College Students enrolled in East Asian language classes were surveyed about their language learning motivational orientations (MOs). MOs were classified and measured on seven subscales; integrative, instrumental, heritage-related, travel, interest, school-related, and language use. Learners were highly influenced by interest, language use, and…

Colleges are grappling with decisions on whether ethnic studies courses should be required. Asian American students are responsive in Asian American studies courses when the class composition is largely Asian. With more White students in class, the Asian experience must be translated in a different way and Asian students become more reticent. (VM)

Describes the results of a national survey that was conducted to determine the current state of Spanish-language testing for placement and outcome assessments. The survey was undertaken in the United States in the departments of Spanish in B.A.-granting institutions. (Author/VWL)

An innovative orientation program for freshmen at the University of Puget Sound called Passages and Preludes mixes outdoor fun with academic work. They meet in small groups with faculty members who introduce them to college-level reading and writing. For another two days the students hike, sail, fish and canoe. (MLW)

For years, College Board has been promoting and publicizing necessary pathways to postsecondary education. Even bolder step is EQUITY 2000--demanding program of prealgebra, algebra, and geometry designed to ensure minority students' success in vigorous high school mathematics programs. Pacesetter initiative aims to make high-standards curriculum,…

Graduation rates for scholarship athletes at 32 colleges in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association are presented in tabular form, including data on proportions graduated by gender and race. (DB)

Discusses research regarding College of Liberal Arts students at the University of Minnesota where there are proficiency requirement-based second-language programs. Research results provide data that compare qualitative results on reading, listening, writing, and speaking proficiency tests of students from the proficiency requirement program at…

Nutrition instruction at the Dental School of the University of Texas Health Science Center (San Antonia) has been required for 20 years and is now an integrated part of the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs with both didactic (freshman year) and clinical (sophomore year) components. (MSE)

Compares the performance of community-college transfer students with students entering directly from high school at Canada's York University. Indicates that community-college transfer students are more likely to drop out and less likely to graduate than direct-entry students. Contains four data tables and 19 references. (JDI)

Using a weighted database of approximately 3,000 students, this study involves the tracing of the postsecondary history of 2,516 students who identified as Native Hawaiian, graduated from high school between 1993 and 1995, and attended college. Virtually none of the students are 100% Hawaiian. Due to a long history of intermarriage, the Hawaiian…

State and local officials are slowly untangling complicated webs of accountability, testing, and graduation policies, hoping to give thousands of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina a better handle on their academic standing. While officials in Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama offered some guidance to such students, school leaders in…

Community colleges educate many traditionally underserved students, including students of color, first-generation students, and low-income students. This chapter discusses what we know about these students, how they have fared in college transitions, how educational pipeline and deficit models have helped or hindered their progress, and what…

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are required to pass the same competency exams as students enrolled in general education in order to graduate to new grade levels and to earn a high school diploma. In this study, the authors taught students with SLD a self-directed organizational strategy designed to assist them in passing the…

Cultures throughout time have marked the passage of young people into adulthood with carefully designed tasks and rituals. The purpose of these activities is to prepare youth to mindfully consider their individual and communal life intention. The relative lack of modern rites of passage for adolescents is seen as having significant implications…

After decades of exclusion from graduate and professional education opportunities, the number of African Americans seeking advanced degrees has been gradually increasing since the mid-twentieth century. However, the participation of African Americans across the professions and the academy remains low. The authors explore the "pipeline" leading to…