Lack of clear, coherent pathways to transfer or to workforce goals is a common impediment to community college student success and completion. Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) set the ambitious goal of achieving curricular coherence across its 10 colleges, developing shared pathways that clearly delineate employment and/or…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Using the EIA [Excellence in Assessment] Application as a Catalyst for Intentional Improvement (Christine Robinson and associates); (2) Editor's Notes (Stephen P. Hundley); (3) Northern Arizona University's Journey to…

The nation has made an unprecedented investment in community colleges to simultaneously increase college completion and stimulate economic recovery. One of the most substantial investments was the Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program of the United States Department of Labor (U.S. DOL). Beginning October…

Skill and drill remediation in developmental reading courses do not prepare students for reading tasks in future college-level courses. When a skill and drill model is replaced with a model that utilizes contextualization, students engage in relevant activities with authentic texts to prepare students for college-level activities. The reading…

This article describes one school district department's efforts to train and support teachers in providing effective curriculum, instruction, and assessment methods to their students. This large, K-12 district embraces the spectrum of low to high SES schools, a large number of gifted students from diverse populations, and a variety of gifted…

Nursing schools face the challenge of improving student academic performance and completion rates. The current supply of newly graduated nurses fails to meet the increasing demands of society. In 2009, Cochise College responded by implementing a major change in their curriculum to improve student retention and academic performance. The problem…

It is not troubling, or even surprising, that the United States today faces increasing economic competition from around the world. It is easier for other nations to make up ground on the world's leader by copying more-advanced existing innovations, than it is for the leader to move forward by making new innovations. And as other nations improve…

Arizona State University's "Sustainability Science for Sustainable Schools program" brings together graduate students, sustainability researchers, high school teachers and students, and school or district administrators in a project designed to address the challenge of becoming a "sustainable school." Funded by the National…

Despite the benefits associated with teacher development through participation in communities of practice, many questions about these groups remain unanswered. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine a group of elementary physical education teachers as a community of practice whose objective was to develop and disseminate…

An ESEA Title III project, the Outdoor Laboratory and Community Nature Center was conceived, planned and implemented within a three year period (1974-77). During the first year, which was primarily a planning year, specialists in various areas related to environmental studies were consulted. The project director traveled considerably to observe…

This report presents a summary and evaluation of the 8-day "Springboards to Learning" Institute, designed for involvement of both educator and community participants in a mutual effort to increase familiarity with and achieve competencies in the effective implementation of career education within the local schools and community. (Over…

Rural Amrica has been experiencing dramatic changes in the transition toward a socially and culturally diverse society. This study is a first effort to explore multicultural reform in rural schools. Multicultural education is the process by which the school environment is modified to accommodate cultural differences as well as to teach the role…

Support in the United States for comprehensive sexuality education is overwhelming. Yet a small, vocal opposition and increasingly hostile public policy have deterred its implementation in many communities across the country. The chasm between community needs and public policy prompted the Ms. Foundation for Women and the David and Lucille Packard…

Curriculum developers and faculty working with American Indian students in traditional Eurocentric higher education institutional settings face many challenges. These include the development of culturally responsive, community-based programs that meet students' needs, encourage and support student persistence and retention, and integrate…

This handbook offers school districts a suggested framework for planning the implementation of a sex education program with minimal funds, using existing teachers, and building on existing support among parents, students, faculty, and administrators. In the first section of the guide, the planning and implementation process is briefly described,…