Community colleges are an essential component of America's higher education system. Last year, they enrolled well over 6 million students, a number that continues to grow. Community colleges have multiple missions, and their performance ultimately needs to be evaluated on multiple metrics. However, one key mission of community colleges is the…

Transitioning in to adult-hood as a special needs youth can be a challenging experience for both disabled youth and their families. IDEA 2004 legislation mandates all special needs individuals receive skill development in the areas of self-determination, self-advocacy, employment, adult service agency access and independent living. School…

"We know that education can be an arduous process. Countries use different approaches based on societal acceptances, but effective education always requires enormous efforts. Whether success is achieved, depends on the development of a rigorous and progressive curriculum, while at the same time providing all students the opportunity to…

The research compiled ten-year, foundational information about students enrolled in a developmental reading course. The institutional data collected included student enrollment, demographics, and academic markers of success. A pre/post survey examined students' reading attitudes to determine if reading attitudes changed through the course…

The purpose of this qualitative study, which utilized a case study approach, was to evaluate administrator's perceptions of the role of high school counselors. To evaluate those perceptions, the researcher analyzed data collected from two focus group interviews. The focus group interviews were conducted utilizing administrators employed at two…

A small but growing body of evidence in reports, journal articles and conference papers indicates that if basic skills are embedded within specific career training programs, under-prepared students can acquire life enhancing basic skills at a higher rate than when those skills are taught in the traditional, unconnected way (Baker et al., 2009; Kuh…

In this essay, the authors accomplish three tasks: (1) identify common limitations of programs designed to increase the success rates of Latina/o college students, (2) describe the common characteristics of programs that exhibit effective practice, and (3) provide a framework to guide colleges and universities in designing effective program…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) On Anniversary of "Brown Versus Board of Education," Providing True Educational Equality for All Students…

Even on the sixth anniversary of the hurricane that buckled the Crescent City in 2005, left much of Xavier University of New Orleans under water and its faculty and students scattered by the rushing winds, Dr. JW Carmichael did not expect to be talking that morning about Katrina. For him it was a horrific storm that nearly drowned a hundred dreams…

Standard media coverage of higher education hasn't changed that much since the 1940s, and it doesn't serve the core functions of higher education well. US news media could not maintain their anti-intellectualism without widespread public acceptance, but schools of journalism must accept their share of the blame. US journalists historically came…

Students in the secondary education pipeline, the 6-year period between 7th and 12th grades, deal with external and internal conditions that facilitate or hinder progress to graduation and beyond--these conditions offer resilience or resistance and influence student movement through public schools. This study follows an urban middle school cohort…

Although a great deal of attention has been given to the nature of teaching and the qualities a good teacher ought to possess, there has been little emphasis on the specific characteristics and competencies that teacher educators should have. This paper discusses whether setting explicit standards for teacher educators would help or hinder efforts…

Programs linking college aid to academic achievement could work either by lowering the cost of college or by inducing additional student effort. I examine the PROMISE program in West Virginia, which offers free tuition to students who maintain a minimum GPA and course load. Using administrative data, I exploit discontinuities in the eligibility…

This paper describes student response, as indicated by an anonymous questionnaire, given by the author to her remedial algebra students at a community college that is part of a large East Coast open-admissions university. The course in question is aimed at the university-wide exit mathematics test necessary to graduation and college-level…

The past few years have witnessed new interest in doctoral production in South Africa. In the first section of the article, it is argued that this new interest has its roots in various higher education policy documents over the past decade. The second part of the article presents some of the most recent statistics on various aspects of doctoral…