In this toolbox article, the authors describe the recommended steps for creating a community college balanced scorecard that measures and reports on key performance indicators based on targets and signal values to end-users, college constituents and external stakeholders. Based on extensive experience in the field, the authors provide a…

This study hypothesized that student performance in a First Year Introduction program (FYI), representing an initial sampling of students' academic behaviors, would correlate with subsequent academic success. Subjects were 1,501 first-time, first-year students attending Columbia Basin College in fall quarter 2007, whose FYI performance was graded…

Community colleges nationwide are tasked with meeting the needs of a wide range of students, many of whom come to higher education with financial, educational, and social disadvantages. Developing strategies to effectively serve these students and promote their academic and personal success can be challenging and resource-intensive. The study…

Five years ago, the "Journal of Applied Research in the Community College" devoted an entire issue to the topic of transfer and articulation. The articles were written by several of the most influential researchers in this area, who addressed a variety of topics influencing transfer and bachelor's degree attainment, such as student…

This article describes Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative, an accountability system implemented in 2005-06 that measures students' gains in college readiness, college credits earned, and degree or certificate completion. The goal of the initiative is to increase educational attainment by focusing on the critical momentum points…

Community colleges in California are grappling with developing and assessing student learning outcomes (SLOs), as the accrediting agency is holding them accountable for providing evidence of student learning as one measure of institutional effectiveness. One means of demonstrating accountability is to use strategic planning to direct the…

Current research indicates that students often have a difficult time getting started on reaching their course goals. This study examines the impact of an intervention exercise on the final grades and success rates of two groups of community college students in California. At the beginning of the spring semester 2007, students in two English…

The initiation of new accreditation standards for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 2002 mandated assessing student learning as a requirement for all community colleges. This study examined a non-Californian community college recognized by experts as having successfully institutionalized student learning outcomes. Qualitative data…

This article presents a summary of the main findings of a national literature review completed as part of a larger study of basic skills effective practices. The study summarized here was commissioned by the California Community Colleges System Office with the purpose of conducting a comprehensive review of national literature and identifying…

Argues that community colleges are becoming more reliant on support from external stakeholders to design programs and deliver services to customers. Suggests that colleges need to supplement traditional academic indicators of performance with external indicators, which involves a shift from a closed to an open systems-assessment approach. (JDI)

The assessment of student learning outcomes in integrated courses is particularly challenging. This article reviews a range of assessment studies conducted over two decades by a community college that requires integrated Learning Communities for the transfer degree. This review highlights methodologies, findings, and lessons learned from these…

Several cognitive motivational scales were examined for their ability to predict short-range academic outcomes (grades, percentage of units earned over units attempted, units earned), and to measure cognitive gains as a consequence of services provided by community college counseling offices. The findings suggest that scales measuring…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify critically important factors that affect the meaningful assessment of student learning outcomes and study why these factors were critically important. A three-round Delphi process was used to solicit the opinions of individuals who were actively involved in student learning outcomes assessment…

Describes the development of a systemwide institutional effectiveness assessment model in the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). Indicates that a primary goal of WTCS was to provide a measure that could assess systemwide effectiveness while preserving the autonomy of each individual college. Identifies four categories of effectiveness:…

Argues that institutional effectiveness is a multidimensional construct that varies according to the perspective of the stakeholder. Identifies core effectiveness indicators derived from a survey given to a wide range of college staff in three key areas: student outcomes, institutional processes, and fiscal and human resources. Contains four data…