This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest Community College Research Center (CCRC) research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Improving Community College Assessment and Placement," by Thomas Bailey, discusses how the process of assessment and placement that colleges use to sort students into college-level or developmental courses may not be very effective in helping students succeed. He cites how a growing number of studies from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and elsewhere call into question the ultimate benefits of the process of assessment and placement into remediation. He cites how the results of these studies shed light on the inadequacies of current assessment instruments. As such, the nation needs a more coherent system for determining and meeting students' needs, but change may not come easily. Other sections of this newsletter include: (1) CCRC Research Projects; (2) National Center for Postsecondary Research; (3) Announcements; (4) Upcoming Conference Presentations; and (5) Selected Publications.