This document presents the variable definitions utilized in a study of the impacts of two- and four-year college attendance on learning orientations. The authors identify the specific survey items that compose the four orientations to learning explored in this study (i.e., openness to diversity/challenge, learning for self-understanding, internal…

This document discusses the South Plains College Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), an academic support service that provides reading and learning development courses, collegiate instruction, peer tutoring, computer-aided instruction, independent-study opportunities, learning assessments, and workshops and seminars to students before they enroll…

This research brief from Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) (Florida) addresses the retention rates of students enrolled in intervention courses. In July of 1998, an evaluation of the new SLS (College Survival Skills) intervention courses for college preparatory students indicated that students who successfully completed SLS had a significantly…

This document addresses characteristics students with a disability at Gavilan College (California). Over the past several years, a shift has occurred in the types of disability represented at Gavilan College. Learning disabled is the largest group, but has been proportionally declining as has mobility impaired students while developmentally…

This report details the development of a student outcomes assessment of general education by faculty members at Coconino Community College (CCC) (Arizona). This assessment project consisted of three major components: (1) The General Education Assessment Pilot Project (Faculty members dedicated a semester to measuring student achievement of course…

This study examined effects of a Dalton Junior College (Georgia) student success course, Dalton College Studies 101 (DCS 101) since it was first offered in 1987. The course meets twice a week, is strictly elective, and carries institutional credit. All students were first-time students and since most students enroll during the Fall quarter, only…

Drawing from both state and institutional data sources, this report provides personnel at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) with an in-depth analysis of assessment issues, offering both quantitative and qualitative information on assessment and student outcomes. Section 1 provides data on student transfer goal achievement, indicating that…

This is the first of what is expected to be a regular series of reports from Arizona's community colleges to the citizens of Arizona regarding the effectiveness with which community colleges are achieving their goals. Initially the Task Force on Institutional Effectiveness Measures worked for most of an academic year and recommended the measures…

Puente Projects are currently operating at 10 community colleges in California to increase retention, general education requirements completion, and transfer among Hispanic community college students. Puente integrates the skills of an English teacher, a Hispanic counselor, and Hispanic professionals acting as mentors to promote academic…

Upon entry to New River Community College (NRCC), placement tests are administered to students enrolling in curricula and to students enrolling in English and mathematics classes. Based on preestablished cutoff scores on the placement tests, students are advised by counselors to take appropriate courses. In 1990, NRCC tracked students from…

In the prevailing atmosphere of concern for basic skills development, Houston Community College System (HCCS) faculty and administration perceived the need for a self-evaluation of HCCS's developmental studies programs. The purposes of the resulting study are: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the institution's developmental studies programs by…

In order to evaluate the validity of outcomes assessment at two-year colleges, the American College Testing (ACT) Program developed "Project Cooperation." Institutions participating in the project administered tests and surveys to measure changes in students' cognitive abilities over time and record student feedback, and reported the…

How do ABE/ESOL (Adult Basic Education/English for Speakers of Other Languages) programs shape adult learners, and how do adult learners, in turn, shape their programs? Beyond the acquisition of important skills (such as greater fluency in the English language) what are the bigger internal meanings for adults of participating in ABE/ESOL…