Equity and OER
The Link Between OER, Equity, and California Community Colleges
Our Students and Their Challenges
California Community College students face unique challenges. The CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) has provided a number of key facts Links to an external site. about these 2.1 million students, including the following:
- Over 67% are from diverse ethnic backgrounds
- Over 62% attend part-time
- Roughly 50% come from California's lowest-income families
- Roughly 40% are first-generation
- Over 40% are over 25 (already working adults)
The Institute for College Access & Success concluded in their Feb. 2018 report, that "affordability challenges contribute to inequities in college enrollment, completion, and student debt burdens, with low-income and minority students less likely to enroll or complete college, and more likely to have borrowed for college." Furthermore, increased attention has been given to students’ basic needs, as food and housing insecurity have been shown to undermine academic success and impact college completion and persistence (Goldrick-Rab, Richardson, Schneider, Hernandez, & Caty, 2018).
Studies Link Textbook Costs to Equity
Looking at several studies will give a better understanding of how textbook costs and equity are linked.
The CSUCI White Paper
CSU Channel Islands’ openCI initiative recently completed a campus-wide study (Links to an external site.) of over 700 undergraduate students. This is a unique study because it focuses on exploring the impact of textbook costs specifically on historically underserved populations. Statistical analysis revealed textbook prices to be a significant educational barrier for all CSUCI students, with a disproportionately negative effect among racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, and first-generation college students.
The study concludes that it is our responsibility as staff, faculty, and administrators to "remove any unnecessary financial barriers to academic success, and to ensure that our students’ learning potential is never limited by their purchasing power."
The key finding from the CSUCI White Paper are as follows:
Accessible text equivalent of data tables
Note: Asterisks indicate statistically significant findings. One asterisk (*) indicates less than a 5% chance of error due to sampling error, two asterisks (**) indicate less than 1% chance of error, and three asterisks (***) indicate less than .1% chance of error.
The University of Georgia Study
In July 2018, a large-scale study was published that examined the impact of OER on student success metrics. The study evaluated the academic performance of 22,137 students in nine different courses at the University of Georgia. Each of these courses was taught by a professor who switched from a commercial textbook costing $100 or more to a free, open textbook from OpenStax.
The results demonstrate that OER adoption does much more than save students money. OER also impact student learning, completion, and attainment gaps by improving end-of-course grades and decreasing DFW (D, F, and Withdrawal letter grades) rates. More specifically:
- OER improve end-of-course grades for all students
- OER improve course grades at greater rates for non-white and Pell-eligible students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education
- OER decrease DFW rates for all students
- OER decrease DFW rates at greater rates for non-white and Pell-eligible students, part-time students, and populations historically underserved by higher education
Accessible text equivalent of data table
Nicole Allen, Director of Open Education for SPARC, noted that “the most important finding of this study is that it directly links OER with equity. The greatest gains from using OER accrued to the students most likely to be underserved for traditional models" (McKenzie, 2018).
Optional ASCCC OERI Webinar
OER/ZTC, Equity, and Beyond: Links to an external site. While it is easy to see the link between no-cost resources and achieving your equity goals, how do you take this concept to the next level and connect it to other college initiatives and make this understanding a part of your college culture? What are the fundamental connections between your local equity, Open Educational Resources (OER), guided pathways, and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) efforts? This webinar will introduce you to resources for training yourself – and your colleagues – to understand and appreciate these important intersections.
Attributions
ZTC Pathways to Equity , Who Are Our Students, True Costs and Basic Needs, Historically Underserved Students, OER and Student Success, course content is offered under a CC Attribution license.
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. (2019, February 13). Success Center: Financial aid reform for California Community Colleges Links to an external site.
"Unpacking California College Affordability: Experts Weigh in on Strengths, Challenges, and Implications" by the Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Goldrick-Rab, S., Richardson, J., Schneider, J., Hernandez, A., & Cady, C. (2018, April). Still hungry and homeless in college
Text and data tables: "Textbook Affordability and Student Success for Historically Underserved Populations at CSUCI" by J. Jacob Jenkins, Jaime Hannans, Luis Sanchez, and Jill Leafstedt for openCI, is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Data table graphic: "Choosing to Create an Equity-Minded College? The Case for Open Education and Zero Textbook Cost Degrees Download Choosing to Create an Equity-Minded College? The Case for Open Education and Zero Textbook Cost Degrees" by James Glapa-Grossklag, licensed under CC BY 4.0
McKenzie, L. (2018, July 16). Free digital textbooks vs. purchased commercial textbooks