Predictors of First-Year Retention in a Community College

Retention is a complex issue of great importance to community colleges. Several retention models have been developed to help explain this phenomenon. However, these models typically have used four-year college and university environments to build their foundations. Several researchers have attempted to identify predictor variables using statistical analysis. This study attempts to replicate some of these previous studies and build on them by including additional variables and cross-sectional techniques to study the potential of shifting trends.     

Dual Enrollment and Retention in Tennessee Community Colleges: Implications for Practice

ABSTRACT

With the increased numbers of dual enrollment students across the country as well as various state initiatives to increase retention among the student population at large, institutions face great challenges when balancing the many initiatives incumbent upon them. However, Tennessee, a state leader in both the free community college and dual enrollment initiatives, the Tennessee Board of Regents System (TBR), and its community colleges are positioned to improve retention rates by giving greater attention to their dual enrollment students. This brief study of one cohort of students at Walters State Community College (WSCC), located in East Tennessee, noted a major disparity in retention between students with dual enrollment experience and those without, suggesting an extant need to give particular consideration to institutional approaches designed to reinforce the dual enrollment programs and the students’ experience in said programs. Doing so may not only address the initiative of providing high quality dual enrollment classes to high school students but also improve institutional retention rates.     

预科学习十注意

根据西方大多数国家的教育体系,海外高中生如欲进入澳大利亚、美国、新西兰、加拿大及欧洲各国大学读本科。必须先通过该大学1年的预科课程,即大学前准备课程,才能获得入学资格,而不需要参加大学统考。预科课程设计由国外大学提供,除了过语富关,预科生还必须学习所读大学专业的预科课程,各科成绩毕业考试合格、获得预科文凭后,才能就读国外的大学。     

Family Incomes Fall While Admission Requirements Rise: Implications for Community Colleges

Median family incomes in the United States are falling while admissions requirements for community colleges are rising. The purpose of this paper was to call attention to the predicament faced by low-income and academically underprepared students aspiring to complete community college programs in this environment and the implications for community college leaders. Average family incomes in the U.S. have fallen for the third year in a row, with poverty at 15.1% and 46.5 million people living in poverty conditions. Rising income inequality between the wealthy and the poor contributes to the persistence of working poor families in the U.S. Reversing the trend of increasing income inequality and reducing the poverty rate are difficult. However, education has always been a way in which upward mobility for the disadvantaged can get started. Community colleges in particular have a strong tradition of serving low-income and academically underprepared students. But community colleges are now struggling to maintain their tradition of open access in the push for academic and fiscal accountability. Some colleges are shifting to serve better prepared students. What effects are these changes having on the types of students and programs at community colleges? We examined this issue and the implications for community college leaders.     

Satisfaction and Retention Among African American Men at Two-Year Community Colleges

A large majority of African American males begin their postsecondary education careers at two-year community colleges. Prior research has focused largely on Black students at four-year institutions, and even theoretical work has assumed that influences on retention are the same at two-year and four-year institutions. Drawing on Tinto's (1993 Tinto , V. ( 1993 ). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition () , 2nd ed. . Chicago , IL : University of Chicago Press . [Google Scholar]) retention theory and Astin's (1993 Astin , A. W. ( 1993 ). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited . San Francisco , CA : Jossey-Bass . [Google Scholar]) input-environment-outcome (IEO) model, this study estimated the impact of academic and social integration on retention—controlling for an array of intervening variables—based on a sample of African American males who responded to the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire. Findings suggest a statistical link between social integration and satisfaction in college; factors explained approximately 27% of the variance in the dependent variable. Implications for future policy and practice are highlighted.     

Inquiry-Based Learning in a First-Year Honors Course

We describe a case study of a problem-solving section, using the “Harkness” discussion method, of an honors multivariable calculus course. Students in the problem-solving section had equivalent outcomes on exams, reported higher ratings in self-assessments of skills, and took more math classes in the following year, compared with students in the lecture-based sections.     

Measurement-Related Course Work Requirements for Teacher Certification and Recertification

Do any state agencies require competence in assessment before certifying teachers? Do certification agencies permit measurement-related course work or continuing education credits meeting recertification requirements?     

任务导向的高职课程学习共同体构建研究

构建课堂学习共同体的研究,是当今教育研究的热点。学习共同体这一"合作式"的学习方式成为目前课堂实践中知识学习的主要形式之一,它具有共同性、合作性、交互性、责任性和激励性的特征。以任务为导向的高职课堂学习共同体的构建,可通过情境任务设计、环境建设、教学组织、任务的执行与控制、学习效果的评价与反馈等步骤,来实施和完成。     

Hispanic-Serving Community Colleges

The article examines student tuition, ad valorem property taxes, and state appropriations utilizing a revenue-per-contact-hour model to identify disparities in the Texas' community college funding mechanism. Methodology is presented to identify differences between and among Caucasian-serving, African-American-serving, Hispanic-serving, and other public community colleges. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized to conduct multiple-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the data set. The statistical testing utilized a significance level of 0.05. Posthoc tests were performed where necessary.     

Community Colleges and Job Training

Students who graduated from a teacher education program at a large public university were contacted to determine if they were teaching. Those who were teaching were also asked if they were teaching in the communities where they lived prior to attending college. A comparison of the graduates who were community college transfer students and graduates who were university native students was conducted. The results indicated that community college transfer students were less likely to be teaching following graduation, but that those transfer students who were teaching were as likely as native students to be teaching in their communities.     

美国社区学院AOI教育及对我国高职公共基础课改革的启示

AOI是美国职教界从上世纪90年代至今一直倡导并实施的教育理念。对美国社区学院课程改革产生了深刻的影响。本文介绍了AOI的基本模式并就如何改革我国高职公共基础课进行了探索。     

Teacher Preparation for Community/Junior Colleges

Abstract

A questionnaire was sent to the presidents of 24 Texas community/junior colleges, 22 of whom responded (91.66%). The five parts of the instrument dealt with specific teacher preparation topics, internships and salaries for the interns, and the number of graduate hours of preparation one should have completed in a discipline in order to teach it.

The respondents endorsed several specific topics for preparation programs, and the majority also supported an internship program. Evidently, the subject matter and activities listed in the questionnaire constitute a workable part of a program to prepare community/junior college teachers. A minimum salary of $450 per month is recommended for an intern required to teach three sections of a specific discipline, and a higher salary is very desirable where possible.     

Psychological Factors in Community College Student Retention

This study explored psychological factors in the context of a community college population purported to impact decisions to remain in college from one semester to another. Researchers examined results from 1191 responses from students attending a community college in the Mid-Atlantic United States. The study further explored the predictive power of four factors—career decision self-efficacy, career locus of control, education-employment connection, and intent to return—on both intent to return and on actual return to the college. Results indicated that intent to return was significantly predictive of actual return among this community college population. Additionally, age and gender differences, along with differences in the various psychological factors had differential impacts on each other, as well as on intent to return and subsequent return. Implications are discussed.     

关于独立学院大学物理课程的思考

分析目前独立学院大学物理教学的现状.结合独立学院在人才培养方面的特点,与专业负责人相协作,对本院电子信息科学与技术、电气工程这两个专业的大学物理课程进行一些调整.结合自身教学过程中的体会,就师资队伍、教学内容、教学方法、学时配置、实验辅助教学等方面提出一些意见和建议.     

高校英语专业毕业生发展需求调查与研究

通过对120名武汉某高校外语学院英语专业学生的调查,了解社会对英语专业毕业生的需求情况以及毕业生必须具有的知识、能力、个人素质等,为学生如何规划大学生活提供有效信息,同时也为学院培养符合社会发展要求的人才提供依据。     

高校法语公选课的问题与对策研究

高校法语公选课程的学生来自不同专业和年级,层次不同,学习动机也不同,再加上公共课程课时相对较少,该课程的教学不同于一般的法语专业和二外教学。本文通过对高校法语公选课中存在的问题的分析,对相应的教学方法进行了探索。     

高校构建社会主义核心价值体系的原则和要求

高校构建社会主义核心价值体系的基本原则,要正确处理尊重包容与引领整合的关系、整体与具体的辩证关系、理想性与现实性的关系、阶段性与长期性的关系。根本要求：用马克思主义指导思想武装头脑,用中国特色社会主义共同理想凝聚力量,用民族精神和时代精神鼓舞斗志,用社会主义荣辱观引领风尚。积极构建社会主义核心价值体系,是高校思想政治工作的逻辑主线和核心任务。     

From Community College to Four-Year Institution: A Model for Recruitment and Retention

Increasing Numbers, Connections, and Retention in Science and Engineering (INCRSE) was funded with the goal of increasing the quantity, quality, and diversity of undergraduate students pursuing and obtaining degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs at West Texas A&M University (WTAMU). A major objective of INCRSE was to recruit STEM transfer students from regional community colleges (CC) and to provide academic and social support necessary for retention of these students. The INCRSE CC recruitment and retention model involved (a) strengthening relationships between faculty at WTAMU and regional CCs; (b) inviting CC faculty and staff to developmental workshops at WTAMU; (c) improving advising for transfer students at CCs and WTAMU; and (d) developing articulation agreements between WTAMU and regional CCs. Because INCRSE was funded in fall 2006, the number of CC STEM transfers enrolled at WTAMU increased from 214 to 253, an increase of 18%, while overall enrollment of CC transfers to WTAMU declined 3.5%. The number of new CC STEM transfers increased 22% from 92 in the 2006–2007 to 112 in 2008–2009 academic years. WTAMU's first-year retention of STEM transfers increased from 57% in 2006–2007 to 68% in 2007–2008, far surpassing the WTAMU first-year retention of traditional freshmen in the STEM fields by almost 30%. While all components of the model were important, much of the success can be attributed to improved relationships between WTAMU and CC faculty.     

组建社区教育学院构建终身教育体系促进社区和谐发展

社区教育是不同于普通学校教育和成人教育的新的教育形式,社区教育学院是由当地政府举办的,集公益性、综合性、社区性于一体的多功能的区域性教育培训中心,在促进社区建设和发展,在构建国民终身教育体系中具有不可替代的作用。组建社区教育学院,实施终身教育,以促进社区的和谐发展意义重大。     

美国社区学院办学特点及启示

本文简要介绍了美国社区学院的形成与发展历程,从几个侧面概括介绍了美国社区学院的特点以及给我们的启示.美国社区学院的开放性、教学方式上的灵活性、与良四年制大学良好的衔接性以及在开展职业教育过程中积累下来的一些成功经验值得国内职业院校借鉴.