The problem of creating a discipline of distance education

It is contended that an academic discipline illustrates certain characteristics and functions. The question whether distance education, in its current state, reflects these characteristics is explored.     

Differential costs of curricula in Illinois public junior colleges: Some implications for the future

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the annual cost of operation including depreciation of movable capital equipment for educating one student in each curriculum of selected community colleges and to show the relationship of costs of vocational-technical curricula to the cost for common baccalaureate oriented curricula.A stratified sample of eight community colleges was drawn from those that had been in operation for at least five years.These data indicate that a majority of the courses offered in highly specialized curricula in both the occupational and baccalaureate categories were more expansive than those courses that were common to a wide variety of curricula.This study supports differential program funding to assure continued development of high quality vocational-technical programs in community colleges.     

Parent academic involvement as related to school behavior, achievement, and aspirations: demographic variations across adolescence

A longitudinal model of parent academic involvement, behavioral problems, achievement, and aspirations was examined for 463 adolescents, followed from 7th (approximately 12 years old) through 11th (approximately 16 years old) grades. Parent academic involvement in 7th grade was negatively related to 8th-grade behavioral problems and positively related to 11th-grade aspirations. There were variations across parental education levels and ethnicity: Among the higher parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to fewer behavioral problems, which were related to achievement and then aspirations. For the lower parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to aspirations but not to behavior or achievement. Parent academic involvement was positively related to achievement for African Americans but not for European Americans. Parent academic involvement may be interpreted differently and serve different purposes across sociodemographic backgrounds.