The eight essays in this document concern occupational education in the 2-year college. The first two essays present an overview of the community college and its role in providing post-secondary occupational education for contemporary American society. Three essays concern the curriculum for occupational education, emphasizing the needs of urban…

In this paper we examine the creation and expansion of the English university system. We show how the enormous increase in student numbers, which began with the Robbins Report (1963), led to successive governments cutting universities' funding and compelling them to act more like business enterprises than educational institutions. In turn,…

Collaborative group projects have documented learning benefits, yet collaboration is challenging for students because the educational system values individual achievement. This article explores Scrum, an approach to framing, planning, and managing group projects used in Web-software development. Designed for multi-faceted projects, this approach…

In response to a perceived need to increase the number of students completing associate degree programs and enhance the offering of associate degree programs, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education developed a policy on associate degree programs offered at public institutions. Specifically, the policy is designed to clarify degree…

There's a lot wrong with the diversity training that goes on in the nation's schools. There are programs that offer shortcuts for communication across racial and ethnic lines, too often drawing on stereotypes rather than challenging them. There are dialogue programs that usher in difficult conversations about racism, prejudice and bias, sometimes…

In order to determine the degree to which two-year colleges utilize Lay Advisory Committees (LACs), a questionnaire was sent to 1,200 two-year colleges nationwide. Of the 695 institutions responding, 82% were public. While 93% of the respondents had worked with LACs in the past, only 91% were presently working with them; yet, 75% were in the…

Only one-third of all students who enter community colleges with the intent to earn a degree or certificate actually meet this goal within six years. MDRC launched the Opening Doors Demonstration in 2003--the first large-scale random assignment study in a community college setting--to tackle this problem. Partnering with six community colleges,…

This report uses data from the 1989-90 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and the 1993 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study to examine the postsecondary experiences and outcomes of first-generation students relative to their peers. After an overview of the demographic, aspirational, and enrollment characteristics of…

This report specifically addresses the need to increase associate degree and certificate completions in California's community colleges. The Commission recognizes and affirms the role of community colleges in many other areas of service to California's residents and economy--including citizenship, health and safety, English as a second language…

The English programs in two schools at the University of Nancy, France, are described and compared. At the School of Science, foreign languages are compulsory in the first two years; at the School of Pharmacy, short courses in English have been introduced for students in their fourth and fifth years. Recently the objective of the Science School…

The present study investigates lexical inter- and intralingual influences in the oral production of 14 very advanced learners of French L3. Lexical deviances are divided into two main categories: formal influence and meaning-based influence. The results show that, as predicted with respect to advanced learners, meaning-based influence is the most…

This study examines the frequency and pattern of interpersonal interactions between the learners and instructors of an online English language learning course offered at a Vietnamese university. The paper begins with a review of literature on interaction type, pattern and model of interaction followed by a brief description of the online…

Finding the match between individuals and educational treatments is the aim of both educators and the aptitude-treatment interaction research paradigm. Using the latent growth curve analysis, the present study investigates the interaction between the type of explicit instructional approaches (deductive vs. explicit-inductive) and the level of…

Signed into law in May 1994, the School-to-Work Opportunities (STWO) Act provides states and communities with funds to develop systems that connect academic knowledge with technical skills and workplace competencies. The Act links the Goals 2000: Educate America Act with workforce and economic development and is designed to help the nation prepare…

This chapter discusses Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative, a new performance funding system for community and technical colleges. Its purposes are to improve public accountability by more accurately describing what students achieve from enrolling in state colleges each year and provide incentives through financial rewards to…