Critical Issues Facing America's Community Colleges: A Summary of the Community College Futures Assembly 2008

Three focus groups consisting of board of trustee members, community college presidents, senior administrators, administrators, and faculty members developed critical issues facing community colleges with respect to instructional planning and services; planning, governance, and finance; and workforce development. Thereafter, the delegation of more than 200 voted on various aspects of the most critical issue divulged in the 2008 Community College Futures Assembly: general education assessment is coming. The findings, including opportunities and challenges, potential implications for community college administrators, and future research topics are also discussed, mostly in the context of workforce development opportunities.     

Beyond Community College Accountability: Using Data to Investigate Best Practices for Institutional Improvement

The Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) launched in 2011 is the first national system of community college accountability. Sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in collaboration with the Association of Community College Trustees and the College Board, the VFA will shortly report to the public on measures of student progress and learning outcomes and on measures of workforce, economic, and community development. The author of this paper proposes that AACC move beyond community college accountability toward creating and sustaining, among college administrators, a common culture of VFA data use to investigate best practices for institutional improvement. To advance this proposition, the discourse presented centers on a proof-of-concept model. The study uses longitudinal data to illustrate its potential for community college administrators to identify best practices for improving institutional performance in first-year college retention.     

The Financial Aid Consortium: Rationales and Best Practices for their Establishment between Community Colleges and Public Universities

ABSTRACT

The financial challenges facing college students in the U.S. are daunting. The majority of these students are incurring substantial debt during their studies. For many this likely debt level is sufficient to cause them to forgo college, while for others it leads them to drop out before completing a degree. This financial strain places a premium on efforts that the student can take to economize. One of the most substantial ways that the students can economize is through the inclusion of a community college in their plans of study. Consequently, economizing requires the inclusion of multiple colleges and the courses needed to be taken at different institutions seldom fits neatly into full-time semesters. Recent regulatory changes have created an opportunity for institutions to eliminate this type of financial strain through the strategic cooperation of a financial aid consortium.     

Assessment Practices of Instructors in Community College

Critical thinking is an important outcome of a college education. Assessment techniques that require students to demonstrate their understanding of course concepts are referred to as authentic assessment and promote the development of critical thinking. Little research exists on the types of assessment and grading practices utilized by community college instructors. This research examined the incidence and nature of various assessment practices used by community college faculty for basing the course grade. In addition, the study also examined the percentage of course grades that was based on traditional and authentic assessment and factors that may influence the use of assessment techniques. To facilitate the study, an online survey instrument was used to obtain data from faculty employed at two community colleges in California. Study results revealed that a variety of assessment practices are used by community college instructors with differences in relation to faculty status, level of academic achievement, online teaching status, and years of teaching experience. In addition, findings indicate that faculty primarily use authentic assessment in basing the course grade as compared to objective or traditional assessment—suggesting that they are using assessment techniques that promote critical thinking. A significant finding was that part-time faculty emphasize objective exams, attendance, and homework whereas full-time faculty emphasize research projects and learning journals. Findings suggest that professional development may be warranted for faculty by faculty status.     

Clinical Supervision of Community College Counselors: Current and Preferred Practices

A survey of community college counselors was conducted to determine current and preferred supervision practices. Results indicated that although most respondents want clinical supervision, few receive it.     

美国奥巴马政府社区学院政策的分析

奥巴马就任美国总统后,将社区学院视为低收入群体迈入中产阶级的跳板,对社区学院进行了多项改革。为应对产业升级对高水平技术型人才的需求,奥巴马颁布了社区学院免费计划,免除社区学院学生的学费,以期吸引更多学生入学,提高人才培养质量,促进美国经济复苏。这对我国的启示是:要改变行政管控方式,以资源激励促进地方本科高校转型和应用型人才培养;要探寻多元经费配置体系,建立灵活的免费资助政策,实现我国高等教育普及。     

Best Practices for English Language Learners in Massachusetts: Five Years After The Question 2 Mandate

Educating English language learners (ELLs) presents a challenge for teachers and policy makers; the population of ELLs increases, yet their achievement trails that of their native English-speaking peers. In November 2002, Massachusetts voters supported a law that mandated Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) as the primary means of instruction for ELLs, effectively ending transitional bilingual education. This report examines key considerations in educating ELLs, and in implementing SEI in Massachusetts schools. It also presents case studies of three schools making significant strides with ELLs through innovative programming built around SEI methods yet maintaining important bilingual education practices that promote educational equity. Cross-case analysis identified themes about strategic data use, staff recruitment, and supports for students and families.     

Aztec Middle College: High School Alternatives in Community Colleges

The traditional high school model derived from the factory deficit model of the early 1900s has left many students, mainly minorities and/or low socioeconomic students, disenfranchised. This is evident in the poor school performance and high dropout rates of such students. Whereas the factory deficit model was created to promote only a few high school students to college, the rest of the students were trained for factory jobs. Today's job market requires that high school students go to college subsequent to their graduation. For this reason, middle college alternatives to traditional high schools are being adopted. Although research on middle colleges is limited due to their recent development, the results are encouraging: high school students who would otherwise have failed school or dropped out have high attendance rates and high graduation rates.     

Community College Policy in Hong Kong: Intention,Practices, and Consequence

In order to increase the competitiveness of the workforce at low cost, the Hong Kong government brought in the idea of community colleges and the associate degree while keeping the same annual set quota of first-year, first-degree places at publicly-funded universities. At first glance, in doing so, the government could avoid expanding the sector of university education, which could eventually lead to credential inflation usually found in the West. However, the policy, perhaps unintentionally, boosts up students’ educational aspiration: while a greater number of students obtain an associate degree, they do not take an associate degree as a final degree but demand a bachelor degree. This rising demand, then, leads to the emergence and subsequent expansion of the self-financing sector of university education. This Hong Kong experience demonstrates that it is perhaps a mission impossible, to let more people have a higher education while keeping the sector of higher education intact.     

Student Engagement and Institutional Graduation Rates: Identifying High-Impact Educational Practices for Community Colleges

Philanthropists, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are increasingly focused on a college completion crisis in the United States. Collectively and independently, they have called for increasing the number of adults with postsecondary certificates and degrees as a national imperative. Using the 2007 administration of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), this article explores the statistical relationships between student engagement, as measured by the CCSSE, and institutional graduation rates reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Both bivariate correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses yielded results that reinforce the salience of student engagement as an important predictor of college completion. Specifically, the CCSSE student engagement benchmarks of active and collaborative learning and support for learners are positive predictors of institutional graduation rates. The article concludes with suggestions around instructional practices and institutional policies to consider for community college leaders committed to the completion agenda.     

An Instrumental Case Study Analysis of Anticipatory Leadership Practices in Community Colleges

This qualitative instrumental case study explored the experiences and perceptions of seven community college leaders of their use of anticipatory leadership. Two research questions guided this study: (a) How do community colleges use anticipatory leadership to respond to internal and external changes? (b) How do community college leaders use anticipatory leadership principles for problem solving? The themes that emerged to address question one were engagement with others is required to respond to change effectively, data analysis and currency of knowledge are required to identify gaps and to respond to them, leaders must be willing to take calculated risks, and leaders must communicate effectively in order for change to occur. The themes that emerged to address question two were analysis of data is instrumental to identifying and closing the gaps in institutions, leading to better informed decisions; and anticipatory leadership reduces the need to use reactionary leadership practices. The findings of the study are that the participants identified and supported that anticipatory leadership practices are effective for responding to change. The anticipatory leadership practices highlighted as needed by the participants included the need for leaders who are engaged, have the skills and ability to utilize data to make decisions, are current in their higher education knowledge, take calculated risks when needed, and can communicate effectively. These skills are needed for community college leaders to be able to be proactive versus reactionary in their decision-making, as well as effective with their gap analysis identification, trend predictions, decision-making, and problem solving.     

Community Colleges: Rethinking STD Prevention for the Nontraditional College Campus

ABSTRACT

As increased attention and proposed funding are being directed toward community colleges, it is important to consider the sexual and reproductive health care needs of this growing population. Existing data suggest there are significant sexual health needs among this population and often insufficient provision of services. Some community college students are more likely than students at 4-year colleges to test positive for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Given resource constraints, creative solutions are required. These may include campus-wide policies addressing STD/HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) prevention, referral systems to connect students to care in the community, and partnerships with local health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers, or community-based organizations to assist with the provision of services. Colleges have the unique opportunity to provide students with valuable information about sexual health and services. Community colleges, in particular, are uniquely positioned to reach at-risk community members for STD testing and sexual health care who might otherwise be lost to care. More research is needed on the sexual health needs of community college students, especially on factors such as geographic location, how embedded the school is into the community, social norms around sexual health on college campuses, and health services offered. New and innovative ways to promote linkage to care for testing and counseling could offer potential health benefits to this growing at-risk population.     

Community College Developmental Writing Programs Most Promising Practices: What the Research Tells Educators

ABSTRACT

Students at community colleges are being placed into developmental writing classes at significantly high rates, as high as 80% at some colleges. Many of these students are students of color, and the need to help them persist and succeed is of increasing importance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the most promising practices by community college developmental writing programs. This article presents a review of more than 245 publications from over 450 authors, synthesized down to 36 validated studies with the goal of informing scholars and practitioners of the current state of the field. Themes emerging from these studies and a conceptual model through which findings can be viewed are presented. The analysis, with a focus on the structural, curricular, andragogical, and relational domains, documents only validated studies about the most promising practices. This article supports, challenges, and recommends how to better serve students in the developmental writing context. This author hopes to change how colleges implement developmental writing practices so that practitioners will be given the best tools to help all students succeed.     

Celebrating the Past,Creating the Future: 50 Years of Community College Research

The Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. This article summarizes the establishment of the Council and sets it in the context of the development of the community college movement. Highlights of research conducted by CSCC members to address contemporary issues facing community colleges are described. A summary of insights offered by members during a 2008 plenary session, research presented at the 50th annual conference, and key community college leaders are described in the context of the historical evolution of community college research and future directions.     

职业院校承担社区学院化教育的实践与思考

创建全民学习型社会,制订终身教育体系目标,是我国人力资源和教育领域的重要决策部署,职业教育与社区教育是提升这项伟大工程的主要承担者。通过调研分析职业院校在承担社区学院化教育过程中发挥的作用与效能;对其师资等相关条件如何满足需求进行研判,明确施教方针与总体规划方向,并建议有关院校在具体实施前充分做好内部沟通与外部联系,积极获取教育主管部门及社会组织统筹支持。     

近二十年来高校辅导员素质研究内容分析

本研究以近20年国内出版的关于"高校辅导员素质"的期刊论文为对象,以内容分析为主要研究方法,对论文数量、研究人员情况、论文所属研究项目、研究类型及论文主体内容进行了编码统计。结果显示相关领域研究数量有限,研究质量有待提高,定性研究为主,定量研究不足,研究成果有限,研究影响有待扩大。     

从未来学角度看师范学院大学英语教学改革

该文从未来学的角度分析师范学院的大学英语教学改革的现状.师范学院的大学英语教学改革任重道远,改革的困难很多.但我们可从几个方面入手,寻找符合师范学院实际的教学改革之路.