For educators to effectively meet the needs of at-risk nontraditional college students, they must quickly identify such students, utilize the best available teaching techniques, and work to guarantee student retention. Swift identification of potential at-risk students depends on educators' awareness of common indicators, such as the student…

In an effort to help disadvantaged preschool children develop emergent literacy skills and improve their chances of future academic success, a cooperative project was implemented in 1991-92 by McNeese State University in Louisiana and a local Head Start agency to provide tutoring to Head Start children. University students enrolled in a teacher's…

This study approaches the issue of quality in the teaching force using a microeconomic framework that applies the concept of "opportunity cost." As teaching is a low-paid profession, accepting a teaching position may be associated with high opportunity costs (foregone benefits) for more academically talented college students because they could…

Part of an effort to more accurately describe the kinds of students attracted to and served by the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), this report examines the relationship of student characteristics to enrollment patterns and describes a method for clarifying the image of students served. Drawing on national enrollment growth patterns…

A 1989 survey of two-year branch campuses of four-year institutions collected data on administrative structure, mission, and selected characteristics of 24 campuses. In spring 1993, a study was conducted to re-validate the 1989 survey, gathering data on more campuses and updating the list of branch campuses. Forty-nine state systems of higher…

At Lenoir Community College (LCC) in Kinston, North Carolina, 20% of established programs and 33% of the non-academic support services are reviewed each year in an annual cycle, with all programs reviewed within a 5-year period. To evaluate the Mental Health Associate (MHA) Program at LCC, assessment surveys were sent to 44 graduates from the…

This paper is the introduction to a workshop session demonstrating how English and language-arts teachers can teach critical thinking and writing simultaneously to students in grades 4 through 14. It describes how to transform specific skills into frames for critical thinking and writing such as: (1) explaining; (2) categorizing; (3) comparing and…

Working from a timeline established by the Office of the Chancellor for the California Community Colleges (CCC) for implementing student equity initiatives, this report describes a model process for planning and implementing programs to increase minority participation and graduation rates. The first section describes the planning group, suggesting…

As part of the program review process at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Palatine, Illinois, a study was conducted in spring 1993 of three groups of former Real Estate program students who had enrolled at WRHC during the previous 5 years. The three groups of students, each of whom were sent different questionnaires, included 252 students…

Brief descriptions are provided of the 48 specific disability support practices being provided by community colleges. In its call for contributions, the American Association of Community Colleges solicited information about factors that practitioners thought contributed to the success of a disability support program. Nearly 50 different key…

This ethnographic study relates the differences reported by student teachers as they experienced teaching in a culturally diverse elementary school that contained a large population of minority students and compared that placement with a rural school that had few or no minority students. The methodology involved preplacement interviews, journals,…

A study examined the progress of the second year of a 3-year literacy project in which undergraduate students enrolled in methods courses used children's literature during reading instruction of urban children, grades K-8 considered at-risk due to conditions of poverty. The entire school population participated in the project along with the…

The goals of this study of student outcomes were to find ways to better manage enrollments, husband teaching and administrative resources, reduce attrition, and better understand the needs and expectations of students. The study examined data for 2,262 first-time, associate degree-seeking students entering a mid-sized rural college in the…

This research study was conducted to determine if certain characteristics were consistently present in students who completed self-paced study courses, as opposed to those who did not. The survey was conducted at the Santa Fe Community College Flex Lab (New Mexico), which was designed to provide students with an alternative, self-paced method of…

In an effort to assess the effectiveness of its developmental studies program, Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio undertook a study of first-time college students who began their studies at the college in Fall 1991. The study sought to determine the relationship between level of remediation and retention, college-level English or math…