The Toolbox Revisited


Book Description

The Toolbox Revisited is a data essay that follows a nationally representative cohort of students from high school into postsecondary education, and asks what aspects of their formal schooling contribute to completing a bachelor's degree by their mid-20s. The universe of students is confined to those who attended a four-year college at any time, thus including students who started out in other types of institutions, particularly community colleges.




Math Matters


Book Description

This study examines the relationship between taking advanced math courses in high school and labor force earnings 10 years after graduation. The authors theorize that students with more opportunity to take higher-level math courses have two good results, the increased chances of a richer high school curriculum resulting in higher graduation rates from college and increased cognitive ability and overall productivity. According to the authors, both factors correlate to higher earnings in later life.




Foundations for Critical Thinking


Book Description

Foundations for Critical Thinking explores the landscape of critical-thinking skill development and pedagogy through foundational chapters and institutional case studies involving a range of students in diverse settings. Establishing a link between active learning and improved critical thinking encourages all higher education professionals, in whatever context, to join the ongoing conversation regarding the state of today's college students' critical-thinking ability. Faculty will find strategies for developing successful teaching techniques to prepare students to face the challenges of a global economy and lead creative, productive, and fulfilling lives. Staff and administrators working with students in a variety of capacities will find insights for moving critical thinking development beyond the classroom.




Designing Successful Transitions


Book Description

The 2010 edition of this monograph addresses many topics (e.g., administration of orientation programs, family involvement, student characteristics and needs, assessment, and orientation for specific student populations and institutional types) that were included in previous editions but approaches them with new information, updated data, and current theory. However, this edition also takes up new topics in response to the "opportunities and concerns" facing orientation, transition, and retention professionals such as collaborations among campus units in the development and delivery of orientation, the increase in nontraditional student populations, the need for effective crisis planning and management in orientation programs, new technologies, and even the challenge of making the case for orientation in an era of diminishing resources. The authors have carefully penned chapters incorporating contemporary information, ideas, and concepts while being reflective of traditional practices. Following a preface by Margaret J. Barr and a foreword by Jennifer R. Keup and Craig E. Mack, chapters in this edition include: (1) Brief Overview of the Orientation, Transition, and Retention Field (Craig E. Mack); (2) Theoretical Perspectives on Orientation (Denise L. Rode and Tony W. Cawthon); (3) Making the Case for Orientation: Is It Worth It? (Bonita C. Jacobs); (4) Administration of a Comprehensive Orientation Program (April Mann, Charlie Andrews, and Norma Rodenburg); (5) Community College Orientation and Transition Programs (Cathy J. Cuevas and Christine Timmerman); (6) Channeling Parental Involvement to Support Student Success (Jeanine A. Ward-Roof, Laura A. Page, and Ryan Lombardi); (7) Extensions of Traditional Orientation Programs (Tracy L. Skipper, Jennifer A. Latino, Blaire Moody Rideout, and Dorothy Weigel); (8) Technology in Orientation (J.J. Brown and Cynthia L. Hernandez); (9) Incorporating Crisis Planning and Management Into Orientation Programs (Dian Squire, Victor Wilson, Joe Ritchie, and Abbey Wolfman); (10) Orientation and First-Year Programs: A Profile of Participating Students (Maureen E. Wilson and Michael Dannells); (11) Creating a Developmental Framework for New Student Orientation to Address the Needs of Diverse Populations (Archie P. Cubarrubia and Jennifer C. Schoen); (12) Designing Orientation and Transition Programs for Transfer Students (Shandol C. Hoover); (13) Nontraditional Is the New Traditional: Understanding Today's College Student (Michael J. Knox and Brittany D. Henderson); (14) Building the Case for Collaboration in Orientation Programs: Campus Culture, Politics, and Power (Beth M. Lingren Clark and Matthew J. Weigand); (15) Assessment and Evaluation in Orientation (Robert Schwartz and Dennis Wiese); and (16) Reflections on the History of Orientation, Transition, and Retention Programs (Jeanine A. Ward-Roof and Kathy L. Guthrie). (Individual chapters contain references.) [For the 2nd Edition (2003), see ED478603.].