Over the last several years, the guided pathways approach to whole-college redesign has become a national movement in community colleges. Approximately 300 colleges are implementing guided pathways reforms as part of formal state or national initiatives, and many more are doing so on their own. Some of the earliest colleges to implement guided…

In fall 2018, Community College Research Center (CCRC) researchers conducted site visits at eight community colleges implementing guided pathways to learn how they are managing the whole-college change process involved. These colleges are among the 30 nationally that were in the first cohort of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)…

The person-centered individualized education program (IEP) transition planning has emerged as a primary indicator of quality services, and as a predictor for successful post-school outcomes for transition-age youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, these person-centered transition practices are not uniformly implemented across the…

Skill sets have been identified as the abilities needed by an individual to perform a job or task. In this mixed methods study, an online survey was developed to collect data identifying those skill sets and the barriers to effective inclusion in rural schools in the Black Belt region of Alabama and Mississippi. For rural administrators, this…

This descriptive qualitative study explored the lived perceptions and views of middle school teachers, school counselors, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) within central Alabama's middle school system. The problem explored is adolescent substance abuse students whose academic attainment may be affected by their drug abuse.…

It is clear that families and communities play key roles in student achievement and school improvement efforts. Across the nation, states are leading initiatives to improve communication and engagement with these stakeholders through effective data sharing. Key points highlighted in this brief include: (1) Maintaining close ties with family and…

The design considerations, criteria, and requirements for a proposed Alabama Resources Information System (ARIS) are reported. ARIS is based on the McHarg approach of composite mapping techniques and is planned as an evolutionary system. The system will be automated and adaptable to user needs and inputs and to the requirements of various federal…

An extensive review of the literature has been conducted in the area of self-determination for youth with disabilities who are preparing for their transitions from school to post school activities. Self-determination is presented as a best practice for transition education and current instructional practices used to teach such skills are…

The Academic Common Market is an interstate agreement among Southern states for sharing academic programs. Participating states include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Each state is able to make arrangements for its residents who qualify…

Basic needs of children and youth which cannot be provided by small rural schools could be realized by combining the resources and pupils of a number of local districts. Four types of organization are presented as possibilities for providing cooperative educational services: (1) autonomous districts with line functions; (2) semi-autonomous…

This paper describes lessons learned while planning a statewide conference to increase the knowledge of tobacco control advocates and promote implementation of the Alabama Comprehensive Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Plan (Plan) within the state. The Plan has three overall goals: preventing youth from becoming tobacco users; promoting…

This book of readings is divided into two sections, each describing a specific aspect of staff development. There are three articles on planning in Section I. The quadrant arrangement developed in Georgia is described as one method of facilitating cooperation between an institution and the State Department of Education to serve a particular area…

A project initiated by the Auburn University (Alabama) program in music education in the College of Education and the Auburn University Cooperative Extension Service brought together school and community groups from targeted communities in Alabama to plan a conference to initiate thinking and develop action strategies for enriching the lives of…

This report presents the evaluation results gathered from a 2-year study of a drug prevention program involving a consortia of nine colleges and universities located in Alabama and Florida. The consortia effort was intended to: (1) strengthen their respective drug prevention activities; (2) develop policies governing alcohol and drugs; (3)…

The Rural Junior College Development Consortium was formed, with the assistance of Title III, to help the six participating rural junior colleges improve the delivery of educational services to low-income students and the rural community. The six institutions are Cullman College, Northeast Alabama State Junior College, Snead State Junior College,…