This newsletter issue focuses on the directions school/college partnerships need to take if they are to contribute to a genuine reform of American education. It begins by explaining what each sector gains, then briefly describes current models, and highlights programs that can serve as guideposts. It concludes with a discussion of how policymakers…

The status and future of academic advising is examined in this American College Testing Program (ACT) monograph, providing an in-depth look at the topics consistently viewed as critical to the success of advising programs. In chapter 1, Wesley R. Habley introduces the monograph by examining the trends in advising over the past 15 years, focusing…

Twenty-five undergraduate preservice teachers in the literacy block (a six credit hour block of reading and language arts methods courses) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wrote their literacy autobiographies to fulfill one of the course requirements. These autobiographies help students' develop insights into their literacy past and present.…

A study was undertaken at Amarillo College (AC), in Texas, to evaluate the services offered by the college and generate data to provide a basis for personnel planning, the continuation of programs, and the development of new programs. Computerized surveys were developed to ensure increased efficiency in tabulating results and to standardize the…

This study assessed how in- and out-of-class experiences influenced diverse students' learning and development in college. The study took place at two community colleges, one with a predominant minority group of Hispanics, the other with a large African American minority group. There researchers conducted focus groups with 3-6 students per group…

A study was conducted by the Wyoming Community College Commission to describe the variables that affect students' progress toward their personal, academic and career objectives, and to evaluate their progress in reaching those objectives. The 5-year longitudinal study focused on a random sample of 181 students who were first-time, first-year…

The Six Performance Characteristics rating, An Alverno College assessment technique used in the outcome-centered liberal arts curriculum, is discussed. The technique provides a means for faculty to judge students in a systematic way over time on developmental characteristics that apply to their performance across disciplines and across competence…

A model was developed to relate home, school, and extracurricular experiences (from preschool through high school) to the reading achievement of high school seniors. Variables representing each of these factors were measured using "The Reading Biographer," an instrument that had been evaluated in a national follow-up study of 3,959 high…

The University of Phoenix has developed a comprehensive outcomes and impact assessment program to assess the effects of a university education on students, particularly adult students. The program is integrated with the existing process assessment systems. Process assessments, which the university refers to as the Academic Quality Management…

In 1985-86, LaGuardia Community College (LCC) completed the developmental phase of a project aimed at increasing the number of minority, low-income urban students who transfer from LCC and complete a baccalaureate degree. During the year, the program had the following achievements: (1) linkages were established with the City University of New York…

Issues concerning student moral and ethical development during college are considered in three papers from a symposium sponsored by Bowling Green State University as part of the Academic Outcomes Project. Four major questions are addressed: the college's role in promoting students' moral and ethical development; what constitutes moral and ethical…

A guide to support student success in extended orientation courses, freshman seminars, and study skills classes is presented, using exercises such as journal-keeping, stories of 12 people who have mastered specific skills, practical suggestions, and forms and charts. The major topics are: time management, memory, reading, note-taking, test-taking,…

Three outcomes of the college experience for black students in U.S. higher education (student academic achievement, student social integration into campus life, and student occupational aspirations) are discussed with a theoretical emphasis on connections between institutional and individual characteristics in the explanation of student outcomes.…

Recommendations to further the educational development of minority college students are addressed in an essay, and descriptions of college programs funded by the Minority Achievement Program (MAP) are presented. In "A National Study of Minorities: Some Implications for Undergraduate Education," Alexander W. Astin considers the…

The view of education as a liberating, enlightening, individuating process and educational approaches to support this goal are examined. According to Ivan Illich (1970), the social relations within the educational encounter have corresponded closely to the social relations of dominance, subordination, and motivation in the economic sphere. He…