How should colleges determine whether students are placed into developmental or college-level courses? Each year, colleges place millions of students into developmental math and English courses upon enrollment. To do so, colleges most often use a high-stakes placement test, which numerous research studies have shown to be highly inaccurate in…

Counselors at a public community college who teach a first-year college success course to developmental education students do not have effective opportunities or a systematic method to develop their teaching practice. Moreover, like a majority of community college and university instructors, many counselors do not have formal training in…

In 1996, Florida's Miami-Dade Community College conducted a study to examine the college preparatory completion rates of first-time degree-seeking students based on their verbal and mathematics entry-level placement scores. Results include the following: (1) fewer than 30% of students scoring at the lowest level on the mathematics placement test…

Presenting 12 data tables, this report documents fall 1996 success rates for 11 developmental and developmental-type advanced and professional courses at Florida's Pensacola Junior College. Following an introductory table showing success rates for each course and defining success rate as the percentage of enrolled students who earned a grade of C…

In 1981, the Puente program was established at California's City College of San Francisco to improve the transfer rates of Chicano/Latino students to senior institutions. The program provides a supportive and stimulating environment to help students build confidence in their writing skills and provides extensive counseling and mentoring services.…

A joint study was undertaken by the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and Montgomery College (MC), in Maryland, to determine the characteristics of MCPS graduates enrolled at MC and patterns in their developmental course placement. Data were collected for 13,575 MCPS graduates from 1992 and 1993 who enrolled in regular semester terms within…

This study focused on the factors that were positive contributors to the success of two-year college students at six colleges who were or had been enrolled in basic skill developmental programs. For study purposes, success involved student eligibility to continue in a chosen program. Variables used in evaluating student success/non-success…

This is the twelfth annual volume of outstanding campus initiatives published by the National Council of Instructional Administrators (NCIA). The volume contains sections corresponding to the five categories in which programs were originally submitted to NCIA for its annual Exemplary Initiatives Awards. Section 1 includes the descriptions of the…

This issue of the Southern Association of Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges' newsletter begins with the agenda for the Association's 2002 annual meeting followed by lists of the 2002 Officers of the Association and Board Members. The majority of the newsletter, however, is comprised of one article by John E. Roueche, Susanne D. Roueche,…

In essay form, the director of the developmental education program at Cochise College (Arizona) describes her struggle to be personally and professionally effective with Chicano students from Spanish-speaking homes in a racially and culturally prejudiced community. Appended are a description of the program and a list of course offerings, as well…

This document examines recent findings regarding minority access to education in the Washington Community and Technical Colleges. The paper details the colleges' goals in relation to the indicators for enrollment, student success, and employment. A review of the indicators suggests that the colleges are providing equitable access to college for…

Although community colleges currently account for over half of minority enrollment in America, there is controversy regarding whether the colleges actually provide minority students with access to higher education or merely track them into low-level studies. A number of barriers to success face minority community college students, such as…