In the spring of 2021, the Community College System in which the author works was in the middle of a planned three-year pilot of math and English self-placement ("Direct Enrollment") procedures. Concerns about the significant English language learner (ELL) population at one institution led to the development of a corequisite support…

This study's purpose is to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students who were studying at U.S. community colleges at the onset of this public health crisis. While previous work has explored the impact of the pandemic on international students generally, we argue that community college international students deserve…

For several years now, the Old Dominion University community college leadership research team has been examining academic affairs and student affairs outcomes on community college student success. College student professionals on two-year campuses most typically provide a wide variety of supports and interventions across campus, in settings that…

Collaboration between faculty members and librarians has the potential to enrich the work of both Communication Centers and campus libraries. A collaborative, ePortfolio development project that a library instructional technologist and rhetoric faculty member facilitated in an upper level public speaking course at a small liberal arts college…

This paper contends that, although there is much to commend in the remediation reform movement, it is unlikely to attain its goals. These goals include the Lumina Foundation's target of having 60% of Americans attain a degree or certificate, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's goal of doubling the number of low income students who earn a…

Most experienced educators recognize that many students will not complete optional assignments, and often those students who need additional help do not seek assistance. Current research demonstrates that students in underrepresented populations (see definition below) are less likely to seek support than others because they see needing help as a…

This study sought to describe the correlation of academic, financial, and social supports to the persistence of a military student population: veterans, active duty and their families. The study also contrasted these relationships with those of nonmilitary students and looked at the results of both groups together to determine how supports…

Two pivotal and interconnected claims are addressed in this article. First, strategy precedes program effectiveness. Second, graduation rates and rankings are insufficient in any account of academic progress for African American students. In this article, graduation is regarded as the floor and not the ceiling, as it were. The ideal situation in…

The authors report the results of a three-year longitudinal study of retention among undergraduate engineering students enrolled at four major universities. The study demonstrates that self-efficacy can be a critical factor in student persistence and can be broken down into three components: work, career, and academic self-efficacy. The authors…

Using a qualitative bricolage approach (Kincheloe, 2008, 2010), this study explores the school life of immigrant students enrolled in an advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom in a high school. The overarching objective of this study is to examine how these students--five from Mexico, three from Honduras, and one from…

As they closed the books on the 2012-2013 school year, Long Beach City College continued the task of pouring over years of student enrollment data. They found that after years of offering remedial courses for students who entered unprepared for the rigors of higher education, the college reported and astonishing 500 percent increase in the number…

The effect of service-learning courses on student growth was compared for 321 first-generation and 782 non-first-generation undergraduate students at a large urban university. Student growth encompassed both academic and professional skill development. The majority of students reported significant academic and professional development after…

Record numbers of students flocked to college campuses this fall with high hopes of obtaining what many say is the new prerequisite for a middle class life: a college degree. But the harsh reality is that little more than half those bright-eyed college freshmen, on average, will actually finish. The gap between access and completion has put a new…

The trend toward implementing models for Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for academic support in higher education is gaining momentum. Whether due to external influences, such as the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which promotes inquiry about teaching and learning, or more related to internal forces such as…

Catholic high schools do not generally have a reputation for serving students with special needs. This article, using primary sources related to one high school's history, demonstrates how even an academically elite school can meet the needs of a wide range of students. Specific strategies are suggested that can help Catholic high schools be more…