This digest is drawn from "Transfer Students: Trends and Issues," the summer 2001 issue of New Directions for Community Colleges. Although community colleges in the United States have complex academic and vocational goals, the transfer function is of central importance to maintaining access to higher education. Community colleges provide…

This study examined factors affecting academic achievement of at-risk minority students to evaluate intervention strategies designed to assist such students. Data were obtained on 2,386 first-time college students entering Prince George's Community College (Maryland) in fall 1990. Factor analysis identified 10 variables that explained a…

A survey of 16 rural students attending college in Perth, Australia, found that all of them felt disadvantaged because of issues specific to their rural status. These issues were emotional, social, and financial or a combination thereof. The emotional and social concerns were loneliness, making new friends, and learning to adjust to an urban…

This paper examines and refutes the hypothesis that white, male, middle class college students are falling behind their female peers in higher education. After an introduction, the paper focuses on gender gaps in the educational pipeline, discussing several indicators that could be used to measure educational attainment. These include high school…

This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of an elementary teacher during her transition from preservice to inservice teaching. Bandura's (1995) concept of self-efficacy belief is used as a framework for presenting the findings of the study. The subject's experiences in science teaching provided information about her competency as a teacher,…

Elementary teachers' attitudes towards science and their confidence to teach it have for some time been identified as important in determining both the quality and quantity of science taught to children. Attitudes and confidence are influenced greatly by the teachers' own experiences as learners of science. This paper reports on a longitudinal…

This prospectus outlines the key elements of the state-by-state report card which the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education is developing to assist state policy leaders in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of higher education performance in their state. The goal is to stimulate the creation of state policies that enhance…

Education in the United States has developed from two opposite starting points. Colleges were organized to train leaders, particularly for churches and the courts. They needed schools to prepare their prospective students, and so a system of academics grew up dominated largely by colleges. Widespread public elementary schools, however, developed…

With higher expectations for graduation, what are ways to keep students in school and graduate? To have a 100% graduation rate with students who are prepared for higher education or the work place is certainly a major goal of high schools. This has been strongly reinforced by schools needing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as mandated by No…

The rapid dwindling of classes in the upper grades of U.S. grammar and high schools has been often noted, and many suggestions as to the improvement of the system of education have been emphasized by reference to this tendency. It is clear that after all that has been done, the attendance of pupils, particularly in the elementary schools, is still…

This research note describes data on college persistence, educational attainment, and remediation, and explains the difficulty in interpreting this data.

This research describes data on college persistence, educational attainment, and remediation, and explains the difficulty in interpreting this data.

This report summarizes the school year 2000-2001 program evaluation results of the AISD Career and Technology Education Program.

Results of a survey of graduates and inactive students of a nontraditional bachelor's program reveal differences in age and ethnic groups, number of reasons (although not primary reason) for seeking a degree or nontraditional program, and attitudes toward program variables, assets, and problems. Results are evaluated according to concepts of…

Subscribes to a "right-to-succeed" policy. Recommends eliminating time-frame descriptions in community college program catalogs, prohibiting full-time enrollment by working students, preassessing entering students' entry-level skills, and using assessment data for proper placement in college-level courses. (DMM)