RDP CONSULTING
INFORM • INFLUENCE • INCITE
Dual Enrollment for Equitable Completion (DE4EC) is a multi-year collaborative initiative among the College Futures Foundation and Tipping Point Community, carried out with research support from RDP Consulting.
DE4EC helps California community colleges and their high school partners build dual enrollment programs centered on strengthening equitable access and completion outcomes for students underrepresented in higher education, particularly African American/Black, Latina/o/x, and students experiencing economic disadvantage.
DE4EC supports 10 community colleges and their high school partners: Berkeley City College, Compton College, Contra Costa College, Cuyamaca College, East Los Angeles College, Fresno City College, Gavilan College, Hartnell College, Madera Community College, and Skyline College. Each of these collaborations represents different levels of capacity and stages of dual enrollment program implementation.
Career Ladders Project, an organization focused on promoting equitable community college redesign and an expert on dual enrollment practice and policy, supports the work of each partnership by convening a community of practice and providing capacity building as needed.
For this funder supported endeavor, RDP Consulting, the initiative’s learning and evaluation partner, employed quantitative and qualitative research methods to explore and address the following overarching research question:
How did the partnerships ensure that historically underrepresented and excluded students were engaged, participated, and successful in dual enrollment... and beyond?
EQUITY IN ACTION
This video spotlights four California Community College sites featured in the RP Group’s Dual Enrollment for Equitable Completion (DE4EC) report — each one showing what’s possible when high schools and colleges work together to reimagine access.
From scheduling and student support to cross-institutional collaboration, DE4EC: Equity in Action brings to life the real strategies and systems behind equitable dual enrollment programs. Featuring voices from:
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Educators and administrators
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High school and college partners
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Students sharing lived experiences
Key Takeaways:
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How colleges are building trust and alignment with K–12
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The impact of intentional design on student access
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Creative solutions to policy and logistical challenges
RESEARCHER REFLECTIONS
In this video, Dr. Rogéair D. Purnell and Dr. Diane Rodriguez-Kiino share the vision behind the DE4EC project and what equitable dual enrollment means — not just in policy, but in practice.
Their reflections offer insight into the research questions that shaped the initiative, the patterns that emerged across colleges, and the urgency of designing systems that truly serve students who have been historically excluded from early college opportunities.
Key Themes:
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Defining equity in dual enrollment from a research perspective
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Lifting up practitioner and student voices
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Connecting data, design, and lived experience
