Since 1998, the Iowa Department of Education's Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation (division) has compiled and published "The Annual Condition of Iowa's Community Colleges," commonly known as the "Condition Report." The intent of this report is to provide clear, objective data about Iowa's community…

High school seniors' success in making the transition to college hinges greatly on their ability to perform college-level research. Studies pointing out failure to provide this critical preparation abound (Head 2013; Head and Eisenberg 2010). Helping students make this leap is the topic of much research and discussion between members of the…

Students taking developmental mathematics courses resist attempting word problems when they are presented to them. Although word problems can help students contextualize learning, develop better understanding of the concepts and apply world knowledge, they constitute an impediment to students' progress in developmental mathematics courses. A…

More than 6 million young people in the United States are out of school, out of work, and, often it seems, out of luck. That's 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24. This population includes dropouts and high school graduates, former foster children and juveniles in court custody; youth caring for siblings and teens cycling in and…

This supplemental report explores the developmental needs of Colorado's recent high school graduates, examines the postsecondary success of students who need developmental education and explores equity gaps as they relate to developmental education. It builds upon the report titled "The Postsecondary Progress and Success of High School…

In this paper we estimate the impacts of the "pathways" chosen by community college students--in terms of desired credentials and fields of study, as well as other choices and outcomes along the paths--on the attainment of credentials with labor market value. We focus on the extent to which there are recorded changes in students' choices…

The purpose of this study was to find predictors of academic success, persistence, retention, and completion for students enrolled in community college developmental education mathematics courses utilizing an accelerated emporium model learning environment. Instructional practices have been shown to have a powerful impact on the desire and…

The data for this study were gathered from an assignment consisting of 10 number sense related mathematics problems completed in an algebra course at developmental level. The results of the study suggest that a majority of developmental mathematics students use routine algorithmic procedures rather than mathematical reasoning to solve problems.…

In November 2011, the author--Ivan Fuller, a professor of theatre and associate dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University--attended a joint symposium of the American Conference of Academic Deans and Phi Beta Kappa that was designed to wrestle with the question of why the humanities matter. At one session, participants…

Nelson Mandela's adage, "I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends" captures the profoundly inclusive nature of restorative justice (RJ). The hallmark of RJ is intentionally bringing together people with seemingly diametrically opposed viewpoints--particularly people who have harmed with people who have been harmed--in a carefully…

The primary theoretical tradition in the study of college retention has been sociological. A review and synthesis of common themes of development among traditional-age, college students suggests that a developmental perspective on the retention of youth in college may have more to offer than the dominant sociological paradigm. This article argues…

Due to concerns about student performance in Intermediate Accounting I, our Department of Accounting established an Intermediate Readiness Committee in the spring of 2006 to create a developmental program for students entering Intermediate I, with the goal of improving performance in that course. Over the next two years, the Committee established…

As described in this brief, Tacoma Community College and South Texas College each focused on contextualization as a cornerstone of developmental education reform, albeit with different approaches. With a comprehensive look at the experience at Tacoma Community College and a supplementary example from South Texas College, we begin to understand how…

This is the second iteration of the Developmental Education Radar Screen project. As with the first iteration, in 2011, the author uses a "radar screen" metaphor to discuss trends in developmental education based on responses to a series of topics and categories provided by a group of leaders in the educational field. The purpose of this…

In this investigation, we analyzed student enrollment data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board accountability website for all Texas community colleges from 2000 through 2011. The numbers and percentages of community college students who were developmental education students were calculated and analyzed to determine changes over…