California State University's Summer Bridge program, a preenrollment course for underprepared freshmen that focuses on improving basic skills and familiarizing students with the university environment, has been successful in increasing first- and second-year retention rates for its first three student cohorts. (Author/MSE)

A massive expansion in student numbers in higher education, coupled with an overall reduction in funding, has led to higher staff-student ratios and a reduction in the amount of staff time available to support students. This has been linked to rising demands being placed on student support services. This article draws on case studies of five…

This article reports the findings of an in-depth qualitative case study that explored the ways in which Chinese-speaking international students adapt to a western learning environment, and the effect that the teaching context has upon student learning. The study explored this effect by investigating a critical thinking task from the perspectives…

This longitudinal study examined whether social self-efficacy and self-disclosure serve as mediators between attachment and feelings of loneliness and subsequent depression. Participants were 308 freshmen at a large Midwestern university. Results indicated that social self-efficacy mediated the association between attachment anxiety and feelings…

The current study sought to better define the impact of change on a college student population and how they perceived themselves as coping with change. One hundred and seven college students were asked to report any change they had experienced in their family composition and to complete the questionnaires assessing coherence, symptoms of…

A group of students planning to become teachers at Montclair State University (MSU) in New Jersey were provided with a supportive community through the transition to college in the hope of increasing their retention in teacher education. The elements of their course found to be particularly important were the development of a sense of belonging in…

A decade of research on immersion programs in Ontario is synthesized. The immersion programs studied over this period include three major alternatives: early total French immersion, early partial French immersion, and late partial French immersion. The programs all serve an English speaking students population, devote at least one half of each…

Evaluated the Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP), a school-based mental health program for the early detection and prevention of school-adjustment problems. Assessed the PMHP's effectiveness by evaluating seven consecutive annual cohorts of children. Results strongly and consistently showed that children seen through the PMHP were judged to have…

A scale for parent rating of normal students' school adjustment was tested with 416 parents of urban and suburban second- and third-graders. Results showed low to moderate relationships among parent, teacher, self, and sociometric ratings of children; clear discrimination between referred and non-referred children; and male/female and…

Thirty-six fifth graders considered "disruptive" were rated with the ACCEPTS Placement Test, Walker-McConnell Scale of Social Competence and School Adjustment, and Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (self-report and teacher rating). The three teacher rating measures were strongly related, and students' self-ratings were…

To reduce student depression and its academic consequences, a preventive training program for freshmen provided one group (n=85) with a semester-long course in personal competencies (affect management, self-control, social skills, and problem solving), and one group (n=86) with an academic skills course. Both groups were equally effective.…

This paper reports on a research project involving a sample of 19 state-educated students in their first year of a German course at Oxford University. The project is one of a number of research studies into widening participation issues funded by the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) and the Sutton trust. The paper describes the…

This study assessed patterns of change in perceived school and youth functioning, and the extent to which perceived change in the school environment predicted changed youth functioning, across four consecutive grade transitions, two of which involved the transition to a new school. Youth reported decreased quality of the school environment and…

This article reviews the development of a new measure to assess children's perceptions of intergenerational boundary violations in families. The Boundary Violations Scale is a theoretically derived instrument consisting of 12 items. Principal components analysis using data from 119 young adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds (i.e., 56%…

This study investigated the relationship between residence hall climate and students' adjustment to their collegiate environment. The questionnaire was administered via the web to first-year students living in coeducational residence halls at a public university in the southeastern United States. The residence hall climate was examined in two…