All 
of his degrees were awarded by The University of Texas at Austin for work 
completed in the College of Education.

Margaret Rivera is the Vice President for Member and Information Services 
at AACC, where she oversees the association's membership, research, Web, 
and technology services. During her 15-year tenure at AACC, Rivera has 
developed an in-depth knowledge of the 1,200 community colleges in the 
United States.

Rivera is co-director of a Kellogg Foundation planning grant on leadership 
development, and coordinates Future Leaders Institute and Future Leaders 
Institute/Advancedtwo of the association's leadership development programs. 
She also is co-director for the Lumina Foundation for Education initiative 
"Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count."

Rivera has been a community college employee for over 35 years. Many of 
those years were spent at MiamiDade Community College in Miami, FL, where 
her positions have included Registrar of the North Campus and adjunct faculty.

Rivera received her doctorate in higher education administration from the 
University of Texas in Austin, a master's degree in public administration, 
and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Florida International 
University, Miami. She is a graduate of MiamiDade Community College.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions of the panel by signing up (at no 
charge) for a chatroom account at http://www.nccte.org/re/050418b.asp. The 
chatroom allows you to submit questions during the presentation. Please 
allow one full day for your account to be validated by e-mail confirmation.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page: http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.


The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education (PR/Award No. VO51A990004) and/or 
under the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education 
(PR/Award No. VO51A990006), as administered by the Office of Vocational and 
Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not 
necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not 
assume endorsement by the federal government. The National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education and the National Research Center 
for Career and Technical Education are funded by the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.

For Additional Information Contact:
Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org