A study was undertaken at a large, ethnically diverse community college in California to identify instructor and course factors associated with grade variability and grade differences by gender and race/ethnicity in mathematics courses. The study used a statistical procedure called hierarchical linear models (HLM) to analyze the relationship…

A study was conducted at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, to determine the demographic and academic characteristics of students by their employment status. Surveys were sent to a sample of 3,045 students classified as unemployed, working 1-20 hours per week, working 21-40 hours per week, or working more than 40 hours per week.…

The Blinn College (BC) Entering Student Survey was administered during the regular registration period for the fall 1993 and spring 1994 semesters. The survey was completed by students who were registering for one or more classes at the Brenham campus and the three Brazos County campuses, and who had not been enrolled during the preceding 6-year…

This paper reviews research published in the last 20 years which evaluates the performance of general education development (GED) certified students at public two-year community colleges. First, information is provided on the role and enrollment conditions of today's community colleges in America, focusing on the growth of community college,…

Pennsylvania College of Technology's Project Profile seeks to provide a portrait of all students entering each fall by collecting and analyzing surveys completed at the time of admission and comparing them to previous years. This report presents data on the 4,942 students who applied and matriculated in fall 1993 and includes comparisons by…

Project AFFIRM (African-American First Investment Return Module) was established in the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District in California in fall 1989 to provide academic and personal support to increase the graduation and transfer rates of African-American students. Project AFFIRM seeks to build the self-esteem of African-American…

During the 1994-95 academic year, a task force on underpreparedness was convened at Golden West College, in Huntington Beach, California, to address the large number of students underprepared for college work. The task force examined records from the 1992-93 and 1993-94 academic years with regard to student academic status, gender, race/ethnicity,…

In December 1991, the Chancellor's Office for the California Community Colleges (CCC) collected enrollment data at 49 of the state's 107 community colleges, representing approximately 54% of the total credit enrollment, in order to gain an estimate of changes, class sizes and unserved populations. Results of the survey include the following: (1)…

Written by and about the homeless, the Chicago newspaper "StreetWise" has potential for use in creative writing classes. An urban community college instructor uses the newspaper to provide material from which her students, many of whom are at or below the poverty level, can derive ideas for writing and to raise her students' level of…

A study was performed at Northern Illinois University (NIU) to measure the effect of "transfer shock" on community college students' academic performance during their first semesters of enrollment at NIU, as well as to determine whether academic class, gender, ethnicity, age, major, resident status, and previous degree achievements had…

This digest describes community college honors programs with regard to their origins and goals, consistency with institutional missions, and effectiveness. Potential goals for honors programs at community colleges include: (1) providing advanced students an opportunity to learn more than they would in a non-honors curriculum; (2) retaining a…

A survey was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Palatine, Illinois, to determine the reasons why nearly 16% of the students who applied to the college for fall 1990 did not register by the first week of classes. Results were compared to those of a similar study conducted of 1982 no shows. A sample of 300 of the 854 fall 1990…

Because of their open-door policy, community colleges enroll a significant proportion of the poorly prepared students entering higher education. Many educators feel that colleges operating under open-door policies have a responsibility to identify underprepared students and provide them with the necessary developmental support. Colleges are…

Three studies were conducted at San Jose City College, in San Jose, California, to measure the persistence of new college students enrolled in entry-level English courses (i.e., English 321, English 322, and English 330) in fall 1988. Specifically, the studies examined students' persistence from their initial English course through Transfer Level…

To measure the amount of time it takes to earn an Associate of Arts degree at the San Diego Community College District, a study was undertaken of the number of years and number of semesters graduating students at three district colleges had been enrolled. A random sample of 300 students was drawn from the 1,130 students graduating in June 1992,…