Student Progression Through Developmental Sequences in Community Colleges

Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough—students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. But in practice, developmental education (or “remedial” education, we use these terms interchangeably) is complex and confusing. Experts do not agree on the meaning of being “college ready,” and policies governing assessment, placement, pedagogy, staffing, completion, and eligibility for enrollment in college-level, credit-bearing courses vary from state to state, college to college, and program to program. The developmental education process is confusing enough simply to describe, yet from the point of view of the student, especially one with very weak academic skills and little previous success in school, it may appear as a bewildering set of unanticipated obstacles involving several assessments, classes in more than one subject area, and sequences of courses requiring three or more semesters of study before the student (often a high school graduate) is judged prepared for college-level work

The Association between Apolipoprotein A-II and Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Adults: A Comparison Study of Apolipoprotein A-I and Apolipoprotein B

BackgroundApolipoprotein A-II (apoA-II) is the second-most abundant apolipoprotein in human high-density lipoprotein and its role in cardio metabolic risk is not entirely clear. It has been suggested to have poor anti-atherogenic or even pro-atherogenic properties, but there are few studies on the possible role of apoA-II in Asian populations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of apoA-II in metabolic syndrome (MetS) compared with apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) and apolipoprotein B (apoB) in Korean adults.MethodsWe analyzed data from 244 adults who visited the Center for Health Promotion in Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital for routine health examinations.ResultsThe mean apoB level was significantly higher, and the mean apoA-I level was significantly lower, in MetS; however, there was no significant difference in apoA-II levels (30.5±4.6 mg/dL vs. 31.2±4.6 mg/dL, P=0.261). ApoA-II levels were more positively correlated with apoA-I levels than apoB levels. ApoA-II levels were less negatively correlated with homocysteine and high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels than apoA-I levels. The differences in MetS prevalence from the lowest to highest quartile of apoA-II were not significant (9.0%, 5.7%, 4.9%, and 6.6%, P=0.279). The relative risk of the highest quartile of apoA-II compared with the lowest quartile also was not significantly different (odds ratio, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.95 to 1.04; P=0.956).ConclusionCompared with apoA-I (negative association with MetS) and apoB (positive association with MetS) levels, apoA-II levels did not show any association with MetS in this study involving Korean adults. However, apoA-II may have both anti-atherogenic and pro-atherogenic properties

Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges

After being assessed, many students entering community colleges are referred to one or more levels of developmental education. While the need to assist students with weak academic skills is well known, little research has examined student progression through multiple levels of developmental education and into entry-level college courses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and determinants of student progression through sequences of developmental education starting from initial referral. We rely primarily on a micro-level longitudinal dataset that includes detailed information about student progression through developmental education. This dataset was collected as part of the national community college initiative Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. The dataset has many advantages, but it is not nationally representative; therefore, we check our results against a national dataset—the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. 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. About 30 percent of students referred to developmental education do not enroll in any remedial course, and only about 60 percent of referred students actually enroll in the remedial course to which they were referred. The results also show that more students exit their developmental sequences because they did not enroll in the first or a subsequent course than because they failed or withdrew from a course in which they were enrolled. We also show that men, older students, African American students, part-time students, and students in vocational programs are less likely to progress through their full remedial sequences

Dual Enrollment Students in Florida and New York City: Postsecondary Outcomes

This Brief summarizes a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) that was designed to fill that research gap. Our investigation sought to assess the effectiveness of dual enrollment programs in promoting high school graduation and postsecondary achievement. We examined the influence of dual enrollment program participation on students in the State of Florida and in New York City, compared to students who did not participate, with a specific focus in both locations on CTE students. In Florida, we also considered all student participants. Our study provides evidence suggesting that dual enrollment is an effective strategy for encouraging postsecondary success for all students, including those in CTE programs

Racial differences in long-term social, physical, and psychological health among adolescent and young adult cancer survivors

Background The current guidelines for survivorship in adolescents and young adults (AYA) cancer are based on studies conducted in the United States and European AYA survivors. However, previous studies have shown that the health-related quality of life in cancer survivors can vary depending on race, yet the long-term health differences among AYA survivors by race/ethnicity have not been fully explored. Therefore, our aim is to compare the psychosocial and physical health of AYA survivors and their matched controls across different racial and ethnic groups. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and the Korea NHANES from 2007 to 2018. We included AYA cancer survivors who were diagnosed with any type of cancer aged between 15 and 39 years, and who were adult with aged over 18 years old at survey year. We then stratified the study population by race/ethnicity with Non-Hispanic White (NHW, n = 310), African American (AA, n = 42), Hispanic (n = 81) from NHANES, and Asian (n = 389) from the Korea NHANES. We also selected 5 times age-, sex-, race-, and survey year-matched general population among participants who had never been diagnosed with cancer (N = 4110). Variables were defined using questionnaire data, physical exams, and laboratory tests. Results Compared to NHW, Hispanics (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.00–1.32) had poor or fair general health, lower education (aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.07–1.40), and lower household income (aOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01–1.33). AA survivors were more likely to be non-coupled (aOR 1.35, 95% 1.15–1.60) and have hypertension (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03–1.36). Asians were more former/current drinkers (aOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.05–1.40). NHW are more likely to experience psychological limitation. Compared to matched general, NHW and Asian survivors had poor general health and psychological health. Conclusions This study provides evidence for future studies concerning long-term health after AYA cancer survivorship that may vary according to race.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2022R1A2C1013119