When the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges compiled best practices for serving basic skills students in 2002-2003, assessment practices were notably absent. In this paper, problems with current assessment and placement practices with regards to basic skills are explored. The paper begins with a review of the matriculation process…

This report details enrollment and achievement in remedial courses in Oklahoma's higher education institutions for the 1996-97 academic year. An introductory section gives background information on state standards for student assessment and placement requirements, with reference to some regional and national studies on remediation. Subsequent…

Partnerships among elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educators in San Antonio (Texas) aim at improving high school and college retention, particularly for Hispanic students. Programs include curriculum development as early as kindergarten, high school junior and senior enrollment in college courses, minority achievement supports, and…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue looks at changes in cohort composition. The analysis addresses the changing composition of the Achieving the Dream student cohorts from 2002 to 2005. The data show that at Achieving the Dream colleges, the percentage of Hispanic students increased over the four cohorts…

The Increased Flexibility Programme for 14 to 16 year olds (IFP) was introduced in 2002. The aim of the programme was to "create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14 to 16 year olds of all abilities who can benefit most", including supporting provision of the GCSEs in vocational subjects. The first cohort of…

Despite their vital role in open-access, two-year colleges, remedial education efforts have increasingly come under attack by legislators and the public, who view such programs as duplicating the appropriate function of high schools, and who believe that limited state resources should be devoted to more prestigious programs. For a college to…

This paper explores two interrelated dimensions of access--opportunities for progression and educational orientation, and offers various insights into what has been termed the "democratic imperative" in American higher education. It also addressed the responsiveness of institutions and faculty in access and other programs to the needs and…

This five-part report presents a statewide framework for assessing the impact of intersegmental programs designed to enhance student preparation for college, particularly those students who are historically underrepresented in postsecondary education. The first part of the report explains the origins of the study and the organization of the…

This report provides information on the second year (1985-86) of the third cycle of Rockland Community College's (RCC's) Special Services Project, a program providing supplemental instructional, counseling, and tutorial services for educationally and economically disadvantaged students through college skills courses, remedial/developmental…

In the second half of a two-part study conducted by the Illinois Community College System, a fall 1990 cohort of first-time freshmen was examined for 6 years to determine the effectiveness of remedial/developmental instruction. Student characteristics of age, ethnicity, and gender for the entire cohort were compared with the cohort group of…

Aimhigher: Excellence Challenge (initially known as Excellence Challenge) was specifically established by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in 2001, with the aim of increasing the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who had the qualifications and aspirations necessary to enter higher education. The analysis conducted…

"Informed math self-placement," a program implemented at American River College in Sacramento, California, to determine students' readiness for college-level math, has been in place for three years. This case study describes the development and implementation of math self-placement at American River. Math self-placement consists of a…

Two exemplary projects developed to maximize student options through the sharing of facilities, programs, and options were evaluated. The Remedial-Developmental Program developed a communications network between McKinley and Roosevelt High Schools and Kapiolani Community College to share student information and use it for individual student…

As part of a research project undertaken to strengthen vocational and academic counseling for high risk students in Oregon's community colleges, this report provides four essays which review the literature and state of the art of assessment, developmental education, career development, and faculty advising at the community college level. First,…

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…