Basic skills courses are designed to teach students certain basic academic competencies they have not mastered. However, very little research has examined the quality of instruction inside basic skills classes. This paper presents preliminary findings from observations in 13 California community colleges. The clearest finding is that…

As postsecondary vocational education turns increasingly to preparation for high technological occupations, the question arises as to whether or not this infatuation with education for high technological occupations is reasonable and justified. Data on technician-level employment seem to contradict the view that high technological manufacturing is…

The renewed emphasis on the community college transfer function has both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, the creation of articulation agreements, transfer centers, consortia, and national centers promises to reduce the barriers between two- and four-year colleges, enhance the mobility of minority students, and improve teaching and…

This paper suggests a variety of topics for the National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) to support as it reviews progress under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Technical Education Act 1998 (Perkins III). Section 1 covers the task most closely related to the legislation itself, which is to examine how community colleges and other…