The report, based on a study of journal entries written by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in San Diego Community Colleges (California), examines the value of journal writing for ESL learning and acculturation and offers classroom techniques for its use. An introductory section describes the study and its outcomes. Chapter 1 looks at…

The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) collaborates with community colleges in rural communities that are racially, ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse by challenging them to think broadly about their potential as catalysts for regional development. RCCI is a national demonstration program that combines the goals of rural…

This SCANS/TEJAS document is a compendium of tests developed to assess basic workplace skills identified by the U.S. Department of Labor's Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). Designed primarily for use in community college classes, the SCANS/TEJAS tests can be used to assess what individuals know (cognitive domain) as…

This report contains results of a survey at Bronx Community College (New York) that queried career placement counselors on how their field had changed over the past 5 years and what changes they foresaw for the future. Questions were open-ended and directed toward identifying problems and shifts in career planning and placement. More than half of…

This study was conducted to determine: (1) if technical institute faculty and administrators believe there should be state licensing for postsecondary technical institute faculty; (2) if technical faculty and administrators believe a licensing process similar to that used in other non-teaching professions should be implemented; and (3) what…

The Instructional and Leadership Development through Distance Learning (ILDDL) project was created to demonstrate ways that technology and distance learning can be used to address some of Florida's educational needs. The project involved the collaboration of Florida State University, the University of Florida, and nine Florida community colleges.…

In 1990, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) conducted a study to determine ways in which the community college system could increase its participation in the preparation of elementary and secondary teachers. Drawing information from ICCB course files and unit cost data, as well as a survey of the colleges, the study investigated the…

Time constraints often diminish college administrators capacity to address problems and concerns. The lack of time to accomplish administrative responsibilities can both produce and magnify stress. Perceptions of amounts of time spent on problems associated with 21 administrative activities were obtained from 373 public community, public…

Drawing from an analysis of the literature on student attrition and retention at community colleges, this paper presents a typology of retention strategies as a structure by which further research can advance. Introductory material explains the typology, which categorizes retention strategies according to whether their purposes are to: (1) sort…

During the 1990-91 academic year, Frederick Community College (FCC) in Maryland conducted a major research project to help determine the extent and effectiveness of the college's transfer function. In the study's first phase, a Transfer Tracking System (TTS) was developed by conducting a detailed audit of all transcript requests from FCC students.…

At Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in New York, over 90% of the students are ethnic minorities, and two-thirds are women. Among BMCC freshmen, 70% require some form of remediation. Faculty development efforts at the college emphasize the issues of serving an ethnically diverse student population and of reinforcing the basic skills of…

The three principle elements of Total Quality Management (TQM) are a focus on customers; an attitude of continuous improvement of a system; and the involvement of everyone within an organization. At Delaware County Community College (DCCC) in Media, Pennsylvania, the first phase of implementing TQM focused on educating top management for the…

Institutional change requires that "restraining" forces (those forces resisting change) be minimized and "driving" forces (those forces moving in the direction of change) be maximized. Lasting change involves broad-based staff participation in the change process; this requires the establishment of multiple feedback levels or…

Fifty-three supervisors in private sector firms and public sector organizations in central Ohio responded to questions about 16 aspects of productivity in the workplace. The firms and organizations with which these supervisors were associated had a history of hiring vocational-technical education graduates as well as those who had pursued other…

The background and major activities of a 2-year study on adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs and practices are reported. Descriptions are provided of the nomination process for programs that teach literacy to adults not fully proficient in English, and the study site selection and case studies of nine programs are described. The…