Traces the magnitude of the turn away from the liberal arts in American community colleges and suggests ways that faculty members in literature and the humanities might accommodate themselves to this change. (HOD)

Provides an overview of trends and issues related to the content of associate degree programs, patterns in course requirements, competency expectations, enrollments, the development of standards, and credit for remedial education. (DMM)

The Western College Reading and Learning Association (WCRLA) has been a lead organization in promoting a professional consciousness among teachers of remedial studies and managers of learning laboratories. Its members are also creating an academic discipline centering on the principles of instruction. The theories of this discipline have been…

Drawing from reports on the future of community colleges, summarizes trends in enrollments, curriculum, student achievement, institutional research, and accountability for educational outcomes. (DMM)

An analysis is presented of the position of American community colleges in the nation's educational system. First, background is presented on the historical development of the community college; forces contributing to the rise of higher education and the emergence of junior colleges; and the expansion of the role of two-year colleges to include…

Arthur M. Cohen responds to questions concerning the issue of excellence vs. access; the importance of the liberal arts as an enculturating device; cultural literacy; general education; strengthening of the associate in arts degree; the remedial function of community colleges; the evolution of developmental studies as a discipline; and outcomes…

This report presents background on community college development and discusses four areas of concern. The first area is maintaining access for all students. Trends are toward tightening criteria for attendance. Colleges in some states will be forced to make clearer distinctions among the student groups they serve and for whom they expect to…

The September 1998 topical bibliographies and analyses in this collection cover the latest ERIC literature on community colleges in eleven key areas: (1) access, diversity, and inclusion; (2) civil society; (3) teaching and learning; (4) faculty; (5) technology; (6) governance; (7) leadership; (8) finance; (9) market forces; (10) change; and (11)…

Projecting the future for U.S. community colleges into the early 21st century involves projecting the future for the United States in general. Based on trend data, it can be expected that the number of community colleges will not change, except to the extent that public universities organize additional two-year branch campuses or community…

Projecting the future for California community colleges involves projecting the future for the state and for the nation in general. According to population projections, the absolute number of 18-year-olds in the U.S. will rise to 4 million in 2004 up from 3.3 million in 1992. The tuition differential between California's community colleges and the…

After providing evidence of the decline of student academic ability and identifying some of the factors influencing this decline, this paper examines the role of community colleges in providing compensatory education for the growing population of students who are underprepared for college-level work. This examination begins by tracing the…

Reports on the Transfer Assembly, created to calculate student transfer rate from community colleges to public, in-state, four-year colleges or universities within four years. A consistent transfer rate over the past eight years suggests that community colleges are effectively serving as the postsecondary entry point for 22% of their students.…

Within the last few years, American schools have moved toward routinely measuring the outcomes of their educational programs. Two national associations dealing with community colleges have also developed quantitative indicators to assess outcomes for two-year colleges. There are still colleges that make only minimal efforts at assessment, citing…

When compared with university freshmen, students beginning their collegiate studies at community colleges are less likely to attain a baccalaureate degree. After equating for differences in students' entering abilities, socioeconomic background, employment status, on-campus residence, and pattern of attendance, however, this discrepancy narrows.…

The community college mission includes such diverse goals as preparing students for job entry, teaching literacy, and satisfying students' personal interests. Measuring the colleges' transfer rates by no means tacitly elevates the transfer function above these other functions; it merely helps institutions estimate the effects of interventions on…