Current trends in developmental writing have focused on corequisite support courses that developmental writers take in conjunction with college-level courses. Much recent scholarship has focused on the design of the corequisite course, but a corequisite model also raises the stakes of the curricular design of the college-level course, since it now…

This article examines two course redesigns undertaken to improve student support, learning, and retention in the basic writing program at Oakland University, a doctoral research university in southeast Michigan, where support for developmental writers has fluctuated dramatically between nurture and neglect over the past fifty years. However,…

Anecdotal observations reveal that most students with strong arithmetic skills will succeed in the Beginning Algebra course even if they have no previous experience with algebra. In trying to quantify this with an initial teacher-created survey of arithmetic skills, it was observed, for three consecutive semesters, that students who scored in the…

Many young adults enter college without the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine if 4-H helps develop life skills needed for the transition to college and overall college success. An online survey was sent to college-attending 4-H alumni and a comparison group, with a final sample size…

Western Michigan University is building an innovative program to make welcome those students who were raised in foster care and to help them earn their diplomas without having to shoplift or trespass over the holidays. Many of the students have comfortable apartments on the campus, and a hall was kept open over the holiday break for dorm residents…

More than 32,000 young people in the United States exit the foster care system in a typical year by aging out to independence (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). Despite available financial support for post-secondary education through the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, only 20% of college-qualified foster youth attend college and…

The GEAR UP graduation coach intervention developed by the GEAR UP Learning Centers at Western Michigan University (WMU) addresses the issue of academic failure of at-risk students in high school. This personalized early intervention strategy begins by assessing students' unique circumstances, academic histories, and strengths and weaknesses in…

This paper presents results of a qualitative study describing classroom participation in pre-college mathematics classes taught by seven successful community college faculty members. The analysis reveals high levels of student participation coupled with low complexity, which can result in detrimental opportunities for students to learn…

Uses the examples of remedial education, K-16 initiatives, and workforce preparation to illustrate how these values influence higher education policy at community colleges. Policymakers should recognize that these values may conflict, therefore leading to controversy. States that cultural/social values dominating the development of educational…