North Carolina's community colleges redesigned developmental math programs in 2011. The overall effectiveness of the redesign has not yet been evaluated. A concurrent mixed-methods study was conducted at Mid-Atlantic Community College (MACC) for a formative and summative evaluation of the redesigned program. Mezirow's transformative learning…

Using administrative data from nearly 270,000 transfer-intending students who began at 70 community colleges across three state systems, this paper seeks to identify a set of metrics that will be useful to community college leaders as they formatively assess their colleges' efforts to improve STEM transfer outcomes. We find that a relatively…

With the continuing national emphases on acceleration and completion, an integrated reading and writing course (a combined developmental reading and developmental writing course, with all levels compressed into a single course) is one way to move students more quickly and efficiently through the developmental sequence while still maintaining…

Leadership development for faculty often is designed as training for administration, but faculty demonstrate leadership in the classroom, in their departments, college-wide, and beyond. To fully realize and leverage this leadership potential, colleges must design opportunities for faculty to hone their knowledge and skills as active participants…

In writing studies research, automated writing evaluation technology is typically examined for a specific, often narrow purpose: to evaluate a particular writing improvement measure, to mine data for changes in writing performance, or to demonstrate the effectiveness of a single technology and accompanying validity arguments. This article adopts a…

In writing studies research, automated writing evaluation technology is typically examined for a specific, often narrow purpose: to evaluate a particular writing improvement measure, to mine data for changes in writing performance, or to demonstrate the effectiveness of a single technology and accompanying validity arguments. This article adopts a…

The authors describe an Enhanced Formative Assessment and Self-Regulated Learning (EFA-SRL) program designed to improve the achievement of community college students enrolled in developmental mathematics courses. Their model includes the use of specially formatted quizzes designed to assess both the students' mathematics and metacognitive skill…

For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

We offered four annual professional development workshops called STAR (for Scientific Teaching, Assessment, and Resources) modeled after the National Academies Summer Institute (SI) on Undergraduate Education in Biology. In contrast to the SI focus on training faculty from research universities, STAR's target was faculty from community colleges,…

The Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) is conducting a multiyear evaluation of the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program. The ACES program is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College (MC), and the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) to create a seamless pathway…

The purpose of this study was to explore the manner in which a community college district planned to implement a systematic outcomes-based assessment program review process in order to have results inform institutional, district, and state policy discussions. Data derived from this grounded theory study indicated that there was not a shared…

The $17.2 million Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) demonstration grant program funded by the Ford Foundation which ran from 1994 to 2001 represents the largest philanthropic project specifically aimed at rural community colleges in United States history. While a good deal of literature has been published about this initiative, much was…

An alarmingly high percentage of recent high school graduates are not prepared to succeed in college-level courses, and the impact of this educational shortcoming is substantial. Underprepared college students incur a monetary cost of enrolling in remedial courses, and states and taxpayers subsidize much of the overall cost of developmental…

Through its program review process, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) coordinates a statewide system of review of programs of study provided by community colleges in Illinois. The intent of this review process is to support colleges in making campus-level planning and decision-making related to the quality, cost effectiveness,…

This project study is an evaluation of a job-training program designed to serve unemployed adult learners at a community college. The program lacked empirical data about participants finding employment. The rationale for selecting the problem is the need to provide skill development and vocational training in response to high unemployment rates.…