An overview is provided of the activities of the President's Study Group on Student Learning Outcomes, established in 1990 at Lehigh County Community College to identify associate degree and certificate competencies and to develop strategies for their implementation and assessment. Introductory materials list the Study Group's members and review…

A study was conducted at San Jose City College (SJCC) to identify and track 163 new students enrolled in Math 310 over a period of several semesters. Data on the students' competency and persistence rates were collected for fall 1990 and spring 1991, along with subsequent math class enrollments and success rates. Study findings included the…

The result of a two-year effort by more than 150 community college faculty and staff members in Hawaii, this report presents task force recommendations for improving programs leading to the associate degree. The recommendations concern: (1) the maintenance of two associate degrees, an associate in arts and an associate in science; (2) the…

The purpose of the practicum described in this report was to develop a competency-based vocational articulation pilot project between Mercer County Community College (MCCC) located in Trenton, New Jersey, and four secondary schools for three subjects: Typewriting I and II, Stenography I and II, and Office Procedures. Chapters I and II provide an…

Factors are discussed which affect the role played by faculty in implementing legislation mandating that each of the Florida community colleges define the skills that must be mastered by students before transferring to a baccalaureate program. The report first presents a rationale for this mandate, based on the disproportionately high number of…

Compiled to assist advisors at Vincennes University (VU), a two-year college in Indiana, as well as high school counselors and prospective students, this book provides information on placement at VU and entry-level skills needed for success in specific programs, majors, or courses. A brief introduction describes the objectives of the skills guide…

Beginning with the fall semester, 1983, California required all community colleges to test their students on minimal writing competency before being granted an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree. This guide explains the ways in which students at Bakersfield College may complete this requirement (i.e., by initial placement into…

The Developmental Studies Department (DSD) at Rockland Community College (RCC), in Suffern, New York, provides courses and services to assist students lacking college-level skills in the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, study skills, and English. An additional pilot project, the RCC/Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) has…

During the fall 1986 administration of the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), 980 Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) students took the exam for the first time. Of this group, 71.6% passed, and 28.4% failed one or more CLAST subtests. A study was conducted of the group of students who were required to retake one or more subtests in order…

Underscores the problems of misunderstanding and misrepresentation in competency-based education (CBE). Proposes a definition of CBE, acknowledging that it must be adapted to individual colleges. Offers a rationale for adopting a CBE framework and provides an inventory model to facilitate the assessment of the quality of a CBE program. (CAM)

In 1987, a study was conducted to evaluate the ability of several variables to predict student performance on Florida's minimum competency test for rising juniors, the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). The variables included grades received in required courses; semesters elapsed prior to taking required courses after entering college;…

Reports on a survey of community college faculty chairs and administrators to identify institutional initiatives to enhance student performance on the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), assess faculty acceptance of and support for the CLAST mandate, and determine uses of aggregate CLAST scores in formative and summative evaluations. (DMM)

Discusses the use of computerized placement testing at Santa Fe Community College to enable students needing only a short review of reading skills to exit early from a College Preparatory Reading Class (CPRC). Describes CPRC placement, structure, curriculum, and exit criteria; the Early Exit Reading Project; and project results. (DMM)

Educational accountability is central to the reputation of the nation's community colleges. Some community colleges are adopting mastery learning, competency-based education, curriculum tracking, and/or minimum competency-testing as a means of remaining educationally accountable. Mastery learning programs, under which students are required to…

Proposed 1989 standards will raise the passing score on the College Level Academic Skills Test from 275 to 295 in computation, from 270 to 295 in reading and writing, and from 4 to 5 on the essay test. A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to examine the impact of these proposed standards on the passing rates of students…