Community college faculty who teach developmental English classes face numerous pedagogical challenges. Graduate programs, in-service training, and professional association activities help prepare faculty for these challenges, but additional support is needed.

Presenting summary information on two-year postsecondary educational systems nationwide, this report describes educational structures in each state, except for South Dakota, which has no public two-year system. Chapters are divided by state, or by type of system for states with more than one system, providing comprehensive overviews of the…

A close range photogrammetry (CRP) technician training program was developed at Miami-Dade Community College and used to teach the technology to 16 students. Although the results of the study show that it is possible to teach CRP in a two-year program, the technology is too new in the United States to support a sustaining educational program. The…

All of the admissions research says that prospective students and their parents want to know something about the mysterious people who do the professing. They want to ask questions in a public forum; they want to visit classes; they want private meetings with department chairs; and they want admissions people to call them on the phone to explain…

Instructing students in sociological theory is a foundational part of the discipline, but it can also be a challenge. Readers of "Teaching Sociology" can find a number of activities designed to improve students' understanding of sociological theory in their general theory courses, but there are fewer activities designed to improve…

We present a learning module to engage students in the global inequality debate using Google Public Data World Development Indicators. Goals of this article are to articulate the importance and urgency of teaching global issues to American students; situate the central debate in the globalization literature, paying particular attention to global…

Traditionally, humanities instruction at two-year colleges has been identified with transfer education. Since enrollments are decreasing in humanities classes, the future viability of the humanities curriculum will depend on providing humanities instruction to vocational students. This fact sheet discusses some obstacles to changing the humanities…

The focus of this report is to describe the diverse, potentially overlapping range of student outcomes for community college entrants, such as vertical transfer, earning an associate degree, or earning a certificate while taking into consideration differences in college readiness as well as other student characteristics. (Contains 5 figures, 7…

The traditional unidirectional ("linear") postsecondary path from high school to a community college to a 4-year institution into the workforce represents accurately a decreasing proportion of the pathways actually taken by students through higher education. Instead, students increasingly exhibit patterns of enrollment that take them through…

This study explored whether American and Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers differ in their evaluations of student oral performance by examining the assessments of two groups of raters in an undergraduate speech competition. Each of the 21 contestants presented a 3-min prepared speech on a required topic, responded to a follow-up…

A total of 39 references to both published and unpublished materials drawn from a variety of sources are presented in this annotated bibliography. The materials included represent the most significant current literature on the diverse nature and characteristics of two-year college students, their special needs, and the programs developed to meet…

This study, part of the National Study of Student Learning, investigated the influence of differential exposure to postsecondary education, particularly the impact of type of institution, number of credit hours, and other factors on gains in critical thinking skills. the sample was 2,092 first-year students attending 13 four-year and 4 two-year…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading professional in the post high school institution offering technical curricula. The status and role of the reading professional were researched by ascertaining his opinions and those of his dean of instruction. One hundred two-year colleges were randomly selected from "Ferguson's Guide to Two…

As the name indicates, the College Readiness Data Catalog Tool focuses on identifying data that can indicate a student's college readiness. While college readiness indicators may also signal career readiness, many states, districts, and other entities, including the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), do not systematically collect career readiness…

In 1920, there were only 52 junior colleges in the United States and only 8,000 students. Today there are over 1,200 two-year institutions with over 4,000,000 students in attendance. All but nine of the nation's congressional districts have at least one community college. Today, more than one third of the nation's undergraduates are enrolled in…