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In the Students section of The Chronicle of Higher Education by Katherine Mangan, Jan 23 2013. The article summarizes a report by the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment. The commission just completed a year-long review of completion issues.

By Laurel Rosenhall in The Sacramento Bee, November 18 2010. A nonprofit association, the Community College League of California, calls for community colleges to educate 1 million more students by 2020, ensure that more students leave community college with a degree, and "do a better job educating Latino and African American students." Recommended changes include "evidence-based solutions," thinking differently and joining "Complete College America."

A collection of related studies looking at college completion and student success from the ECS Research Studies Database. Studies are from a variety of sources -- not the ECS (e.g. Journal of Higher Education, National Bureau of Economic Research, and American Educational Research Journal).

By Thomas Bailey, Dong Wook Jeong and Sung-Woo Cho, Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University in Economics of Education Review, Volume 29, Issue 2, April 2010, Pages 255-270. "The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and determinants of student progression through sequences of developmental education starting from initial referral. Our results indicate that fewer than one half of the students who are referred to remediation actually complete the entire sequence to which they are referred..."

For GSCC faculty, there is a copy of this article available in Coffee Klatch

Created by the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges, 2008. According to the History page, "The Transition Mathematics Project (TMP) is designed to reverse this trend by helping students successfully progress from high school math to college-level math. With the participation of high school and college math educators, TMP has identified the math skills and knowledge high school graduates need to complete college-level work...."

No author/creator's name given and no date. The forum offers both a poll, in which users can vote (with scars winning at 60%, as of May 2012), and a forum where users can express more complete opinions.

TO'C used this article to help inform her discussion of the "heart scars" project, week 5, semester 4.

Brochure from 43rd Annual Conference, New York State Mathematics Association of Two-Year Colleges. Y.H. intended to present "Keys for Students-Faculty Success in Community College Completion: LaGuardia Basic Skills Initiatives."

On Faculty Inquiry Network. This page links to an article written by Katie Hern and Myra Snell for RP Group's statewide newsletter, Perspectives. The article, Exponential Attrition and the Promise of Acceleration, June 2010, argues that attrition can be guaranteed in long developmental sequences and presents evidence that one semester, open-access courses are a way to increase student completion rates in college-level English and math.

By Wick Sloane, in a column called The Devil's Workshop in Inside Higher Ed, September 20 2010. Sloane, previously the CFO of a public university, has embedded himself as a writing teacher at Bunker Hill Community College. In this column, he ties completion to the many varied needs of under-served students, many of whom live in poverty.

By Dian Schaffhauser in Campus Technology, August 1 2010. This article first frames the issues around developmental education, and then argues that technology alone is not enough to achieve desired completion rates. Faculty play a key role, and students must also learn to use technology effectively.

By Liz Willen on The Heckinger Report, October 29, 2010. Remedial education is often an obstacle to college completion. Students required to take developmental courses become frustrated and are more likely to drop out than those who don't have to enroll in these courses. Research is underway to identify alternative models.

By Sara Lipka in the Students section of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov 11 2010. Reporting on the latest report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement, which states that "Increasing college completion is meaningless unless certificates and degrees represent real learning, which community colleges must work harder to ensure."

in the Governments section of The Chronicle of Higher Education, by Jennifer Gonzalez, November 4, 2010. ""Bridge" programs that help adult students acquire the skills necessary to succeed in postsecondary education are gaining momentum and could play a vital role in fulfilling the nation's degree-completion agenda, according to the results of a new study by the Workforce Strategy Center."

First in a three-part study by Public Agenda looking at "young Americans' views on higher education and college completion." Published December 2009.

By Stephanie Banchero, The Wall Street Journal, April, 21, 2010. At the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges, officials pledge to boost student completion rates 50% over the next decade.

By David Leonhardt, New York Times, The Way We Live Now column, May 3, 2010. The search for solutions to increase college completion. The author of this article takes the perspective of economic downturns, when there is a greater incentive for students to stay in school, or to return.

By Catherine Gewertz, Education Week, February 2 2011. A new report, Pathways to Prosperity, published by Harvard's Graduate School of Education, argues that the "college for all" goal might fail students best suited for emerging "middle skills" jobs (e.g. construction manager or dental hygienist). The researchers feel that many who are not suited for college fall out of the educational system completely rather than pursuing other post-secondary options.

By Gerry Everding, as part of the Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom, March 1 2006. Researchers from Washington University completed this study, saying that frequent quizzes may help students in terms of understanding and retaining information.

By George Lorenzo, 2011. A renewed interest in community colleges is resulting in looking at driving factors for the future success. This report looks at the potential solutions proposed in papers that came out of The White House Summit on Community Colleges held on October 5, 2010. These include industry partnerships, providing a more well-rounded education with career training, better support services at community colleges,etc. Lorenzo mentions The Learn and Earn initiative, technology with online and hybrid courses, open education resources and other ways to engage students. He looks at college readiness and what Complete College America, a new nonprofit organization, advises as ways to address this shortcoming.

Based in Washington State, the stated goals of this project are: (1) "aligning standards and expectations for mathematics....(2) increasing student success in completing math requirements in high school and college....(3) building capacity of teachers and instructors to align curriculum and instruction to standards....(4) communicating math expectations to students...." The project bridges the high school/college divide.