ABSTRACT

Academic reform in higher education diff ers from K-12 reform because of the decentralized governance and the high level of professional autonomy of administrators and faculty. We proposed and tested a new model of academic reform for expanding opportunity that is compatible with the decentralized organization and governance of higher education. In the process, we identifi ed an emergent academic pathways theory of change (chapter 5, Figure 5.4); tested the theory through assessment studies and interventions (chapters 6-10); and revised our initial intervention model into a new paradigm for reforms in higher education that focuses on creating new pathways for underrepresented students (chapter 11).