Argues that educational reform movements are cyclical and notes the absence of a concern for equity in many recent reports and studies on education reform. Proposes alternative reform measures to enhance equity for Blacks, the poor, and other minorities. (FMW)

The numbers of Black and minority students and faculty at universities are declining for a number of reasons: Federal student aid and compensatory programs are being cut back, admissions standards are stiffening and many inner-city students are ill-prepared to compete; and universities are making less of an effort to recruit Black students outside…

Educational innovations in France concerning the priority areas of education, the objectives of the college, procedures for pupil guidance, and the second long cycle are described. (RM)

An information systems approach to instruction to reduce freshman attrition at Morehead State University is described. The diagnostic-prescriptive approach to alleviate the cause and effect of developmental lag has provided an educational plan to ameliorate the low academic functioning of students and increase their intellectual development. (MLW)

Describes the developmental education program at Southeastern Louisiana State University and explains how it meets the needs of students who enter the university with inadequate academic preparation. Reports on a study that examined the students' self-concepts, attitudes toward reading, and learning styles. (FL)

A survey designed to investigate the causes of declining levels of student achievement indicated that (1) there has been an over-use of objective testing, (2) grade inflation is a serious problem, and (3) community colleges may have over-emphasized accommodation of unprepared students and under-emphasized cognitive learning. Recommendations to…

This document is designed to help accelerate and strengthen state policy initiatives that promote student success; and derive lessons from this work about strategies for influencing the allocation of resources, the transparency of and accountability for results, and the rules that shape how institutions make decisions about priorities and…

MetLife Foundation created a national awards program to identify and reward community colleges that are best promoting educational and economic advancement of underserved youth and adults. Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people and adults gain skills needed to succeed in a changing…

This paper questions the effects of middle-class student enrollment on the historical institutional mission of community colleges--offering access to higher education to groups who might otherwise not be able to attend college. Because higher education is viewed as a public good that also contributes to individual socioeconomic mobility, the…

This paper addresses the issue of developmental education in the community college. Across the country, states are increasingly discouraging four-year institutions from offering remedial education. The City University of New York and the California State University system are phasing out remedial instruction. In the 1999-2000 academic year, public…

About 46% of high school graduates enrolled in California State Universities need remedial courses in both math and English to prepare them for college level. These students typically earned B averages in their high school math and English classes. In order to address this issue, Shasta College launched Operation WAVES (Win by Achieving Valuable…

With consistently low levels of academic performance and high rates of absenteeism (Bourke & Rigby, 2000), the students in this study are the most educationally disadvantaged group in Australia with respect to mathematics. This paper reports on a study undertaken with Years 5-7 students in a Queensland aboriginal community to determine their…

Children's exposure to family violence may lead to increased school difficulties, as shown in studies demonstrating the relationship between children's adjustment disorders and stressful family events. To examine the unique effects of violence on children's cognition, this study compared the academic performance and conflict levels of two groups…

The four papers that make up this document report on poverty issues as they pertain to adults with learning disabilities. "Programmatic Response to Welfare Clients with Learning Disabilities" (Glenn Young) describes steps in the Learning Disabilities Initiative that works with federal agencies, states, local governments, and nonprofit…

This publication is a collection of articles written by the author, sometimes in conjunction with others, over a 25-year period from 1968 to 1993. It is of historical interest in that it covers a remarkably active period in American education, one in which the educational needs of minority children began to be addressed. The anthology serves as an…