Open Learning Initiative

Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with state agencies and national affinity groups, will establish a consortium of community colleges that will enact a large scale, systems-change process that increases efficiency in the way instruction is developed, delivered, evaluated, and continuously improved. The overarching goal is to demonstrate a 25% higher rate of course completion for students from vulnerable populations, with a focus on gatekeeper courses critical to graduation success. Within three years, the Community College Opening Learning Initiative (CC-OLI) will scale to 40 community college partners and will reach an additional 50-100 classrooms.

CC-OLI will foster a collaborative, participatory process for developing, adapting, evaluating, and continuously improving learning environments. The project will move from the current approach of cottage-industry course development and delivery that leads to uneven learning and mass inefficiency to a consortium of institutions, departments, and faculty members working on consolidated solutions driven by solid evidence of effectiveness. The change process will build on the strengths of the existing community college culture and address directly historic barriers to change such as the tension between standards and local autonomy.