Adult Students at Two-Year Colleges: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Adults constitute a continually increasing proportion of students at two-year colleges. While adult students presumably have special needs, little is known about them. This study focused on the characteristics and needs of 17,137 students enrolled in 100 randomly selected two-year colleges across the country, separately for different age levels. Using a wide variety of variables collected at entrance, after one term, at graduation, and three years after graduation, differences by sex among the following four age groups were ascertained: age 19 or younger, 20–24, 25–39, and 40 or older. Major trends with age, differences among age groups, and interactions between age and sex were found for a number of variables: abilities, grades, attrition, self-perceptions, aspirations and goals, competencies, job values and preferences, satisfaction with and rating of various aspects of the college, expressed needs for help, extracurricular participation, outside work during school, postgraduate jobs obtained and how obtained, job satisfaction, percent going to and graduating from four-year programs, and preference for entering a two-year program if they had to do it all over again. Adult students do have many special needs that vary with age level. We think a repeat of the study but comparing across other groupings of adults would be desirable, even though extreme diversity also exists within such groups. Another consideration is that many new kinds of adult students will in the future be entering postsecondary education in large numbers.     

Displaced Workers Successfully Reenter the Workforce: Postgraduation from a Community College

The purpose of this study was to determine how well former employees at a television glass manufacturing plant were able to find employment in a new field of study following graduation from a local community college. The majority of participants were able to find reemployment, albeit at a lower salary. In addition, information was obtained regarding the level of satisfaction with participants' new jobs and perceived barriers faced while looking for employment.     

Iowa Lakes Community College: Partnerships for Academic and Economic Success in a Rapidly Evolving Wind-Energy Industry

Iowa Lakes Community College responded to a national need for wind-energy technicians. The Wind-Energy and Turbine Program aligned industry and academic competencies with experiential learning components to foster exploration of additional renewable energy applications. Completers understand both the physical and academic rigor a career in wind energy demands.     

ACADEMIC SUCCESS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

This field study examined a model of attrition in young Mexican American women at a community college. It was hypothesized that those who achieved low academic performance would drop out in response to a series ofpsychosocial and sociocultural barriers in education. The model in vestigated a process by which Mexican American women matriculate into the community college system and either bring with them or encounter for the first time a set of well‐documented barriers to education. At this juncture, they either possess or do not possess the personality characteristics and background that help them overcome the consequences of the barriers. If the students are able to sustain themselves through the difficulty posed by the barriers, they are more likely to experience depression, which may manifest as somatic symptoms. To the extent that a student succumbs to depression, her academic performance would fall and she would opt to leave school. The results of this study suggest that the greatest impact of educational barriers was not on academic performance directly but on the psychological and emotional well‐being of the student. This study found no significant relationship between academic performance and depression. The relationship between somatization and depression in this population was corroborated.     

Preschoolers' Attention to Print During Shared Book Reading

Seventy-six children ages 3 to 5 were individually read two storybooks that had been specially formatted to contain salient printed words within the text, and illustrations and text on left or right-facing pages. The reader pointed to each word while reading to half of the children. After each book, children were asked to recognize elements of the illustrations and the specially formatted text elements from among a set of foils. Videotaped sessions were coded for the time children spent looking toward the pages with print versus illustrations. Analyses showed that the percentage of time looking at print was less than 2% in the no-pointing condition but increased with age. Pointing to the words increased print-looking time for all age groups and print target recognition for 4-year-olds. After controlling for receptive vocabulary, visual memory, and maturation associated with these scores, emergent orthography and letter-word identification predicted time looking at print and recognition of the print elements.     

Distinct in beliefs/united in concerns: Listening to strongly DAP and strongly traditional k‐primary teachers

Abstract

Twelve early childhood teachers in kindergarten/primary grades who hold opposing philosophical beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) were interviewed about their perceived barriers to effective practice. Specifically, they were asked to discuss work‐related “things that keep them from being the best teacher they can be.” All teachers selected scored as highly efficacious about education and themselves as teachers and had low occupational stress scores. Half strongly endorsed and engaged in behaviors closely aligned with DAP and half were highly traditional. Interesting differences in terms of the relative influence of preservice education and acceptance of inclusive practices were found across the two groups of teachers, but they united in concern for standardized testing as a barrier to effective practice. Listening to these teachers can and should inform those of us engaged in pre‐ and in‐service education and policy formation and point us in future directions for research into teacher differences. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

“Thinking About Thinking: It's not Just for Philosophers:” Using Metacognitive Journals to Teach and Learn About Constructivism

This article describes how Metacognitive Journals were used to teach prospective early childhood educators about constructivism. We emphasize the importance of modeling constructivist pedagogy and cultivating students' metacognitive potential. We share the effects on our students' learning and on our teaching. We also offer recommendations for teacher educators to incorporate Metacognitive Journals in their practice     

Fostering partnerships with families: academic service-learning in the Little Village

ABSTRACT

Strong family-teacher partnerships increase family engagement, promoting positive outcomes for children. Early childhood educators need knowledge, skills, and dispositions for establishing strong, meaningful partnerships with diverse families. This research investigated the impact of academic service-learning (ASL) on undergraduate students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for partnering with culturally and linguistically diverse families to promote young children’s early academic learning. Participants included nine undergraduates in an early childhood teacher preparation course, ten culturally and linguistically diverse families, and thirteen 2- to 5-year-old children. In this mixed-methods study, written student ASL reflections, pre- and post-ASL student surveys, and parent evaluations were analyzed. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Students entered the ASL experience with excitement and a mostly positive approach; (2) Early to mid-semester, students articulated a high degree of nervousness and discomfort as well as challenges to partnership-building, yet also noted family interest and engagement; and (3) Mid- to late semester, most students expressed their growing confidence in their own skills for relating to diverse families, and identified family strengths. Our findings support ASL as an effective teacher-preparation pedagogy to help students build family-teacher partnerships.     

Is It DAP? American Preschool Teachers’ Views on the Developmental Appropriateness of a Preschool Math Lesson from China

Planned instruction is an important teaching form in early childhood mathematics education, but some educators are concerned about its developmental appropriateness. The present study was undertaken to address this issue. One hundred and seven American preschool teachers participated in the study: They watched a video-taped math lesson that was conducted in a 4-year-olds’ classroom in China and answered video-cued questions in a questionnaire. A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was used in analyzing the data. Research Findings: Results show that on average, participants rated the quality and developmental appropriateness of the lesson as high. They acknowledged children’s active learning, teacher’s careful preparation, and use of different learning methods. But, they also identified inadequate elements such as lack of peer interactions and lesson differentiation. Practice or Policy: A relief of American preschool teachers’ current beliefs regarding the developmental appropriateness of math lessons provides critical reference for professional preparation/development programs. American preschool teachers’ high value of children’s active learning in a planned math lesson and their appreciation of teacher’s skillful guidance imply an imperative need to promote American preschool teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and skills in teaching mathematics to young children.