During the 2006 fall semester, Nashville State Technical Community College (NSCC) completed a review of its general education program, including assessment of student success. A major advantage in assessing general education is that a number of measures are available for this purpose. A major disadvantage is that these measures rarely can be tied…

This document reports on a research project held in 2005, which looked to see how performance indicators related to area needs. It shows the results of research across four Learning and Skills Council (LSC) areas, with contributions also from national stakeholders and other witnesses. Findings include: (1) Performance indicators are regarded as…

This report presents the findings of a longitudinal study of English as a Second Language (ESL) students at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) conducted during the summer of 2007. The study used College records to track all students who first enrolled in CCSF's credit and non-credit ESL programs in 1998, 1999, and 2000 for seven years …

Online education has become deeply embedded in the offerings of most community colleges. This chapter discusses the challenges, models, and approaches to conducting assessment of student online learning and establishing outcomes for online education.

There is a growing population of young adults who are underserved by community colleges in the United States, students who are poorly prepared for college work and are at risk of poverty, social problems and failure to realize their full potential. Educational programs offered by community colleges represent this group's best hope of overcoming…

A study funded by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (Benson, Johnson, Taylor, Treat, Shinkareva, & Duncan, 2004) investigated the course structures and environments used for online career and technical education (CTE) courses and compared their effectiveness to equivalent campus-based courses in terms of the extent to…

Recent literature on African Americans students at the community college level represents an eclectic body of material. Broadly speaking, this literature has focused on questions concerning African American learning styles, cultural determinants to success, retention issues, and comparative achievement with other minority groups. While the…

Hartnell College is a Hispanic-serving institution serving the Salinas Valley in California, a vast 1,000-square-mile agricultural region. The district includes large numbers of migrant workers and their families, chronically high unemployment, high rates of poverty, and low educational attainment. A review of student performance data in 2002…

"ES Review" brings together in one publication recent Education Sector work that reflects both the reach of its policy projects and its commitment to translating the complexities of education policymaking for a wide range of audiences. Articles in this first edition of "ES Review" are: (1) Community College Confidential…

During the spring semesters of 1999 through 2003, the general education subcommittee of Oakton Community College's (Des Plaines, Illinois) Student Academic Assessment Team (SAAT) implemented a locally developed institutional approach for assessing students' achievement of general education objectives. The overall process remained essentially the…

The issue of student success is a common concern in the typical community college, and no less so at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) in New Mexico. As a result of a comprehensive program review of student success rates in mathematics, the Mathematics Departments in the Divisions of Arts and Sciences and Developmental Studies collaborated on…

"Higher Education Counts" is the annual accountability report on Connecticut's state system of higher education, as required under Connecticut General Statutes Section 10a-6a. The report contains accountability measures developed through the Performance Measures Task Force and approved by the Board of Governors for Higher Education. The…

This study was designed to identify those learner attributes that may be used to predict student success (in terms of grade point average) in a Web-based distance education setting. Students enrolled in six Web-based, general education distance education courses at a community college were asked to complete the Group Embedded Figures Test for…

MDRC's Opening Doors Demonstration is measuring the effects of various combinations of curricular reforms, enhanced academic advising, and increased financial aid intended to increase the persistence and improve the academic achievement of students at six community colleges across the United States. To determine the impact of the Opening Doors…

Community colleges are undoubtedly aligned in the most strategic positions to affect social and economic change. Numerous factors are playing a part in the shifts felt throughout higher education today. From the recent economic recession that continues to provide America with more displaced workers, unemployed and underemployed adults to the…