Community Colleges: Policy in the Future Context (Educational Policy in the 21st Century)

the 21st Century and considered at the Third Session of the Commission, they provide a new context for education which those responsible for charting its . objectives to guide future educational policies, which has been adopted for the . education, and programmes oriented to wider employment and community n.
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Recent increases in the numbers of elementary-school children are accounted for almost entirely by Hispanics and Asians, two groups that are themselves diverse. Children from all backgrounds are capable of achieving at high levels and should be encouraged and taught to do so. Yet many children, including many minority-group children, are plagued by inequities in their prospects for success.

For example, estimates of the number of students with limited English proficiency range from 2. The preschool years are a particularly important time for children whose cultural and educational backgrounds do not correspond with the norms and expectations that they will encounter when they start formal schooling.

Early-education settings can and should be designed to approach diversity as an asset that can be used to prepare all students for citizenship in an increasingly diverse society. Cultural Diversity and Early Education: Report of a Workshop, Board on Children and Families, Achieving that objective requires that departments and institutions be much more explicit in defining their missions.

New instructional models—monitored by self-assessment and feedback from alumni and employers who hire college graduates as well as from students—can improve the educational experiences of all undergraduates. Unlike the situation in research, there is no tradition of evaluating undergraduate teaching or learning other than through student course evaluations. Departments and programs should be evaluated against explicit educational goals with assessments that are as rigorous as those applied to research.

Most important, departments and institutions must align faculty rewards more closely with their total missions. The rewards accorded teaching, research, service, and.

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Cognitive research is providing important new insights about the most effective ways to conduct education and training. For example, simulating real-world conditions can be valuable during training, but the teaching of abstract principles also plays a role, especially in helping people to acquire skills that can be applied broadly. Training programs that include varied situations with general skills allow learners to adapt to new situations that they might encounter on the job. Specific learning techniques also have received high marks. Cooperative or team learning, for example, can be more effective than individual learning for some not all topics and tasks.

In contrast, interactive games used in training have not proved effective for learning complex concepts over longer periods. Research helps teachers understand better how to educate and train students effectively. B-1 There is room for a greatly revised and expanded view of teaching— one that brings it closer to scholarship and demonstrates the real if often neglected linkages between teaching and research.

Change in undergraduate education will require energetic leadership. The leaders in our colleges and universities should foster change by helping to build a consensus concerning educational improvements and by providing the support needed for improvements to take root and spread. B-1, B-2, B-3 Government agencies that support research should also develop explicit policies concerning these educational issues. Our colleges and universities have important roles in supporting the profound changes in K science and mathematics education called for by the national standards.

For example, learning science through hands-on inquiry not only is the best way for students to gain an understanding of science throughout their K years, but also should be an important focus for introductory college courses. Colleges and universities should have as part of their admission policies a requirement that students take tests that include evaluation of their ability to conduct scientific inquiry, rather than relying on current standardized tests of their knowledge of science and mathematics.

B-1, B-3 If we do not reward what we value, high-school teachers will continue to be pressured to teach to the present national examinations, which inhibit inquiry and are a very poor match for the national standards.

Finally, future teachers of science must experience inquiry in college to be able to use these techniques to maximal advantage in the classroom. These students deserve special attention and encouragement as we work as a nation to increase the talent and diversity of our K teachers. For more information on undergraduate education in science, mathematics, and engineering: From Analysis to Action: Science, engineering, and society are all changing in ways that have important implications for the graduate education of scientists and engineers.

For example, graduate education traditionally has focused on preparing students for jobs in academe. But today well over half of all doctoral recipients go to work in nonacademic settings, where they often need to call on a wide array of skills. Graduate students therefore require exposure to the broad range of experiences desired by both academic and nonacademic employers. Policymakers and institutions can take several steps to improve graduate education. First, there should be a better.

Finding the Right Balance: Evidence from Models of Funding Outcomes in California

Education and training grants should be used more often to provide financial support to graduate students than is the case today. C-1 These grants could be awarded competitively to institutions and departments that work to enhance the versatility of students, both through curricular innovation and through more-effective faculty mentoring to acquaint students with the full array of employment options. It is recognized that a heightened emphasis on education and training grants could reduce the funds available for research assistantships.

Second, time to degree should be controlled. Each institution should set its own standards for time to degree and enforce them. It should also inform its students of the average time to degree and other career-related information before they enter graduate school. Third, the lack of accurate, timely, and accessible data on employment trends, careers, and sources of student support is a serious flaw in the graduate-education system.

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A national database that covers such issues as financial aid, time to degree, and placement rates—including information gathered and disseminated through the Internet—could help students and their advisers to make informed decisions about professional careers. C-1 Such a database, which should be designed and managed by the research community, could be used both by students and by their advisers to learn more about graduate programs and possible career tracks.


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The ultimate measure of success in graduate education is the extent to which all students are well prepared for their careers. Graduate education needs to be designed with a focus on student needs, and it should prepare students for an increasingly interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global job market. Successful programs have a focused, realistic mission and a positive learning environment that supports a wide array of career options. Adapting to new realities will require substantial change on the part of faculty, but it can have many benefits for departments, students, and society.

Formal education must prepare people for a lifetime of learning. Today, they receive postsecondary training through an uncoordinated assemblage of two-year colleges, trade schools, vocational-technical schools, on-the-job training, and other institutions. The quality of training provided by. A survey of employers of those with science and engineering PhDs indicates that although they are generally pleased with the result of US graduate education, they have some specific concerns as to breadth, versatility, and skill development.

In particular, employers do not feel that the current level of education is sufficient in providing skills and abilities to the people that they are interested in employing, particularly in. Communication skills including teaching and mentoring abilities for academic positions ,. Processes for quality assurance are undeveloped. And linkages to employers are often weak with the exception of on-the-job training. Rather than a postsecondary training system, the United States has a piecemeal collection of training opportunities that sometimes work well for some people.

The federal government, with its proliferation of programs and lack of a coherent approach, bears part of the blame for this situation. Some states have begun to restructure their programs to address workforce development systematically and effectively. These efforts are not universal, however, and are hampered by continued fragmentation at the federal level. In an ideal postsecondary training system, people who want to obtain or advance in specific jobs would know what kind of training is valued by employers and where to find it.

They would have the information necessary to select occupations that match their skills and interests. They also would have information about the likely demand for workers in various fields. For their part, employers would know about and value the skills that workers have acquired through a training program. Employers would have ready access to information about the existing and future supply of trained workers and would be able to let training institutions know what their needs are.

Government at all levels can focus attention on linking the various partners in postsecondary training in ways that provide coherent and high-quality training opportunities for people at various stages in their working lives. Policymakers need to emphasize the importance of building a true system of postsecondary training, rather than continuing the piecemeal approach that has characterized past efforts. Information is another important consideration. There is an absence in this country of readily available and integrated information systems that would help both potential trainees and employers to obtain needed training services.

Putting good information in the hands of these consumers so that they can make informed choices can improve the efficiency of the training marketplace and serve as an indirect means of ensuring accountability and oversight. Preparing for the Workplace: The American educational system has responded to great challenges in the past.

It has navigated the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society, it has greatly increased access at the K and college level, and it has built a system of graduate education in the sciences and engineering that is widely viewed as a world model.


  1. A Graduate Program Perspective?
  2. THE EDUCATION IMPERATIVE.
  3. Funding Community Colleges for Equity, Efficiency, and Student Success.
  4. Cogito?: Descartes and Thinking the World;
  5. Education in the United States is largely decentralized. Authority and accountability are vested predominantly at the local and state levels. Technology in Higher Education Graduate Programs: Marketing Higher Education Graduate Programs: Strategic Initiatives or Dumb Luck? Nadler and Michael T.

    Higher education in the United States - Wikipedia

    The authors also identify several areas that require further research - for example, what knowledge base should be taught in core courses, evaluating programs with a focus on learning outcomes, and continued evaluation of alternative program delivery modes. Once these authors' perspectives are considered, directors and faculty members will have greater opportunities to develop these programs. Miller, University of Arkansas A volume in the series: Published Higher Education is a vibrant, changing field of study. Paperback Web price: Exemplary Higher Education Graduate Programs: Revisited After 25 Years, Marybelle C.

    Role of the Dissertation, Darla Twale. Technology in Higher Education Graduate Programs: Marketing Higher Education Graduate Programs: Strategic Initiatives or Dumb Luck? Nadler and Michael T. The authors also identify several areas that require further research - for example, what knowledge base should be taught in core courses, evaluating programs with a focus on learning outcomes, and continued evaluation of alternative program delivery modes.

    Once these authors' perspectives are considered, directors and faculty members will have greater opportunities to develop these programs.