The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore, understand, and document former students' perceptions of the vocationally focused theater training they received at a 2-year community college and to discover how that training helped them meet their goals and expectations for careers in the theater. Listening to individual stories of theater…

This paper examines the association between participating in developmental education and degree attainment within 6 years for adults (age 24 and older) who entered one of 10 Ohio public community or technical colleges for the first time in 2002-2013. Degree attainment is modeled using annual data on course enrollment and completion measures.…

Tennessee is at the vanguard of the free-college movement. Launched in 2015, Tennessee Promise makes technical and community colleges tuition-free for recent high school graduates in the state. With the addition of Tennessee Reconnect in 2018, adult students can attend tuition-free as well. The efforts of the state's leadership, especially its…

While there has been a surge in the number of adults entering accelerated academic programs at colleges and universities over the last decade, there has not been a corresponding increase in the number of adult learners in these programs who persist and achieve their degrees. This work sought to develop a detailed model for helping faculty and…

Public two-year colleges serve as an important access point for two out of every five students enrolled in postsecondary education. However, only 40 percent of community college students earn a postsecondary credential of any kind within six years, limiting their opportunities for advancement. Hoping to increase student retention and success, many…

"The Road to Recovery: Projecting U.S. Job Growth and Higher Education Demand through 2020" (this issue, p26-29) presented six key indicators that highlighted the latest in education and employment needs for the success of the future jobs market. While the U.S. economy is growing, questions still remain: What skills do employers value…

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), with funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, created the Plus 50 Initiative (2008-2012). This initiative was designed to build the capacity of community colleges nationwide to develop programming that engages the plus 50 learner. This report contains: (1) An overview of the Plus 50…

Partnerships between community colleges and employers to create apprenticeships have been around for decades. These traditionally have covered fields like the building trades--electrical, construction and others--as well as heavy manufacturing like the automobile industry. Inspired partly by a new federal apprenticeship consortium--and $175…

The Performance Measures for Student Success Report is the North Carolina Community College System's major accountability document. This annual performance report is based on data compiled from the previous year and serves to inform colleges and the public on the performance of our 58 community colleges. In 1993, the State Board of Community…

This dissertation describes the process of creating a guidebook that developmental education administrators can use to build their capacity as leaders, learners, and program planners. The guidebook is the product of a qualitative study designed to better understand how community college administrators who have program planning responsibilities for…

Community colleges serve a diverse population of learners including many older students counting on the community college for enhanced skills or personal enrichment. Many of these colleges target this population with programs designed specifically to meet the needs and goals of the older adult but may not consider this population when designing a…

Washington's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST) quickly teaches students literacy, work, and college-readiness skills so they can move through school and into living wage jobs faster. Pioneered by Washington's community and technical colleges, I-BEST uses a team-teaching approach to combine college-readiness classes…

The site of this study is a community college in Southwestern Pennsylvania where a two-fold problem exists: The administration increased class size in online courses with no faculty input, and the current collective bargaining between the union faculty and the college administration does not address online teaching as separate from teaching in the…

This study assessed the plausibility of using Ajzen's (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB) to identify the factors that motivate adults to participate in Adult Basic Education (ABE) classes at a Southeast Wisconsin Community College. The original TPB (Ajzen, 1991) attests that planned behaviors are determined by behavioral intentions which are…

The focus of this research was to determine methodologies in environmental education that would promote transformation in each student leading to improved personal pro-environmental behaviors. Incorporating spirituality and religious themes in environmental education is a way to link learners to their meaning systems. Research has shown that…