The conversation in higher education has shifted, moving from a focus on what students know to a focus on whether they know how to think and, more importantly, toward the goal of providing skills needed for living and working in the twenty-first century. In this article, the authors present national evidence regarding the impact of intentional…

Asera assesses the challenges that community colleges face in educating students in basic skills. For a significant group of college students the seemingly automatic skills of literacy and numeracy have become opaque, creating a particular challenge for community colleges, 98 percent of which offer at least one remedial reading, writing or…

An analysis of student decisions to withdraw from specific courses before assignment of grades but after the "add-drop" period at the University of Minnesota is presented. In a probit model, withdrawals appear to occur randomly, with notable exceptions. Student, class, and teacher characteristics are considered as variables related to…

The predisposition of higher education has been to maintain homogeneity and adapt only when necessary. The credibility of an institution's commitment to diversity and quality is weakened when it limits access of minority groups. Creating pluralistic communities will involve fundamental change and require a greater capacity to deal with conflict.…

Evaluation of college student recruitment and retention programs is complex and has limitations that must be acknowledged. It requires an ongoing commitment to evaluation and a willingness to look at such programs within the larger context of academic policies and administrative procedures. (MSE)

Changes in the external environment will have an increasing impact on colleges and universities, and institutional researchers will need to analyze issues developing outside academe. This analysis requires the development of methodologies that anticipate change and an interdisciplinary set of skills. (Author/MLW)

Eight strategies are recommended to higher education in the 1990s including committing to improving quality; stressing customer service; increasing use of data and analysis in management; developing data on outcomes issues, processes, and behaviors; and working cooperatively with elementary and secondary education. (MLW)

The issue of participation rates of college students at the international, national, state, and institutional levels is addressed. At each level, attention is directed to potential data sources, problems associated with using the data, actual participation rates, and applications to educational planning. College participation rates at the…

Assessment in higher education is addressed in these proceedings of the 1987 conference of the North East Association for Institutional Research. Papers and authors include: "Assessing the Status of Assessment" (Peter T. Ewell); "Has the Middle Class Been Pressured the Most? Multivariate Analysis of Parental Contributions to Higher…

College student self-evaluations can assist in institutional outcomes assessment by helping educators understand the content, context, and process of learning at both individual and institutional levels, and from the perspective of either research or assessment. Currently, self-assessment is used primarily in evaluating broad learning outcomes,…

This article describes a qualitative research approach (in-depth phenomenological interviewing) and illustrates, through the example of an actual study, its potential for helping institutions of higher education understand their students. It argues that progress in understanding college student outcomes, such as persistence, has been retarded by…

We cannot continue to define academic quality using standards set from a limited perspective and expect students from diverse backgrounds and cultures to meet them. To increase minority participation in graduate schools, institutions should better understand minority standardized test performance and better prepare minority undergraduates for…

The history of higher education's concern with student conduct is reviewed, and three specific issues in student discipline are examined: why colleges regulate student conduct; why students violate published regulations; and the appropriate institutional response to student misconduct. A need is seen for more institutional and educational research…

The effect of an ability-based curriculum on student development was studied at Alverno College, a liberal arts women's college. Data were obtained from 990 participants representing students, alumnae, and working professionals who were not Alverno students. Sixteen research instruments were administered to a sample of 200 students over their 4…

Three areas of quality assessment in higher education are examined: students, faculty, and library resources. Types of student data that institutional researchers should address include: entrance tests scores, retention rate, student outcomes, location and recruitment of graduates, results of licensing examinations, scholarship recipients, and…