The purpose of this action research study was to improve the implementation of a large-scale redesign of teacher preparation programs at Arizona State University. This was a highly complex redesign that impacted over 150 courses across 27 programs, involving more than 200 faculty and 2,500 students annually. As a result, implementing the redesign…

Lack of clear, coherent pathways to transfer or to workforce goals is a common impediment to community college student success and completion. Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) set the ambitious goal of achieving curricular coherence across its 10 colleges, developing shared pathways that clearly delineate employment and/or…

In this article, I focus on the importance of knowledge exchange and knowledge communities to create an online curriculum that moves from individual course design to shared curriculum design. I draw from current discussions on communities of practice, agoras, and knowledge societies, expanding on the notion that knowledge, in order to benefit…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Using the EIA [Excellence in Assessment] Application as a Catalyst for Intentional Improvement (Christine Robinson and associates); (2) Editor's Notes (Stephen P. Hundley); (3) Northern Arizona University's Journey to…

ACTA's report "The Cost of Chaos in the Curriculum" reveals that the vast array of course choices given to college students is a cause of exploding costs and poor academic outcomes. And a bloated undergraduate curriculum is particularly detrimental to the success of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The report documents how…

Institutions of higher education face financial pressure to become self-sustaining (Gumport, 2001; 2000). This rapidly growing economic demand is negatively affecting the social mission of higher education (Kezar, 2004). Scholars suggest the implementation of a new model of higher education, one that blends a for-profit model with the traditional…

Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter…

This manuscript provides insight into a new education doctorate program where action research is taught in core courses and used as signature pedagogy and capstone experience. To contextualize action research in this program, a brief introduction as to how it fits into its mission, goals, and needs is provided. Although this fit carries promises,…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

The Community Outreach Curriculum described in this paper is designed to prepare community health aides employed through the Outreach Department of Pima County (Arizona) Indian Health Inc., (PCIHI), which consists of two medical clinics on two separate reservations. The first sections of the paper describe PCIHI, provide a rationale for the…

Governor's Committee findings and recommendations regarding the need for a branch campus of Arizona State University (ASU) on the west side of Maricopa County are presented. The campus would be limited to courses in the final 2 years of the college (i.e., upper level university). To determine the feasibility of the branch campus, a demographic…

Brief summaries of 12 books and reports on higher education are presented as part of the final report by the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness. The summaries retain a substantial amount of the original language of the work, but do not contain evaluations. Publications are as follows: "Integrity…

Prepared by the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona, these 1- to 2-page Briefs describe key policies related to the governance and operations of the state's community colleges. The first section focuses on the role of the State Board, presenting policies related to state and local governance; the statutory powers of state…

Presenting its past, present, and future expectations, the Navajo Junior College anc the forthcoming Navajo Culture Center are described in detail in this publication. College information relative to the following is presented: (1) History and Origin; (2) Philosophy; (3) Objectives; (4) Purpose of the Navajo College (to serve the Navajo…