The growing chasm between society's complex problems and what the systems can do to help is driving reform in all sectors. Just as schools alone cannot compensate for the disadvantage created by troubled homes and communities, welfare and social agencies cannot hold out a hopeful future to clients lacking employment abilities. Comprehensive…

This digest offers community college professionals insight into the culture and language driving the news media, with an emphasis on newspapers. In an era of increased accountability for resource expenditures, educators may stretch budgets by engaging the mass media as willing and helpful partners in promoting the institutions' identity, programs,…

Tech prep is an articulation partnership between secondary vocational-technical schools and postsecondary institutions. It can be described as an "advanced skills" articulation model because it enables students to use the time saved through coordinated course work to acquire the more advanced occupational knowledge and skill required by…

Corporate education is an extensive, multifaceted endeavor, costing billions of dollars, educating millions of people, and absorbing many working hours annually. Offerings range from remedial to postgraduate level management and technical courses. Corporate educators are fulfilling educational needs of nontraditional students, often before…

For the purposes of this digest, productivity is defined as ways in which library and information services can assist agencies, industries, and individuals in producing goods and services effectively and profitably. Two fundamental issues that affect productivity are access and control; two major strategies for improving productivity are…

This digest is drawn from "The Role of the Community College in Teacher Education" (New Directions for Community Colleges, Spring 2003). It examines trends in teacher education in the community colleges, including building partnerships and articulation agreements with baccalaureate-granting institutions, designing new associate degree…

Interfering with the ability of community colleges to face the challenges involved in fulfilling their multiple missions is the fact that the colleges are often regarded as "inferior" when compared to four-year baccalaureate institutions. Ironically, many of the concessions that community colleges have made to gain stature have hurt,…

Current issues are complex and funding is difficult to obtain as adult education providers try to meet the needs of the community, business, and industry; therefore, collaboration can be very advantageous. Information, ideas, and resources can be pooled, and duplication and harmful competition can be avoided. Four factors that are important for…

Two recent studies clarify the growing importance of tribal college libraries in the overall tribal effort to educate Indian people. Cheryl Duran (1991) applied Flamholtz's organizational development model to the role of libraries in the development of tribal colleges. During the new venture, expansion, professional, and consolidation stages,…

Based on a recent nationwide survey of rural administrators, this digest reports on the financial problems of rural school districts and some possible strategies for improvement. Rural administrators reported the following financial management problems: (1) cash flow problems due to late receipt of state aid or taxes; (2) expenditures that are…

Recent studies on correctional education point to the value of such programs in helping to train and rehabilitate those inmates disposed to such opportunities. Because of their vocational curricula and community service orientation, community colleges are in an ideal position to educate prison inmates. While in 1965, only 12 correctional education…

This ERIC Digest discusses relevant issues and alternatives for rural school districts trying to develop strong programs for their most academically talented students. Although rural schools are more often constrained by high costs and material shortages than are urban schools, there are opportunities inherent in the lower teacher-student ratios…

A number of factors put pressure on schools to work more closely with health, social service, and other youth-serving institutions but poor communications, program redundancies, fear for job security, and concerns about parent and community support for controversial services inhibit close collaboration. Recent successful collaborative school,…

The high school curriculum in the U.S., especially during the senior year, tends to lack in academic intensity. This document argues that not only are high school seniors not being challenged during their senior year, but they are also not preparing for college during that time. A wasted senior year, or "senior slump," can result in…

This digest describes how foreign language instructors at Iowa State University of Science and Technology and Santa Clara University (California) have integrated the participation of native speakers from their communities into the curriculum in ways that allow students to practice their language skills and develop a heightened sense of cultural…