This digest deals with bibliotherapy, the practice of healing through books. The digest discusses whether bibliotherapy works, when it should be used, who should conduct it, and how it should be used. The digest concludes with five guidelines for conducting bibliotherapy. (RS)

Alternative teacher certification is defined as any significant departure from the traditional undergraduate route through teacher education programs in universities and colleges. An overview is presented of some specific alternative certification programs, and raises questions useful for evaluating alternative certification programs. A…

In early-decision programs, high school students apply to their first-choice college and receive an admissions decision by December of their senior year. These programs are binding, meaning that if a student is accepted into a college through the early decision process, he or she must rescind applications to other colleges and forgo the chance to…

An incentive early retirement program is an arrangement between employer and employee that provides tangible inducement or reward for voluntary early retirement. It may be a formal program or an ad hoc agreement negotiated with the institution. The most common incentives include severance pay, liberalized actuarial reduction, annuity enhancements,…

Comprehensive school health education (CSHE) can help youth obtain the greatest benefits from education and become healthy and productive adults. One child out of four has an emotional, social, or physical health limitation that interferes with learning. Because schools have the capacity to reach 53 million students every year for 12 years, they…

Increased national attention to the quality of education has resulted in a more critical examination of the community college transfer function. This concern for transfer has been precipitated by several factors: (1) the declining percentage of community college students who transfer; (2) the growth of the community services, vocational, and…

Institutional self-study is an appropriate method for determining quality and demonstrating accountability which can lead to academic and administrative excellence. With a trend toward state and federal government involvement in higher education, colleges will do well to conduct internal program assessments in order to maintain control. A…

This digest discusses the use of faculty mentoring programs to empower faculty and ultimately benefit the institution and improve the quality of higher education. It refers to the literature on mentoring in terms of conceptual frameworks, mentoring arenas, and roles and functions of mentors and proteges. It briefly addresses the following aspects…

This digest, based on a larger report of the same title, summarizes principles for improving quality in higher education institutions. Emphasis is on the effect of the principles when they are used holistically to create a culture of academic excellence. The quality principles are based on the conceptual framework of total quality management (TQM)…

One of the challenges facing many foreign language programs today is maintaining high quality instruction despite increased enrollments and teacher shortages. One strategy for meeting this challenge is collaborative teaching. Collaborative teaching can occur in various settings and for different purposes. Studies of team-teaching have shown its…

This digest reviews the role of community colleges in delivering remedial education. With demand for remediation increasing, community colleges are under pressure to provide, with very limited financial resources, the bulk of developmental courses for students. In finding effective solutions to this dilemma, policy makers should consider a broad…