Practical educational assessment tools for adolescents champion student voice, use technology to enhance engagement, highlight discrepancies in school experience, and provide actionable feedback. We report a series of studies that detail an iterative process for developing a new school climate assessment tool: (1) item generation that centres…

Virginia law mandates the use of threat assessment in all public schools, yet there is little research on grade-level differences. This study investigated a statewide sample of 3,282 threats from 1,021 schools. Threats significantly differed across grade level in demographics, characteristics, and outcome. As grade increased, students were more…

The research project described herein was designed to measure teacher education students' epistemological beliefs. Teacher education students' epistemological beliefs were compared according to participants' academic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of the courses in which students are enrolled at the time of study data…

Using detailed administrative data from Virginia, this paper examines how and why the community college pathway to a baccalaureate influences students' degree attainment and short-term labor market performance. We find that the community college pathway sharply reduces the likelihood of earning a bachelor's degree but does not have a significant…

The effect of service-learning courses on student growth was compared for 321 first-generation and 782 non-first-generation undergraduate students at a large urban university. Student growth encompassed both academic and professional skill development. The majority of students reported significant academic and professional development after…

This report presents baseline and process study findings of an evaluation of the Urban Alliance high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, and Chicago. The report, which focuses on the program's…

Every 2 years the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) works with the 15 public four-year institutions and Richard Bland College to produce a comprehensive set of enrollment projections to advise legislators and policy makers about expected enrollments for the next 6 years. This report is the result of that study for 2003.…

A followup study of graduates and non-graduates of occupational-technical programs in Virginia Community College System institutions was conducted in order to develop a profile of such students, to ascertain their post-college activities, and to study their attitudes toward their community college experience and current employment. All former…

In an effort to provide faculty and administrators with a current profile of the diverse student population at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC), a study was conducted of new students entering PVCC in fall 1989. The new student population, representing 33.5% of the total fall 1989 headcount, included 849 first-time students and 644…

The Council of Higher Education, in this state-mandated biennial plan, sets four goals for Virginia's state-supported system of higher education to achieve: access, excellence, accountability, and placement among the best systems of higher education in the United States. The plan concentrates on the 84 degree-granting institutions that have been…

In order to evaluate Virginia Western Community College's (VWCC) nursing program and the proficiencies of its graduates, an examination was made of the interrelatedness of certain student characteristics/achievements and subtest scores. Statistical analyses of the data included: (1) a demographic profile of graduates, (2) descriptive analyses of…

Community colleges have always been strongly tied to their local communities, and arose out of an egalitarian approach to higher education. The Morrill Act of 1862 created the American land grant universities, with an emphasis on practical education in agriculture and technical fields. In addition, a number of private two-year "junior…

Selected information is displayed in the form of charts, tables, and graphs about: (1) the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program and other state-level student financial assistance programs; (2) the primary state agency or organization responsible for administering these programs; and (3) the general state characteristics relating to student…

Of the 5,227 1973-74 graduates of the Virginia Community College System, the majority (61 percent) were men. Racial minorities comprised 11 percent of the graduates. Although the largest single age group was 21 years or younger, the majority of the graduates were at least 22 years old. Thirteen percent were older than 35, and the median age for…

This master plan is divided into three sections. The first consists of an historical profile of Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), a statement of the college's mission, and descriptions of the college's organizational structure, student characteristics, educational programs, and financial, personnel, and facility resources. The second section…