A study was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to provide a profile of the characteristics and academic performance of PVCC students in developmental reading and writing courses. Specifically, the study focused on student demographics, performance in developmental courses and college-level English courses, and the relationship…

A study was conducted at Stark Technical College (STC) to determine whether high risk students who participated in STC's developmental program experienced a higher degree of academic success than similar high risk students who did not participate in the program. High risk students entering STC in fall 1980 were identified on the basis of composite…

The proceedings of a conference for administrators, faculty, and staff of developmental education programs are summarized. An introductory section outlines the history, development, and definition of developmental education in the United States and gives statistics on the number and percentage of various institution types reporting developmental…

Following a literature review on the subjects of the decline in student writing abilities and increased student writing apprehension, this paper offers teachers information on a basic writing program that reduces writing anxiety and improves writing skills through large doses of positive reinforcement. The second section of the paper discusses the…

A study was conducted at Rockland Community College (New York) to determine the adequacy of the reading criterion that determined entry into its intensive freshman English classes from the college skills program, a developmental program designed to improve skills in communication, mathematics, reading, and studying. A group of 746 freshman English…

A 6-week enrichment program for minority student medical school entrants is described and its effect on their first-year medical school performance is evaluated. The program included basic science courses, study skills training, and a seminar on special topics, particularly sociomedical issues. (MSE)

Rising state standards and competency testing of entering teachers is resulting in a numerical decline in Black candidates who are ill equipped due to weak programs in the secondary schools. A comprehensive program at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff to provide both educational equity and educational improvement is described. (BS)

An approach to teaching students how to develop ideas, a major learning and study problem found among college students, is described. The strategy is a practical one that teaches the process of ordering concepts and data, and then how to use this process to solve problems and think critically. (MSE)

Relates the efforts of Miami-Dade Community College in meeting the counseling challenges involved in assessment, course and program placement, developmental studies and accountability. (AYC)

An academic enrichment program was designed for a large state university and an experiment conducted to test its effectiveness in enhancing high-risk students' academic performance. Students in the enrichment program significantly outperformed control group students but only within the program's scope. The need for continuing support efforts is…

This report presents the findings of a survey designed to gather information about the experiences and attitudes of students enrolled in developmental English courses at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC). The primary purpose of the study was to find out how satisfied students were with their experiences related to their English placement…

This document is a listing of various Pensacola Junior College (PJC) 1997 institutional accountability measures. Highlights include: (1) 33.4% of 1993-95 first-time students were Florida public high-school graduates the previous year; (2) 51% of 1993 Associate in Arts (AA) students had graduated or were still enrolled; (3) 67% of 1993 Associate in…

This study addresses the placement of students in remedial education among community colleges in the United States. Of specific interest is the appropriate entry-level placement of students in math courses. Citing that traditional standardized placement tests are overly broad and thus of questionable value for placing community college students in…

This study identified predictors of academic performance in college algebra for postdevelopmental students at a predominantly black college. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to 175 students who were enrolled in college Algebra I and II. The sample included 142 students (classified as developmental on college entry by their own reports) who…

How can a high school advisory and mentoring program be established? Schools report that more and more students seem to slip through the cracks or are lost in the shuffle. More students fail ninth grade than any other grade level. William Glasser (1986) estimates that schools fail to engage more than half the students because they fail to fulfill…