A workplace literacy project involved complex math and science concepts and applications integral to foundry operations. It demonstrates that, despite lack of formal schooling or English proficiency, workers can learn complex concepts through practical experience and reflection, using their knowledge and skills with contextual cues. (SK)

A credit-rating tool for colleges seeking bond financing is described, using The Colorado College experience as a case study. The process discussed gives college chief financial officers a better understanding of how the bond rating agencies evaluate institutions' credit-worthiness. Substantial data charts and graphs are use for illustration. (MSE)

Reviews Internal Revenue Service rules that apply favorable tax considerations to taxpayers' biological children and stepchildren. Explains that the Internal Revenue Code, in applying these considerations, treats taxpayers' adopted children and foster children differently from biological children and stepchildren. (MM)

A study to quantify continuing education credit hours awarded for pharmacy home study is reported. Selected home study courses were administered to volunteers under supervision. Time needed for completion and examination, learner assessment of difficulty, and word count and number of questions per lesson were used to calculate credits. (Author/MSE)

An accreditation program for community workers uses accreditation of prior learning (APL) as a means of awarding full professional qualifications in community work. However, APL may be waning in the context of professional higher education. (SK)

Describes the development and implementation of a small-dollar procurement card program at the University of Colorado, Boulder, detailing establishment of policies and procedures, adaptation to different departments, transaction review system, card controls, piloting, measures of program success, and specific benefits realized with the new system.…

This longitudinal cohort study followed students admitted to Saint Louis University (Missouri) with and without credits from either the university's dual credit program for high school students or the Advanced Placement Testing Program. Analysis indicated both programs significantly influenced students' ability to persist and graduate but did not…

A finance course incorporates two technologies to reinforce instruction: threaded discussion and a course website. A bonus point system for discussion contributions elicited mixed reactions from enthusiastic and reluctant participants, lurkers, and nonparticipants. (SK)

The debate over whether recognition of prior learning (RPL) should focus on access or credit involves four issues: (1) challenges posed by the higher education environment; (2) the narrow instrumental view of curricula associated with RPL for credit; (3) the limitations of portfolios; and (4) relationship and status of different forms of…

Nearly half of 106 Oregon agricultural science and technology teachers said students received science credit for agriculture classes. They felt prepared to teach science concepts and thought administrator and parent support increased since they integrated science. Lack of funding, equipment, and inservice opportunities are barriers to integrating…

The author taught two sections of Principles of Finance in two different years. The courses were identical, except that in the second section, in 2004, students had access to the solutions manual for the answers to the many assigned practice problems which constituted a large proportion of the exam material. The author found that student…

Previous research has indicated that Career and Technical Education (CTE) has an image problem due to the perception that it provides poor quality education for the worst students, but little research has been done to ascertain how national, state, and local efforts to improve this image might be paying off. This paper reports the results of a…

When students graduate from college, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) wants to make sure they hold the keys to economic success. And one of those keys, the CBCF says, should unlock the door to their own home. Toward this end, the foundation has embarked upon an initiative to help young people graduate from renters to homeowners.…

The rapid decline in the welfare caseload remains a subject of keen interest to both policymakers and researchers. In this paper, I use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation spanning the period from 1986 to 1999 to analyze how the economy, welfare reform, the earned income tax credit (EITC), and other factors influence welfare…

Currently, 40 percent of all first-time freshmen begin their postsecondary careers in community colleges, the great majority of them intending eventually to complete a bachelor's degree. But along the way something happens, and for most of them that ambition is thwarted. The question is, to what extent does this pattern reflect students' choices,…