Carmen Cortez – Research Progress Report

The focus of my research paper will reside within the study community colleges as a means to learn about the history and development of community colleges in the US in order to identify conditions that can work to increase persistence and retention within higher education. In conducting my research, I have come across relatively minor setbacks, as I have been able to compile an extensive amount of information from various reputable sources, including the American Association of Community Colleges, Center for Community College Student Engagement and the Brooking Institution. Furthermore, I have accessed various scholarly journals and E-books through the Baruch Library database using Academic Search Complete, Education Full Text and ERIC (EBSCOhost), which has provided me with variety of resources and yet I have been unable to access certain scholarly reports that address the precise nature of my research topic. The problems resides within the fact that many of these reports take me directly to the primary website, where there is a fee attached to viewing the report and include reports published by the Community College Journal of Research and Practice and Sage Journals. The reports include, Looking Back and Looking Forward: A Century of Community Colleges in America written by Stephen G. Katsinas and Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Community College Student Success by Sara Goldrick-Rab. I would like to determine if I would be able to access these reports without having to purchase each report but may be willing to do so, given the close alignment with my research question and the focus area of the report, which examines both academic and policy research.