For historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), engagement is not an enhancement of their curriculum but part of their birthright. Founded in the Civil War/Reconstruction era, HBCUs had as their core mission educating freed slaves and other free black people to participate in the economy. Later, during the Jim Crow era, HBCUs educated…

Researchers of writing ability have often applied the developmental schemes of William Perry, Lev Vygotsky, and Jean Piaget in describing basic writers. As a result, some researchers have concluded that basic writers think well below the formal-operations or true concept-formation stage of cognitive development. To investigate the theory that…

In spring 1989, 25 community colleges conducted a survey of their English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students to project the need for ESL services at institutional and statewide levels, and to assess students' existing and desired levels of English proficiency, and the time and resources needed to achieve the desired level. In addition, the study…

An overview is provided of the 25-year history of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI). The narrative section of the report begins with a message from CCRI's president concerning institutional priorities for the next five years. Subsequent sections of the narrative focus on: (1) the history and expansion of the college; (2) 1988…

The University of Texas at Austin conducted a validity study of the College Board Achievement Test in Russian Listening-Reading during the 1986-87 academic year. The test, a multiple-choice test with audio-taped and reading portions, was administered to 298 students in 22 sections of 8 courses in Russian. The purpose was to revalidate the test as…

The paper reports on a 1-year study of 44 gifted adolescent females who chose to complete high school and college in 5 years. The students in the special residential program at Mary Baldwin College in Virginia received personality and family adjustment measures at the beginning of the year. Results were compared to the students' later…

Information is presented on the use of transcripts to validate institutional mission, proposing that transcript archives can serve as grounds against which the validity of an institution's claimed mission with respect to its primary beneficiaries can be measured. This is done with a focus on the community college. The National Longitudinal Study…

In 1989, a follow-up study of non-returning students who had attended Johnson County Community College (JCCC) during fall 1985, spring 1986, or summer 1986 was conducted to assess the former students' achievement of their educational goals. A target population of 7,910 long-term leavers was surveyed regarding their opinions and perceptions of…

In 1987 and 1988, the New Brunswick (Canada) Department of Advanced Education and Training conducted follow-up surveys of graduates of full-time training programs to determine their labor market success. In 1987, of the 2,319 graduates surveyed, 1,574 (68%) responded, while in 1988, 1,578 (69%) of the 2,302 graduates surveyed responded. In both…

An attempt to develop a locus of control scale that would differentiate one's sense of control over events that are highly controllable from one's sense of control over events that are typically uncontrollable by the individual is described. It was hypothesized that the more remote events are from one's personal control (e.g., events in the lives…

A study of John Abbott College's nursing graduates was conducted to determine how well prepared for their professional responsibilities the graduates saw themselves just prior to graduation and later after working in the nursing field. A sample of 98 nursing students who graduated between 1986 and 1988 was surveyed, with 93% responding to the…

This study was conducted at John Abbott College to determine the preferences of psychology students among five styles of classroom instruction: films, group discussions, lectures, teacher-led questions and answers, or videos. Questionnaires were distributed in four psychology teachers' upper-level courses, lower-level courses, and continuing…

The Educational Opportunity Fund Legal Studies program addresses the need to increase access to careers in law for minority and disadvantaged students. Through early identification of interest, recognition of problems, remediation, skills enhancement, and comprehensive legal career exploration and exposure, students in Montclair State College's…

A study was conducted to determine rates of student persistence in the Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD). Using the fall 1988 semester for comparison, two cohorts (i.e., first-time freshmen and all LRCCD students) were tracked for the spring and fall 1989 semesters. Data were compiled for the whole district and for each of the four…

The correlative features of assigned reading and in-class performance were evaluated for 75 students enrolled in psychology classes in two community colleges in Maryland. Four tests and a final examination were used to measure in-class performance as a function of rates of reading and times of attendance. Control for content was attempted by…