Prior learning assessment policies allow students to earn college credit for knowledge and experience gained outside of a classroom, which can accelerate their time to graduation. Research shows that students who receive Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) credit accumulate more credit and graduate more quickly and at higher rates than their peers who…

In 2012, five foundations launched the Credit When Its Due (CWID) initiative that was "designed to encourage partnerships of community colleges and universities to significantly expand programs that award associate degrees to transfer students when the student completes the requirements for the associate degree while pursuing a bachelor's…

This case study of the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland demonstrates the need to consider course sequencing in the communication curriculum. The investigation assessed whether the order in which undergraduates took courses predicted grade performance. Students' (N = 6,166) grade data from earlier courses were used to…

Community college stakeholders are searching with increasing urgency for approaches with the potential to improve the success rates for community college students, particularly those in need of developmental education. "Learning communities," which place cohorts of students together in two or more courses for one semester, are a popular…

This study employed a quantitative research design to examine the predictive relationships between social presence and course retention as well as final grade in community college online courses. Social presence is defined as the degree of one's feeling, perception and reaction to another intellectual entity in the online environment. Course final…

This paper presents the 2008 Maryland School Performance Report. It shows the academic performance results of the State and its 24 school systems. This report includes the results from the Maryland School Assessment (MSA) given in spring 2008, information about the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measures required by the federal No Child Left…

Irregularities have surfaced in the state's community college system involving inflated enrollment figures, altered student transcripts, and other illegal tactics designed to improve shaky institutional reputations and increase the intake of state subsidies. (Author/LBH)

As a result of the emphasis on accountability in education, the faculty of Colonel E. Brooke Lee Junior High School wrote basic and advanced instructional objectives for each course in the curriculum. This publication lists these performance objectives for each subject at grade 7. The purpose of such a system is to give parents and students an…

As a result of the emphasis on accountability in education, the faculty of Colonel E. Brooke Lee Junior High School wrote basic and advanced instructional objectives for each course in the curriculum. This publication lists these performance objectives for each subject at grade 9. The purpose of such a system is to give parents and students an…

As a result of the emphasis on accountability in education, the faculty of Colonel E. Brooke Lee Junior High School wrote basic and advanced instructional objectives for each course in the curriculum. This publication lists these performance objectives for each subject at grade 8. The purpose of such a system is to give parents and students an…

The first phase of a study of the effects of new high school graduation requirements in Maryland was conducted in 1986. Interviews were conducted with 182 administrators, teachers, and students about their perspectives on new requirements instituted in 1985. Transcript records were analyzed for 249 students from 5 high schools. Interview data did…

Information about the rate of student transfer from two- to four-year institutions and transfer students' achievement at the senior institutions can be obtained in several ways. One approach is the utilization of a statewide student tracking system, which permits easy identification of student progress at any level in the system. Systemwide…

Educational Assessment is at the cornerstone of education in the 1990s. Advocates for alternative assessment believe that the new tasks should be redesigned to more closely resemble real learning tasks. Portfolio assessment encourages an integration between assessment and instruction and results in several positive educational outcomes. Portfolios…