Student alcohol and other drug abuse and violence (AODV) still reign as the most serious social problems faced by U.S. institutions of higher education. To tackle these problems, campus administrators--working in conjunction with partners from the surrounding community--need to put in place an integrated set of strategies that address the mix of…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is engaged in a strategic planning process to improve performance beyond the goals in "Dateline 2009," the system's current vision and plan. A key objective is to encourage colleges to improve retention and academic success for students, particularly the substantial numbers who arrive unprepared for…

Describes how a weekly focused journal writing assessment (in which students note any use of language they find interesting, puzzling, amusing, or annoying as well as their response to it) enhances composition students' awareness of how language is used and where. Offers several different advantages of such journal writing. (SR)

In 2001, the New Zealand Ministry of Education awarded a contract to a consortium of three colleges of education to provide a training program that would lead to a new national literacy qualification for a newly developed specialist literacy teaching position--Resource Teacher: Literacy. Resource Teachers of Literacy are skilled and experienced…

The report discusses students' general educational skills development and outcomes assessment at College of DuPage (COD)(Illinois). Since one goal of general education assessment was to provide a comparison to other institutions, selection from among three national standardized tests of general skills was undertaken rather than the development of…

Describes a science seminar program designed for a small science department in a two-year college. Presents a list of topics covered. (GS)

Is it the science that will save the world from starvation, or will it mean the end of the world as it is known? While some people fear genetically altered "Frankenfoods" and DNA experiments with pathogenic microorganisms that could result in worldwide epidemics, others view biotechnology as using biological organisms to make products that benefit…

This annotated bibliography describes resource materials on educational theory and practice related to the first college year. This edition contains nearly twice as many entries as the second edition. Works are grouped into these topical headings: (1) "Academic Advising and Student Counseling"; (2) "Academic Support"; (3) "Assessment and…

This is the 2002 edition of North Carolina's annual Community College System Fact Book. It provides information on the status of the state's 58 community, technical and other public two-year colleges. The book discusses the system's history, governance, and funding; college program briefs; finance and college facilities; student data; and staff…

There is a growing need to implement an alternative and viable solution in U.S. K-12 schools that will address the ever-growing gap that the rapidly growing English language learner (ELL) population presents. This article examines various technology-based solutions, and their potential impact. The systematic implementation of these…

In fulfilling their mission to provide services to diverse groups, community colleges often find that their retention rates suffer as a result. Current research reviews the theoretical basis of retention, focusing on how it pertains to two-year schools in particular. Numerous variables influence persistence, and there is some support for…

This study began in the Spring of 2003, when the Canterbury Adult Basic Education Research Network (CABERN), an informal cross-sector network of local adult literacy researchers and practitioners, sent out a questionnaire. The questionnaire addressed potential respondents by asking: "Are you a tutor engaged in any aspect of adult literacy?"…

This report presents the findings from the 1999-2000 Germanna Community College Student Outcomes Assessment. First, remedial education was evaluated through an analysis of placement score and enrollment in developmental courses. Findings from this area include: (1) about 60% of students were recommended for developmental coursework, and only 60%…

The existence of different varieties of English in target language use (TLU) domains calls into question the usefulness of listening comprehension tests whose input is limited only to a native speaker variety. This study investigated the impact of non-native varieties or accented English speech on test takers from three different English use…

Describes a two-year study of one college student's efforts to produce appropriate content area writing in different disciplines. Using observation, interviews, composing-aloud protocols, and text analysis, evaluates the student's performance according to the Gricean rubric of conversation. Concludes that success was affected by unarticulated…