The Condition of Community Colleges

According to a supplemental report to The Condition of Education 2008, community colleges enroll over 30% of America's college students and serve as a stepping stone to bachelor's degrees for many students. The report examines community college enrollment, and persistence and attainment rates among students. It also compares the characteristics of community college students with those of four-year institutions. Findings include:

• In 2006–07, there were 1,045 community colleges in the United States, enrolling 6.2 million students (or 35 percent of all postsecondary students enrolled that year).
• Average annual community college tuition and fees are less than half those at public 4-year colleges and universities and one tenth those at private 4-year colleges and universities.
• Community colleges enroll a diverse group of students, with various reasons for going to college, and have larger percentages of nontraditional, low income, and minority students than 4-year colleges and universities.

Higher Education Opportunity Act

On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed into law P.L. 110-315, the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The legislation reauthorizes the Higher Education Act (HEA) programs for six years and has far-reaching implications for community colleges. This document, produced by the American Association of Community Colleges, is a brief summary of some of the major provisions impacting community colleges and their students.

Community College Enrollment Boom

Whether it’s the economy, new academic programs or better recruiting, community colleges across the nation are seeing an enrollment boom. While enrollment has been growing steadily at many two-year institutions, this fall appears likely to set records for many of these colleges. As a result, some community colleges are exploring innovative ways to serve their growing student bodies, make better use of facilities and attract new professors. William Lewis, Pearl River Community College’s president, said of that college’s significant enrollment increase this year, “We’re really feeling good about things. People all over the country are realizing the value of community colleges.”

Child Development and Teacher Preparation

A panel of national experts on child and adolescent development, convened by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), is drafting recommendations for how teacher colleges can craft courses and curricula so that future educators have a stronger understanding of how children develop emotionally and psychologically, from the early grades through high school. The panel’s charges are to make recommendations to teacher educators about how child and adolescent development principles are taught and applied within the teacher education curriculum; to recommend changes to NCATE standards to ensure better integration of child/adolescent development; and to make recommendations to policymakers about the needed focus on child and adolescent development within the teacher preparation curriculum, and about changing the culture of schools to include scientific knowledge about child and adolescent development.

No Common Denominator

The impetus for No Common Denominator: The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America’s Education Schools, by the National Council on Teacher Quality, is the unfortunate description of elementary teachers, both by themselves and those who prepare them, as “math phobic”, and the subsequent mediocre performance of American students in mathematics compared to their counterparts around the world. The study recommends five standards for the mathematics preparation of elementary teachers, and suggests that a deeper understanding of elementary mathematics, with more attention given to the foundations of algebra, must be the new “common denominator” of our preparation programs for elementary teachers within education schools.

Math and Science Teacher Attrition

This Issue Brief reports on trends in the attrition of public school mathematics and science teachers over a 16-year period and examines the reasons given for leaving teaching employment. Findings from the analysis indicate that the percentage of public school mathematics and science teachers who left teaching did not change measurably between 1988–89 and 2004–05, while the percentage of other public school teachers who left teaching employment increased. In addition, when asked to rate reasons for leaving the teaching profession, the only measurable difference between science and mathematics leavers and other leavers was that science and mathematics leavers rated better salary or benefits as very or extremely important.