Speech and language difficulties can be indicative of other cognitive, social and developmental problems. Tools used in the UK have not (1) targeted two-year-old children, (2) included both parents' reports and independent observations, and (3) simultaneously evaluated expression, understanding and speech. This cross-sectional study of two…

Few studies focus on the instruction of vocabulary to very young foreign-language learners. How useful, frequent or even interesting are the words that Greek young learners have acquired by the end of their first couple of "junior" years? This paper investigates the vocabulary used in five recent English as a foreign language (EFL) course books…

This companion report to Noel-Levitz's "2012 National Freshman Attitudes Report" examines the self-reported attitudes, motivations, and needs of college freshmen at the beginning vs. the middle of the 2011-2012 academic year, based on survey responses from a sizable sample of more than 4,000 freshmen attending college in 2011-2012. Highlights…

While states and the federal government have put efforts in place to increase the size of the workforce trained in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to meet innovation demands, there continues to be a nationwide shortage of students who are interested in and prepared for such careers. Missouri is no exception to this problem, one…

Despite uncertainty related to student outcomes resulting from remediation (Bettinger & Long, 2009), eleven states mandate remedial education through common placement testing and standardized cutoff scores rather than permitting individual postsecondary institutions to establish remediation guidelines. Colorado, in particular, offers an…

Describes the experience of a returning, nontraditional, first-generation college student as seen through the eyes of an English instructor who is substantially younger. Discusses the author's anxiety about teaching and relates it to her students' learning processes. (SG)

This essay describes how interclass collaboration in the context of an in-depth interdisciplinary discussion and analysis of global problems can yield significant benefits in the development of ESL students' sense of efficacy, their literacy, and their critical thinking skills. Collaborative lessons expose the students to new and varied…

A pilot study was designed to examine student perspectives on the first two years of the foreign language program at an east coast college. The study addresses key areas of foreign language teaching and learning in terms of goals and objectives, effectiveness of instruction and instructional approach, and student suggestions for improvement. The…

The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students in grades 10 through 12 in its advanced, residential…

No group of college students persists at a rate lower than freshmen students to their sophomore year. In 2011, those rates varied from 55.4% at two-year public colleges to 80.3% at private schools offering a PhD program. This study investigated the impact of five pre-matriculation variables on the retention of freshmen students to their sophomore…

Thirty years ago, Peter Elbow wrote "Writing without Teachers" and ushered in the process, heuristic approach to language pedagogy. Most distinctive about Elbow's book--and the plethora of others that would follow--was the invitation to allow writing to evolve, to develop, and to grow as a living organism. Suddenly, teachers were supplanting…

Should a crisis hit the University of Montana, students sitting in classrooms will get immediate emergency information, even if their mobile phones are turned off and they aren't online. Classrooms, dorms, and other buildings are now outfitted with LED message boards--a sort of wall-mounted electronic pager--that use widely understood colors of…

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the largest source of federal funding for child care assistance available to states, provides low-income families with help paying for child care. Studies have shown that low-income LEP (limited English proficient), as well as immigrant families, are less likely to receive child care assistance.…

This article presents the annual report on the economic status of the profession. Although the results of this year's survey of full-time faculty compensation are marginally better than they have been the last two years, 2011-12 represents the continuation of a historic low period for faculty salaries. The overall average salary for full-time…

Two-year institutions in the US realize that traditional avenues of financial support, namely government funds, are no longer enough to sustain their operations, and acknowledge that in order to compete and survive, private fund raising from individuals is a necessity. There is little data available regarding how much community colleges raise, but…