Christine McPhail formerly served as president at Cypress College in California and is founder and professor emeritus of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University in Maryland. She is the Managing Partner for The McPhail Group LLC and currently serves as a Leadership Coach for more than a dozen community colleges…

Immigrant college student populations continue to grow, but the complexity of their unique needs and issues remain relatively unknown. To gain a better understanding of the multiple contextual factors impacting immigrant students from a systems-based approach, I applied Bronfenbrenner's (1977) human ecology framework to the study. Students…

Examines the differences between remedial and developmental reading programs and their places in higher education. Finds a consistency among definitions of remedial reading but no clear consensus for developmental reading. Sees a clear delineation between remedial and developmental students. Offers guidelines for programs and instruction…

Explores the realities of change facing a successful junior college which must become a regional four-year university. Identifies and discusses (in a response by William G. White Jr.) the problems and issues relative to the developmental program at Evans County Junior College on the eve of its conversion to regional university--Jan Norton…

Presents an interview conducted with John N. Gardner, Senior Fellow of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina, regarding developmental education. Discusses topics that include: beginning college experience, student learning needs, a new paradigm for developmental…

Responds to Anne G. Koehler's "A New Paradigm for Teaching with Technology," which appeared in the Journal of Developmental Education (vol.22, issue 1, Fall 1998). States that the main objective in developmental education is for students to learn, but that teachers should also keep current with new technology and effectively monitor and redesign…

Tests must be responsive to the needs of adult learners who offer a unique history of formal education, come from different cultural/linguistic backgrounds, and may have had little exposure to tests. Transfer, occupational, continuing education and leisure program, and developmental studies of students' needs are examined. (Author/CM)

Presents an interview with Edward Morante, Dean of Student Services and Learning Resources at College of the Desert (California), regarding the needs of high-risk community college students. Morante focuses on assessment, placement, basic-skills courses, student-support services, the learning-community concept, student involvement, and evaluation,…

The author of this article discusses the needs of developmental Latino/Latina students. As a white, middle-aged, female developmental educator, she is aware of the cultural differences. She has tried telling herself that when teaching developmental English, what matters is her knowledge of English composition. Good organization, solid development,…

Argues against community colleges' add-on responses to diverse student needs. Proposes restructuring the college to attain the open admissions goal, focusing on the teaching/learning process. Encourages institutional policies supporting program quality; improvement of student assessment skills; and use of a directive approach to student placement…

Asserts that as developmental education is being attacked by cost-minded legislators, developmental educators must do a better job of advertising its benefits. Outlines the benefits of developmental education for both underprepared and prepared individuals, society, faculty, and administrators. Claims that developmental education enhances student…

Developmental students have special needs that challenge a faculty advising program. Faculty advisors should avail themselves of all sources of data, including students, instructors, and the university counseling center and/or student assessment center to provide necessary support for successful student assimilation. (MSE)

Explores the essence of developmental education, looking at its roots in the American higher education system, and discusses how it evolved into its present state. Provides a student case study and four assumptions underlying the National Association for Developmental Education's working definition of developmental education. Contains 13…

Considers the increasing number of poorly prepared college students. Argues that conventional instruction, which stresses weaknesses, deteriorates students' self-image. Recommends focusing programs and teaching strategies on student individuality. Underscores the importance of rigorous preassessment and self-assessment of natural limitations.…

Asserts that teaching as a political act, a construct supported by critical theorists, is appropriate for the developmental educator. Education is a means of exciting the active and critical minds of students, of breaking through the boundaries of traditional learning on college campus through authentic dialogue and the critical exploration of the…