Background/Context: Community colleges are central to the United States' college completion goals. A popular strategy pushed by a number of influential policy organizations and foundations is a policy of tying state funding to community college completions, otherwise known simply as performance funding. This is happening despite little to no…

The Michigan Center for Student Success commissioned this study to determine whether strategies employed to improve adult students' success at 41 Breaking Through colleges nationwide have taken root at Michigan's original colleges and spread beyond them. A statewide survey revisited four of the colleges profiled in previous publications, and the…

"Why Rural Matters 2011-12" is the sixth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states. While it is the sixth in a series, this report is not simply an…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between Georgia alternative school administrators' perceptions of student success factors and the three domains of essential elements of effective alternative schools. The success factors included: dropout rate, average grade point average (GPA), average absences per student,…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association representing the technology leadership in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is SETDA's ninth annual report on select educational technology activities. This year's report includes…

Two studies investigated the use of curriculum advisory committees by North Carolina community colleges. The first, by George Armfield of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, surveyed community college administrators and faculty about their use of these committees. The study: (1) identified 16 major functions of curriculum advisory…

Reports on a study conducted by the Two-Year College Development Center to evaluate contract courses delivered by New York community colleges. Discusses findings related to the effectiveness of contract courses, implications of training opportunities, perceived value of training, and employer recommendations. (DMM)

This report presents a case study of programs that provide either formal or informal training for economically disadvantaged youth from fourteen to twenty-one years of age at six community action agencies in the state of Ohio. The following programs involving the six agencies were examined: inschool public sector programs funded by the…

Responses to 19.51 percent of 651 questionnaires mailed to former agricultural students (1968-73) from Wyoming community colleges to determine the effectiveness of agricultural education programs provided specific information in the following general categories: job placements, reasons for program choice, and program improvements. Six…

Discusses a study of faculty development programs at 62 Texas community colleges and the means by and extent to which the programs were evaluated. Reveals that most programs were group-oriented, perceived as effective, and offered at higher rates than in the past. Suggests ways to improve evaluation criteria. (DMM)

In 1989, a study was conducted to evaluate the study abroad programs offered for credit by California community colleges. Questionnaires were mailed to chief instructional officers at each community college, requesting information on the programs offered between 1984 and 1985. Study findings, based on responses from all 36 community college…

Drawing from on-site assessments of the implementation and effectiveness of 30 selected Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) programs operating at California community colleges, this report synthesizes information collected between September 1985 and May 1986 through student and faculty/staff surveys, 1,025 detailed interviews with…

A study to determine teacher perceptions of the value of the various sources of vocational teacher education in Washington revealed that courses taught at the universities and four-year colleges received the highest rating. (LRA)

Describes the process used to evaluate the writing across the curriculum (WAC) program in the Minnesota Community College System, focusing on evaluation components (i.e., workshop surveys, faculty and student surveys, faculty interviews, student compositions, and subject experiments). Considers programmatic and evaluation coordination. Reviews…

Discusses use of the Individualized Instruction Inventory to determine demographic data, practices and attitudes of North Carolina occupational education instructors. Describes a model, detailing tasks and evaluative measures, intended to collect data and assess the effectiveness of individualized instruction approaches. (Author/AC)