This document traces the influence of governmental policies on American community colleges, focusing on how different levels of government have affected the colleges at various stages of their development with respect to college organization and governance, finance, enrollment, and curriculum. The community college's main contribution has been to…

Stemming from the Ford Foundation's Urban Community Colleges Transfer Opportunities Program (UCCTOP), this report presents the results of efforts of the Center for the Study of Community Colleges to gather and analyze data on the 24 two-year colleges that received UCCTOP grants to advance transfer opportunities in urban, public community colleges.…

As part of an effort to survey members of the humanities faculty at 178 community colleges about their instructional practices, a sample of 1110 class sections was chosen by pulling every tenth section from the colleges' fall 1977 schedules of day and evening classes. Because 92 class sections were not offered, only 1018 survey forms were…

Traces the current status of the community college academic curriculum through data from several national studies conducted by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges over the past 10 years. Sees the Humanities, Sciences, Fine Arts, Mathematics, and English Composition as the academic disciplinary core of the collegiate curriculum. (CBC)

This paper discusses several aspects of the community college role in providing access to further studies: ways of calculating transfer rates and estimates of the number of students making the transition, incentives for and inhibitors of student transfer as reflected in state policy and institutional practice, and a look to the future of community…

Community colleges generally conduct little research. Further, there is no generally accepted national research agenda for community colleges, no consistently funded national agency charged with studying the institutions as unique entities, and few educational researchers directing their attention toward them. The research that is undertaken on…

The problems and practices of science education in the community college are discussed in this paper. First, the community college's contribution to and position in American higher education is examined, especially with respect to enrollment and curricular trends. Next, the results of a national study of community college science education and a…

In examining research on the characteristics and problems of small/rural community colleges, one finds that a consistent definition of 'rural' does not exist, and that most research has traditionally focused on the differences between private and public colleges, not between small and large institutions. Research indicates that: (1) classes tend…

Community college instructors have, of their own volition, isolated themselves from the academic disciplines in which they were trained, from the universities and the secondary schools, and from the broad currents of the two-year colleges. This reclusive complex stems from three phenomena, one relating to the teacher as human being and…

Data for the evaluation of the Rio Hondo Exploratory College were obtained from a review of the literature and background materials, interviews with faculty, staff, and the board of trustees, and questionnaires administered to faculty and students. According to planning documents and the perceptions of administrators and staff at Rio Hondo…

Considers ways of measuring educational outcomes. Summarizes results from the Center for the Study of Community Colleges' administration of the General Academic Assessment, which measures the general education/liberal arts knowledge of two-year college student cohorts. Reveals direct relationships between test scores and credits taken and…

Driven by the inability of traditional higher education institutions to accommodate the increasing number of people demanding postsecondary education, community colleges are implementing new modes of access to their programs. One of the most popular means of access is distance education, which promises education beyond the boundaries of the…

Describes a multiyear national effort by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges to stabilize a definition of transfer rates and collect data on student transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions. Presents preliminary findings and reactions to the study/findings by college practitioners. Advises simplicity and efficiency.…

The General Academic Learning Experience (GALE) is an assessment of community college student knowledge in the liberal arts. The study involved the design and administration of an instrument, which included a demographic survey and a multiple-choice content test. In total, over 2,500 students from 10 colleges in Southern California participated.…

Differences between researchers and practitioners can be found in four areas: the distance from the object of study; the ideological perspective; the purposes of the research; and the political agenda behind the research. Each of these principles dominates the perceptions of the people involved and thus contributes to the phenomenon of mutual…