This report introduces five national benchmarks of effective educational practice in community colleges. The benchmarks are: active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student faculty interaction, and support for learners. All address institutional practices and student behaviors that research has shows are important in promoting student learning and retention. Some of the key findings of the report are the following: (1) 64% of students actively participate in class discussions versus 36% who do not; (2) 31% of students have never made a class presentation; (3) 67% of full time students spend ten or fewer hours preparing for class; (4) 49% of students worked harder than they thought they could to meet an instructor's demands; (5) 67% of students claim that exams are relatively to extremely challenging; and (6) 31% of full time students read four or fewer assigned textbooks or books during the school year. Students were questioned regarding Academic and Support Services and they ranked the following as areas that they are most dissatisfied with: (1) career counseling; (2) job placement assistance; (3) financial aid advising; and (4) transfer credit assistance. The goal of this report is to aid colleges improve programs and services for students. Contains numerous graphs and tables. (MZ)