A striking convergence of research, documentation, commentary, and policy in the past five years strongly suggests that an almost exclusive focus on academic knowledge and skills is an incomplete solution. Additional behaviors, skills, and mindsets--sometimes called metacognitive skills or 21st-century skills--are just as necessary for academic…

Bachelor's degree attainment has become essential for U.S. labor market participation. However, degree attainment is differentially accessible across racial and economic lines. One explanation of degree disparities is that urban students often lack the social and cultural capital needed to succeed in higher education institutions. This article…

Developmental courses in English, math, and reading have an important purpose in higher education, especially in the open-access world of community colleges. These classes--also referred to as "remedial"--are intended to give less-prepared students a chance to catch up and meet the challenges of college-level coursework. However,…

The introduction of an outcomes-based curriculum in South Africa together with a new syllabus for physical sciences for grades 10-12, prompted the development of an instrument to monitor conceptual understanding in chemistry at the secondary-tertiary interface. This instrument was used to evaluate placement within different programmes at tertiary…

More than 32,000 young people in the United States exit the foster care system in a typical year by aging out to independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Despite available financial support for post-secondary education through the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, only 20% of college-qualified foster youth attend college and…

This paper focuses on training people to carry out the communication component of development programs. The paper begins with a description of some of the issues on the communication frontier that affect development programs, and then notes three kinds of communication training that stand out: designing and managing communication interventions;…

The Leadership in Public Affairs program at the College of New Jersey has begun to implement a developmental model designed to increase the community and political engagement of students. The primary tool to achieve these ends is public policy-oriented, community-based research (CBR). To date, two courses and a student fellowship based on…

Based on environmental assessment methodologies, a model was designed to categorize and evaluate student development services. When applying the model, four dimensions need to be specified: target populations, assessment periods, environmental components, and measurement procedures. Actual model implementation is described for a large university…

Discusses Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) and describes a Cognitive Skills-Oriented PSI (CPSI), an individualized instruction technique stressing the teaching of cognitive skills in conjunction with specific subject matter. Discusses learning theory, materials, communication strategies, and role of the teacher. (DR)

At the University of California, Riverside, a structured, formal adjunct program coordinated with large introductory courses has been developed to improve students' reading and study skills. The program uses adjunct instructors who are specialists in reading and study skills and who are familiar with the content areas. Skills taught include time…

Discusses the Gateway Program at New Jersey's Rutgers University, in which departments administer their own developmental classes. Describes reasons for the program's success, including small class sizes, providing students with gradual increases in autonomy, frequent assessment and feedback, and teaching strategies that require participation.…

The Alternative Services To Raise Achievement (ASTRA) program at the Greater Hartford (Connecticut) Community College is designed to supply developmental and other services to students with academic potential who are in need of such services to complete their education. The program's structure is intended to meet the diverse needs of students;…

This paper describes a developmental writing course at Purdue University. The author argues that the basics of such a course as far as the student is concerned are motivation and a desire to learn writing, communication, careful diagnosis, organized plan for student mastery, provision for transferral, and reward. Helping students develop a desire…

The fifth annual edition of this guide is designed to assist administrators to identify activities on management procedures and staff leadership development. A substantial number of sponsoring organizations have contributed descriptions of a wide variety of seminars and other short-term professional development programs, most of which have been…

An experimental adult studies curriculum for adult students at Empire State is analyzed in terms of trends in adult participation in higher education and of four theoretical perspectives: life cycle theory, ego development, moral development, and adult learning style. (MSE)