Delivering Promise

Xueli Wang is the Barbara and Glenn Thompson Endowed Professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She serves as president of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges during 2024-2025.

"This is an essential read for every community and technical college practitioner. Wang offers a unique, compelling, and inside look at what equity-inspired and equity-centered innovation looks like in our classrooms, student support functions, data-informed support systems, community-based partnerships, and institutional cultures. The reflective questions at the end of each chapter, and their answers, will help us chart forward a next generation of innovation that advances equitable student success across our sector and beyond." - Karen Stout, president and CEO, Achieving the Dream "Delivering Promise illuminates how educators are enacting equity-driven student success reforms in response to extraordinary and enduring challenges in the wake of the pandemic. Wang, the preeminent community college scholar-storyteller, guides readers into a heartening journey of individual and institutional transformation, synthesizing findings into concluding imperatives that outline a path forward." - John Fink, senior research associate and program lead, Community College Research Center, Teachers College-Columbia University "Delivering Promise challenges the assumption that equity is inherent, cautioning against well-intended efforts that may inadvertently impede progress. Addressing the race-centered nature of inequity and emphasizing institutional accountability, the book navigates change and innovation through an equity lens. With a central message of hope and possibilities, it highlights community and technical colleges as potent grounds for equity-driven innovation. Practical yet insightful, this book is a guide to transformative educational change." - Kimberly Lowry, director of Leadership and Impact, Aspen Institute