This study addressed a need for comprehensive quantitative empirical studies to determine the effectiveness of using popular culture media as a teaching technique. A quasi-experimental design was implemented to examine whether a group of community college students taking a first-semester introduction to business course who were exposed to a…

The purpose of this research was to identify the factors that students attending a Midwestern community college perceived contributed to their academic success or failure in an Associate Degree nursing program. A review of student academic records revealed that many students with weak academic records were successful while students with strong…

Purpose: The study identified effective validating practices used in transfer centers with EOP&S students at three Southern California community colleges. Methodology: The study used a self-report survey design. The researcher adapted an existing instrument with a panel of experts from EOP&S and transfer center staff at each college.…

In September 2007, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) officially launched the Student Achievement Initiative, a system-wide policy to reward colleges for improvements in student achievement. Developed by a task force comprised of State Board members, college trustees, presidents, and faculty representatives,…

Many composition teachers use the writing conference to provide feedback to their students; however, the existing literature on the subject indicates that teachers may unintentionally harm their weaker students by using this strategy. To better understand the effect of the writing conference on developmental writing students, the researcher…

Seven narrative and systematic reviews published since 2000 and focusing on self-determination for individuals with disabilities are reviewed in this narrative metasynthesis. The authors distinguish their work from other metasynthesis work by calling it a "narrative metasynthesis" because they include both narrative reviews and…

In nearly two decades as a community-college leader, Martha J. Kanter has earned acclaim for a strong record helping disabled and low-income students graduate from college and for her bold efforts to overhaul curricula to help more students master basic skills. After working for more than 30 years at nearly every level of the California community…

This report documents actions taken and data gathered by the Colorado Department of Higher Education (DHE) as required by statute to report annually on students taking basic skills courses at Colorado's public higher education institutions. DHE has prepared this report which summarizes: (1) actions by DHE and the Commission on Higher Education…

It is an event administrators, faculty, staff, and students dread every semester--the course cancellation meeting, when it is decided which low enrollment classes will be canceled. No one wins. Students are left scrambling to make last-minute adjustments to their schedules, and administrators are forced to cancel low-enrollment classes even though…

Engineers in America are too scarce and too white. That complaint comes from corporate chieftains and education leaders alike, who see those shortfalls as a virtual guarantee that jobs and innovation will head overseas. Now many are looking to remedies to both problems from an unsung source: community colleges. Thanks to low tuition, overall…

Through the support of the National Science Foundation,, The Community College of Baltimore County has begun two separate initiatives to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities enrolled in technological majors. Started in 2003, the Grace Hopper Scholars Program targets specifically women interested in careers in technology,…

This report describes the self-reported attitudes and motivations of first-year students nationally at the beginning of the undergraduate experience, based on a 100-item motivational assessment administered in the summer and fall of 2009. In particular, the report examines attitudes that may have posed barriers and opportunities for students as…

This report contains trend data on the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of first-time, full-time students at Maryland community colleges from 1997 to 2007. Specifically, the report presents retention and graduation data for students two, three and four years after matriculation into a community college. The data is presented for the…

President Barack Obama has called education "the economic issue of our time", explaining that the rise in unemployment among those without a college education is growing and eight of 10 new jobs created in the US are more likely to hire people with higher education degrees. Indeed, change is what the educational system needs to increase…

This study examined the course shopping behaviors among a sample of approximately 5,000 community college students enrolled across nine campuses of a large urban district. The sample was purposely designed as an analytic, rather than a random, sample that sought to obtain adequate numbers of students in course areas that were of theoretical and of…