No description available.

Student retention has become a serious topic in the past several decades (Wild and Ebbers, 2002). Problematic, however, is how retention is defined and measured, as well as a lack of multi-institutional studies that support a theoretical model for improving student retention, particularly in community colleges (Bailey & Alfonso, 2005). The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) was launched in 2001. Based on extensive research that pertains to student learning and persistence, CCSSE defined five benchmarks of educational practice. Three of the benchmarks comprise the Retention Index. CCSSE has encouraged additional studies to further validate the relatively new survey instrument. Florida's legislature has a keen interest in the performance of educational institutions which are mandated by statute to participate in system-wide data collection from which accountability measures are drawn, including institutional retention rates. Using institutional level data in simple and multiple linear regressions, this study examined the relationship between the Florida Community Colleges' CCSSE Retention Indices and their retention rate(s) measured by the Florida Accountability Measure. Student level data was also analyzed using a Nested ANOVA to examine mean differences in CCSSE Retention Index scores of students from different racial and gender groups when accounting for the possible influence of institution attended.

At Hillcrest Community College (HCC; pseudonym) most developmental education (DE) students do not progress in their studies from DE to college-credit-bearing courses required to matriculate toward earning a credential. Student engagement is important for student success, but HCC had never completed a study of student engagement among its DE students. The purpose of this quantitative goal-based evaluation was to compare HCC DE student engagement with the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) national norms to determine if engagement contributed to the problem. Kuh's theory of student engagement was the theoretical basis of the study, and the overarching research question sought to clarify the extent to which HCC students were engaged. Institutional data archived from the 2016 CCSSE administered to HCC students (N = 169) and national data calculated by CCSSE (N = 211,168) were used for analysis using a one-sample t test. The primary research question was evaluated via 5 secondary questions associated with 5 CCSSE benchmarks. Secondary research questions were evaluated by testing 38 hypotheses for indicators associated with benchmarks. Null hypotheses were retained for 33 of 38 indicators using Cohen's d + .50 a priori criterion established for magnitude of effect size. Study results indicated that HCC DE students are mostly similar to DE students nationally in terms of engagement except for their use of computer labs. Evaluation report recommendations included maintaining existing engagement programs for DE students at HCC with attention to increasing DE student use of computer labs, and continuing to monitor engagement as future CCSSE data becomes available. HCC can benefit from an awareness that its DE students are engaged and can seek other ways to improve DE student outcomes and related benefits for positive social change at HCC.

No description available.

According to Tinto (2000a), institutions have fewer retention and persistence problems when their students are not only academically prepared, but are also engaged on campus as well as satisfied with the resources and support provided by the college. A student that has a positive first semester experience is more likely to achieve academic success and re-enroll the following term. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in experiences, perceptions, expectations, and engagement levels of entering male versus female students and returning male versus returning female students at the gender-segregated Community College of Qatar during the first three to six weeks at the college. The study also attempted to determine if any student support services such as advising, tutoring, counseling, new student orientation program, and participation in student activities were useful and had any influence in promoting student engagement. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. For entering male and female students survey responses were classified using questions from five Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) benchmarks: (1) Engaged Learning (2) Early Connections (3) Clear Academic Plan and Pathway (4) Academic and Social Support Network and (5) Effective Track to College Readiness. While questions from four Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) benchmarks: (1) Active and Collaborative Learning (2) Student Effort (3) Support for Learners (4) Student-Faculty Interaction were used for returning male and female students. One-Sample t-tests were run to determine if significant differences in engagement levels existed between the four independent groups for each of the benchmark categories. Cohen’s d calculations were used to measure the effect size and the standardized differences between the means of the variables. For the purpose of this study, Cohen’s d effect size of 0.35 or higher was used as the criteria for interpreting statistically significance. The results of this study revealed entering and returning female students reported statistically higher engagement levels than entering and returning male students in most of the variables indicating that they are more likely to utilize student support services at higher frequencies and have a more positive first semester experience than their counterparts. / text

No description available.