Each year, millions of students enroll in open-access two-year colleges with the hope of earning skills, training, and most importantly, a degree that will allow them to pursue their goals, including transferring to a four-year institution. Developmental, or remedial, education has been found to present multiple barriers to two-year student…

Guidelines are provided for the development of a community college course in critical thinking. The first sections offer an overview of the nature and basic concepts of critical thinking, indicating that: (1) the skills developed in critical thinking classes include the ability to formulate a clear statement of a thesis or problem, evaluate…

Suggests that both general and developmental education focus on such preparatory skills as communicating effectively and thinking critically. Describes current approaches combining general and developmental education. Explains the mechanics of cross-over teaching between the two domains. (PAA)

The American Association of Community Colleges commissioned this study of remedial education in community colleges as a framework for describing context, generating discussion, and encouraging improvement. The study reviews current research about open-door policies, underprepared students, faculty, and remedial programs. It also argues that…

Historically minorities, especially African-Americans, have been underrepresented in the mathematics and science fields. In order to attract more minorities as mathematics majors, these students must first experience success in the pre-calculus sequence and enroll in higher-level mathematics courses. The Georgia State University (GSU) Atlanta…

These four reports resulted from a series of studies undertaken by the Community College of Allegheny County to evaluate its Block Scheduling Project, which schedules students into a block of developmental courses centered around a core, transferable course in either psychology or history. The first report briefly describes the project, considers…

The Basic Skills Program described in this report was developed by Macomb County Community College (MCCC) as a semester-long pre-vocational program for Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) students. Following introductory material, Part I presents a general review of postsecondary developmental education programs for…