This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest Community College Research Center (CCRC) research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Strategies for Increasing Student Success," by Thomas Bailey, summarizes the discussion found in the CCRC Assessment of Evidence…

One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their developmental, or remedial, education programs. This literature review seeks to examine research on developmental education strategies and reforms and identify the most promising approaches for…

This paper describes an instructional improvement approach which aims to assist educational systems to enhance their capabilities to plan and implement effective improvements in their basic skills programs, and illustrates how research on implementation and dissemination is used in the design and development of the approach. Four elements of the…

This thesis was a descriptive study of developmental writing programs in two- and four-year colleges. The following areas were investigated: identifying students who need extra language skills help; placing students in flexible programs so they can learn what they individually need to know; evaluating materials to teach skills; evaluating…

Researchers are concluding that high school and college students do not have a well-balanced repertoire of effective independent learning strategies. Another line of research has focused upon the question of the "process" or the "how" underlying such learning strategies. Three insights from this research are pertinent to developmental educators.…

This discussion asserts that there is no significant difference between traditional instruction and remedial/developmental instruction in improving the academic achievement of skill-deficient students. Because the cognitive style of each learner reflects how learning tasks are approached and completed, matching strategies are needed that deal with…

One hundred seventy-five first-year community college students enrolled in a course called "Developmental Writing 090" participated in this study. Some students were enrolled in an experimental group which was divided into two subgroups: one group was involved in independent study and the other in small group instruction. Other students in the…

This paper discusses the effectiveness of mediated instructional strategies in culturally and linguistically diverse learning environments, focusing on the use of computer-mediated instruction and its relationship to various learning styles. It examines learning style dimensions and reviews related literature on the relationship between…

This project was designed to study the effects of an inservice model on the quantity and quality of developmental mathematics instruction provided by participating teachers. Participants were seven teachers of students in grades from 2 to 6 who had volunteered for the project after being selected as potential lead teachers in mathematics. The…

A study field tested and evaluated an instructional approach to parent education that tried, from a developmental perspective, to help parents become aware of their parenting practices. A program was developed to support parents in becoming aware of personal themes and actions that influenced the nature of parent-child interaction and in becoming…

The 12 essays in this collection address the concerns of basic writing teachers and those who teach basic writing teachers. The first essay discusses the characteristics of the low achieving college students who require basic writing instruction and argues for basic writing courses that are based upon a thorough understanding of students' nature…

California Community Colleges face unique challenges and opportunities in serving the state's largest new majority students who are also the state's most at-risk students. These students are the primary driver of the new economy, however they arrive at college with significant educational and economic disadvantages (Woodlief, Thomas, & Orozco,…

This article is designed to present an overview of critical theory, research, and evaluation for the developmental mathematics educator. Students caught in the gap between high school mathematics preparation and entry-level college mathematics expectations--developmental mathematics education students--need to have their personal narratives told…

Learning improvement programs for underprepared postsecondary students are reviewed, and a Decision Guide for Effective Programs, which summarizes knowledge needed for decision making, is presented. Research data are analyzed to identify features of learning improvement programs associated with improved grade point average and retention.…

The 7th International Conference on Education Data Mining held on July 4th-7th, 2014, at the Institute of Education, London, UK is the leading international forum for high-quality research that mines large data sets in order to answer educational research questions that shed light on the learning process. These data sets may come from the traces…