Advocates the elimination of remedial education from four-year institutions of higher education. Data are provided on the numbers of students enrolled in remedial courses at different types of institutions and the associated costs. The consequences of remedial education on academic standards are addressed. Efforts in Massachusetts to shift…

Explores the realities of change facing a successful junior college which must become a regional four-year university. Identifies and discusses (in a response by William G. White Jr.) the problems and issues relative to the developmental program at Evans County Junior College on the eve of its conversion to regional university--Jan Norton…

Advocates the use of single-subject experimental design as a method of evaluation in a language arts component of a developmental education program. Measures student outcomes of literacy growth as a part of instruction. The rate and degree of growth varied between individuals, indicating which students benefited most from specific instructional…

Explores why some education advocates say GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), which targets primarily middle school students, and TRIO serve different purposes and are both worthy of support, while others question whether there is really a need for both programs. Includes a sidebar detailing each program.…

This paper investigates which students delay taking a required developmental mathematics course and the impact of delay on student performance in introductory microeconomics. Analysis of a sample of 1462 students at a large Midwestern university revealed that, although developmental-level mathematics students did not reach the same level of…

Developmental learning community programs that are respectful of students' circumstances, supportive of their educational aims, and thoughtful about the purpose of education can be extremely effective in helping developmental students achieve their educational goals.

In recent years, community colleges have increasingly taken on the task of providing remedial education to its students. For policymakers and educators, understanding why remediation is on the increase is a frustrating problem made so by the complexity of the causes behind it. Are students graduating from high school less prepared or are academic…

To address the economic crisis facing the country, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law on February 17, 2009. This sweeping legislation provides $789 billion to jumpstart the economy and boost employment. This act includes $463 billion in new spending and $326 billion in tax relief directed at those…

A counselor's academic guidance is critical because student stress levels are high due to increased levels of expectations that they perform at their best (Campbell & Dahir, 1997; Gysbers & Henderson, 2000). In the last decade, education reform has moved towards more standards-driven curriculum/a, basic skills acquisition, and…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" looks at three-year enrollment and attainment outcomes of students who persist through their first year. Additionally, first-year persisters (FYPs) were grouped based on the interaction of several student characteristics; analysis was conducted to…

Students' high school experiences often do not prepare them adequately for postsecondary education and the world of work. Special attention should be paid to increasing the rigor, relevance, and engagement of the high school curriculum, including for students who have traditionally faced barriers to successful postsecondary transitions. This Issue…

Every day, 6,000 American high school students drop out of school--bored, frustrated, or so far behind that they've given up. That is the visible crisis in American education, one that has drawn extensive attention from governors, legislators, educators, pundits, and the press. Affecting even greater numbers of students, however, is the invisible…

Using Astin's I-E-O model, relationships among the input (I) variables of gender, high school percentile rank, Tech Prep participation, and high school course-taking; environmental (E) variables of academic, career and technical education (CTE), and total dual credit and articulated credit; and output (O) variables of college readiness and total…

Being a student in an Australian university involves more pressure, and makes more demands on that student and his or her support networks than ever before. The variety in the configurations of pressures, demands and responsibilities faced by students means that it is impossible to characterise a "standard" student. Qualitative research…

In this article, the author talks about Urban Tech, a New York City-based organization that works with schools to teach students the life skills it believes are necessary for academic achievement and workforce readiness. Its Youth Leadership Academy program uses a variety of computer-based, interactive elements to educate students on such topics…