Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs) can play a central role in skill development and higher education expansion, yet their quality varies greatly within and among countries. In this paper we explore the relationship between programs' practices and inputs (quality determinants) and student academic and labor market outcomes. We design and…

CUNY ASAP is a three-year program offering comprehensive student support, financial aid, and structured pathways. The program has served over 100,000 students since 2007 and been replicated across seven states. ASAP's primary goal is to increase the completion of college associate degrees. Specifically, the comprehensive intervention is expected…

In community colleges in the United States, graduation rates remain frustratingly low. Students face many challenges, including the financial costs of attending college; the demands of school, work, and family; complex institutional systems; underfunded student support services; and insufficient preparation for college-level work. To address these…

In response to the educational equity gaps for students of African descent on California Community College campuses, the Umoja Community Education Foundation (Umoja Community) seeks "to transform, enrich and advance the lives of students by infusing culturally-relevant pedagogy and practices." The Research and Planning Group for…

CNA Education served as the third-party evaluator for the Connecticut Health and Life Sciences Career Initiative (HL-SCI), a statewide initiative funded from September 2012 to March 2016 through a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. The purpose of HL-SCI is to prepare…

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the effectiveness of an Early Childhood Development Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program at one community college as part of an ongoing action research project. Prior to this dissertation study, external and internal barriers prevented the associate degree program stakeholders from…

Community colleges offer a pathway to the middle class for low-income individuals. Although access to college has expanded, graduation rates at community colleges remain low, especially for students who need developmental (remedial) courses to build their math, reading, or writing skills. The City University of New York's (CUNY's) Accelerated…

Funded through a No Child Left Behind of 2001 (NCLB) grant, this research examines the effects of the Arizona System Ready/Child Ready Early Childhood Professional Development Project (AzSRCR) on the self-efficacy of 256 educators who participated in AzSRCR over a 3-year period. The AzSRCR program was a federally funded, statewide higher education…

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) with the primary goal of increasing the opportunity for underserved students to earn a postsecondary credential. To achieve this goal, Early Colleges provide underserved students with exposure to, and support in, college while they are in…

The role of the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) is to facilitate admission, articulation, and transfer arrangements in the BC post-secondary system. BCCAT carries out this work in various ways; for example, engaging in research on admissions and student transitions, evaluating the effectiveness of the transfer system…

This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest CCRC research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Addressing the Needs of Underprepared Students," by Thomas Bailey, summarizes the discussion found in the paper "Challenge and Opportunity: Rethinking…

A three-phase program evaluation effort employing comparison groups and a pre-post test design indicate formative guidelines for programs revision and summative results indicative of the effectiveness of a demonstration associate degree program for hospitality education. Program effectiveness is defined in terms of the program's enrollment of…

In March 1994, Quebec's Commission on the Evaluation of Collegiate Teaching initiated an evaluation of computer science programs in province colleges. This report describes the evaluation process and presents results. The first section describes the following four stages of the evaluation: the formation of a consulting committee and evaluation…

In March 1994, Quebec's Commission on the Evaluation of Collegiate Teaching initiated an evaluation of "Techniques d'education en services de garde" (TESG) programs, or educational methods in child care services. This report presents results from the evaluation in three parts. The first section describes the following four stages of the…

Customer focus groups at Lakeshore Technical College, Wisconsin, were hindered by inadequate levels of participation. A study explored the effectiveness of using network meeting management software to increase focus group participation and the number of ideas generated as well as reduce the amount of time spent on conducting the focus group…