In spring 1981, resources were allocated for the establishment of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, which would coordinate strategies to improve methods of instruction and learning in the community colleges of the United States. The emphasis of the Center is on the development of strategies that require relatively small changes in teaching methods, but that yield large effects on student learning outcomes. Ideas, methods, and processes are tried first on a pilot basis in one or more colleges and, if the pilot is successful, a demonstration project is conducted at five or six institutions. If the project proves to be educationally and economically sound, findings are made available through publications, workshops, and conferences. Current projects being undertaken by the Center include studies to improve student achievement in the crucial first term of college; an examination of the teaching methods and procedures of particularly effective teachers; the development of mastery learning strategies (that is, those which involve conventional instruction followed by feedback correction procedures); and the study of ways to teach higher mental processes in order to improve learning and information retention. Future directions for the Center include the coordination of projects developed across the country and the establishment of consortia of faculty and administrators to initiate and participate in further studies. (HB)