Since their inception, community colleges have included the transfer function as a central mission. However, arguments have been made contending that community colleges have systematically diverted students toward occupational education. In the 21st century, community colleges continue to contend with multiple missions and identities, especially…

A growing body of research points to the important role played by "institutional agents" in facilitating college access and success for students from non-dominant racial-ethnic and low socioeconomic status groups. Applying attachment theory, this study adds to that literature by demonstrating how institutional agents can provide a secure…

This article reports barriers to transfer from the community college to bachelor's degree-granting institutions encountered by Hispanic students in the Dallas County Community College District. These Hispanic students were enrolled in a cultural studies course preparing them to transfer. Ethnographic methods--principally participant observation of…

Racial segregation in housing and racially identifiable schools each contribute to the existence of the other. The case of Milwaukee shows that the Supreme Court's efforts to construe school cases narrowly should fail and that policymakers should take a broad perspective on racial problems. (RLV)

This paper traces the history of a magnet school which opened in 1975 amid claims that it would serve as a model of high quality integrated education but which, three years later, was widely perceived as an overcrowded, predominantly black institution. The local Board of Education decided to open a magnet school in which new teaching techniques…

In 1992, a study was conducted to examine the relationship between a number of organizational criteria and the community college transfer function. Using a case study approach, six California community colleges, with either above average or below average transfer rates, were assessed in terms of adaptive capacity; organizational culture and…

This qualitative study examined the impact of open enrollment policies in Minnesota on eight school districts with larger than average transfers of students with disabilities. A series of case studies investigated implementation issues, effects on special education programs, effects on decision making in funding and planning, perceptions and…

This document contains the full text of ten case studies prepared by the Syracuse Research Corporation for the purpose of examining the organizational processes involved in effective educational innovation at the school district level. Innovations in two urban districts were examined. In the Syracuse City School District these innovations involved…