What Helps Students Graduate?

Alright, I am going to veer off distance learning for this post because I think all of us should be aware of the new Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) Report. A Matter of Degrees: Promising Practices for Community College Student Success was just released and it is the first of three reports providing insights as to what works and what doesn't in helping students graduate. It draws attention to 13 strategies for increasing retention and graduation rates, including fast-tracking remedial education, providing students with experiential learning, and requiring students to attend orientation. We are all interested in student retention and the report highlights promising practices across the nation. From the Acknowledgments on page 1:

"Community colleges currently are experiencing perhaps the highest expectations and the greatest challenges in their history. Facing fiscal constraint, enrollment pressures, and summons to support economic recovery, these institutions also are rising to a new clarion call: the “community college completion challenge.” Never has it been so clear that the futures of individuals, communities, and the nation rest significantly on the ability of community and technical colleges to ensure that far greater numbers of their students succeed in college, attain high quality certificates and degrees, and transfer to baccalaureate institutions."