The "revolving door syndrome" refers to the ease with which students are able to enroll in community colleges and the equal ease with which they can drop out. In addition to traditional retention strategies, such as assessment, placement, orientation and advising, innovative approaches have been implemented at five community colleges…

"Learning autobiography,""learning career," and "learning trajectory" are related descriptors for the process of developing attitudes toward learning and the origins of interests, learning styles, and learning processes. The learning career is composed of events, activities, and interpretations that develop individual…

Types of initiatives that colleges have implemented to foster continuing faculty career growth and the major attributes essential to success of the efforts are considered. The role of administrators in supporting faculty growth and vitality is also addressed. Several colleges and universities encourage career planning activities in which faculty…

Part-time faculty are essential to the accomplishment of the mission of postsecondary occupational education institutions. A commitment to excellence requires a comprehensive, systematic design for part-time faculty recruitment, development, assessment, and integration into the institution's delivery system. Careful attention to recruitment…

Students exhibiting failure syndrome approach assignments with low expectations of success and tend to give up at early signs of difficulty. This Digest delineates the nature of failure syndrome, suggests strategies for coping with failure syndrome students, and discusses how teachers can help. Some students, especially in the early grades, show…

Markus and Nurius (1986) are credited with developing the concept of possible selves, which represents individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they fear becoming. It has been applied in research and practice with adolescents exploring career choices; adults in transition; and older adults envisioning…

This monograph examines student advising in the higher education setting by focusing on shared responsibility strategies that enhance student motivation and persistence in a diverse student population. In the first two sections, a new concept of advising called developmental advising is described in which the relationship between advisor and…

The recruitment, selection, induction, and retention of capable teachers are interrelated processes involving schools' personnel, policies, and organization. This report explores issues surrounding these processes and discusses methods to improve districts' programs. Part I, "Recruiting Teachers," describes the competition for capable…

Large numbers of foreign students attend United States colleges and universities, and the institutions can play a major role in facilitating the students' adjustment to life in a new culture. The foreign students' most common problems include homesickness, finances, housing and food, English language proficiency, understanding lectures and…

This paper discusses the current state of research in the area of career education for gifted and talented students and its applications. The paper also addresses three major questions: What are the special career development needs of gifted and talented students?, What kinds of career education and guidance programs are currently meeting the…

Research has shown a decline in motivation and performance for many children as they move from elementary school into middle school; however, research has also shown that the nature of motivational change on entry to middle school depends on characteristics of the learning environment in which students find themselves. This Digest outlines some…

Seven job-related basic skills identified as skills employers want are as follows: (1) learning to learn; (2) reading, writing, and computation; (3) oral communication and listening; (4) creative thinking and problem solving; (5) personal management, including self-esteem, goal setting, motivation, and personal and career development; (6) group…

This bibliography contains 303 citations of conference papers, research and project reports, and other materials drawn from the ERIC database. The entries are organized according to a number of issues relating to the resettlement and adaptation of Indochinese, Cuban, Haitian, and Russian refugees in the United States. The categories include:…

The lifelong process of career development poses special challenges for people with learning disabilities (LD). Literature on employment issues for adults with LD frames on-the-job problems in terms of individual deficits or recasts the issues as a function of the significant societal barriers faced by those who do not fit the norm. Research on…

Research has shown a decline in motivation and performance for many children as they move from elementary school into middle school; however, research has also shown that the nature of motivational change on entry to middle school depends on characteristics of the learning environment in which students find themselves. This Digest outlines some…