Student attrition prior to the completion of a credential is an issue that has increasingly demanded the attention of stakeholders in higher education, particularly in the community college sector, in which less than half of all students complete a credential after six years. The costs of student attrition are high and widespread, ranging from the financial costs for institutions and federal and state governments to the personal and monetary costs paid by those students whose personal and professional goals are not achieved. With the ever-increasing focus on accountability for institutions of higher education and the growing movement toward performance-based funding, institutions are seeking to find ways to support all students on the path to completion of a credential. Building upon Braxton’s theory of powerful institutional levers that serve to promote student completion, Rendon's validation theory, and Schossberg's theory of marginality versus mattering, this two-part companion dissertation seeks to progress conversation beyond levers of retention as programmatic approaches to increasing student success. Through interviews with community college students serving as peer mentors in a student ambassador program and community college faculty identified by peers and supervisors as high performing in the area of student retention, the researchers seek to identify common characteristics, behaviors, backgrounds, conditions, and values possessed by effective human levers of retention. In doing so, the researchers hope to identify common characteristics among successful human levers of retention in the form of peer mentors and faculty members. This dissertation was created in collaboration with Kyle Barron, whose dissertation “It’s Not the Programs; It’s the People: Building Human Levers of Retention in Community Colleges” serves as a companion to this dissertation.

Increasing diversity among community college students and the rising demand for a culturally competent workforce necessitate community college faculty across all disciplines to adjust their pedagogical choices to effectively serve diverse students while preparing all students for the new global era. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore what culturally competent pedagogies effective community college instructors use and reasons behind their choices. The study was conducted at a large community college in the Pacific Northwest. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with ten instructors teaching in different disciplines. In addition, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) was used to measure participants' intercultural competency. The findings revealed that the participants were cognizant of the growing diversity in their classes and made a number of pedagogical choices to accommodate their students' needs. The findings also revealed that the participants' teaching in the Humanities and the Adult Basic Skills departments had more latitude in engaging diversity and choosing materials to fit the needs of their students compared to science and vocational field instructors.

Attrition for entry-level, non-traditional college students taking developmental reading courses is a concern for higher education institutions. Students need to complete basic developmental reading courses in order to progress in their vocational or collegiate studies. This phenomenological study followed a social constructivist approach to attempt to understand what developmental reading students and faculty experience regarding persistence. The key research question examined the perceptions and understandings of college students and faculty involved in college entry level, non-traditional developmental reading classes regarding the factors impacting student persistence at a local community college. Using interviews, surveys, and participant journals, data were collected from 3 non-traditional, developmental reading students, who were over 24 years of age, and 3 of their instructors. Interview data were transcribed and all data were analyzed using open coding and thematic analysis. The themes discovered from both student and instructor perspectives were that student-centered instruction, experiential learning, and critical reflection were all methods for improving developmental reading student persistence. Implications for positive social change include providing research findings to the local site that might be used to improve student retention in developmental reading courses.

To mitigate the loss of experienced administrators, community college leaders create internal grow-your-own (GYO) leadership development programs. Although the purpose of these programs is to ensure institutional efficacy by developing a pipeline of administrative and faculty leaders, little attention has been given to learning about the participants' post-program career advancement over time. Consequently, the value of GYO leadership training for participants is not well known. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the post-program professional development of a group of participants 2 years after completing a rural community college GYO leadership program. The conceptual framework was guided by both the American Association of Community Colleges' Leadership competency model and situated learning theory. Research questions examined the leadership knowledge, skills, and behaviors the participants acquired from their training and how these knowledge, skills, and abilities were being used. Data sources included interviews of a cohort of 10 GYO leadership participants, leadership institute artifacts, and human resources documents, which were used for triangulation of the data. A constant comparative analysis methodology was used to identify themes. Research findings indicated that the participants most often applied their communication, collaboration, and advocacy knowledge and skills in their respective jobs, interests, and professional development over time. Academic and other leaders can use the research results to create positive social change by offering GYO leadership training programs to promote the advancement of the institution's mission, thereby improving the lives of the students and the health of the community.

At a Texas community college, stakeholders wanted to strengthen the financial literacy module offered in the student development course for undergraduates. The problem was that no formative data existed on students' financial literacy, and it was not known if knowledge of financial literacy for students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in high school differed from students who had not. The purpose of this study was to obtain formative data regarding students' needs for financial literacy education and to examine whether the knowledge of financial literacy for college students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in high school differed from students who had not. Guided by Knowles' andragogy theory, this descriptive comparative quantitative study explored students' overall financial literacy, including financial literacy subcomponents, and the relationship between students who had participated in a prior financial literacy class compared to students who had not. SurveyMonkey was used to administer the Jump$tart Coalition-® College Questionnaire to a convenience sample of 170 undergraduate students. Through descriptive data analysis (mean scores and composite scores) of the questionnaire responses, it was established that less than 70% of students were proficient in overall financial literacy. Independent samples t tests established no significant differences in financial literacy for students who participated in a prior financial literacy class compared to students who had not. The resulting project provides professional development for faculty to implement the Jump$tart Coalition-® curriculum promoting social change by developing financially competent adults, thereby contributing to fiscally sound economies.

Obtaining a college degree benefits individuals and society, yet only 20% of students are graduating from community colleges. At many institutions, graduation rates have decreased over the last 5 years, including one historically Black community college in the southern United States. To explore possible causes of low graduation rates at this unique and understudied type of college, this correlational study examined the relationships among student engagement, academic performance, and grit-persistence and passion toward long-term goals. Tinto's theory of student persistence served as the theoretical framework for this study. The convenience sample included 116 college students who already had a first-year grade point average (FYGPA). Grit was measured by the Grit-Short Scale; student engagement by the Student Engagement Instrument-College, and academic performance by FYGPA. No statistically significant relationships were found between grit and academic performance, or between student engagement and academic performance, however. Recommendations included additional research with larger samples of students and other HBCUs. Recommendations also included exploring other non-cognitive constructs, such as academic mindsets, learning strategies, socials skills, and academic behaviors to understand those relationships with academic performance. Implications for positive social change include disseminating initial research findings to the college administration for continued research on efforts toward producing more graduates, thereby increasingly providing quality higher education to underserved groups of students.

Distance learning students at a community college in the southeast United States were not completing their coursework as well as were students enrolled in traditional courses. This disparity was negatively affecting the institution's state performance measures, putting at risk the institution's state-based funding under the state's performance model. The purpose of this qualitative, bounded case study was to explore faculty experiences with online course professional development and faculty's teaching practices related to successful student online course completion. Chickering and Gamson's 'Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education' served as the study's conceptual foundation. Distance learning faculty (n = 10), who taught online courses for at least 10 years, and students (n = 7) who had completed at least a single online class, volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. Observations of online courses taught by faculty participants were also conducted. The data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis and data were open coded to determine categories and emerging themes. The results of the data analysis identified 4 key themes: preparing faculty to teach online, engaging students in the online classroom, course design and delivery, and supporting and advising students. Based on the findings, a training course was designed to assist faculty in learning to engage, advise, and provide better support services to students in the online classroom. These endeavors may contribute to social change by providing faculty training and support to improve completions rates for community college students in online courses.

The purposes of the research are (1) to identify the similarities and differences among corporate, political, and academic leaders in Tennessee on postsecondary education accountability policy and (2) to investigate ways for improving accountability policy as evidenced by the various stakeholders. The two following research questions will be adapted from the larger, ongoing study by Bogue et al. (2009) on accountability: · What differences and similarities exist among corporate, political, and academic stakeholders on the issues of collegiate mission and issues of accountability definition and evidence? · What are the most important steps that institutions of higher education can take to improve performance accountability and what factors impede effective accountability? The study employed a quantitative survey design where academic, corporate, and political leaders from Tennessee were investigated to identify differences and similarities on the purpose and function of accountability policy within the state. The findings suggest that while there are numerous points of difference among the stakeholders, it isreasonable to conclude that the numerous similarities that exist can help guide the successful development of meaningful accountability policy.

This study examines middle school students’ perceptions of the relationship between key influencers on student attendance, student behavior, student engagement, and academic achievement. Three hundred (300) survey participants were used in this mixed methods design, which consisted of an analysis of the independent variables affecting overall student motivation operationalized as Student Attendance, Student Behavior, Student Engagement, and Academic Achievement of eighth grade students. The survey participants were composed of two urban middle schools in a large public school system and a private middle school in the same county. African-American male students were isolated to analyze correlation relationships among variables. Findings of the study indicated that among other outcomes, African-American male students have definite perspectives about teacher quality and the impact of parental involvement.

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of community college professors regarding education for sustainable development (ESD). In-depth interviews with 14 professors from different disciplines were conducted. The participants taught at Miami Dade College, Florida, a Talloires Declaration signatory since 2006, and all had attended Green Studies professional development workshops. Written documents such as assignments and samples of student work were used for triangulation. The annual report of the college’s Earth Ethics Institute and its Web site served as additional sources. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes. The Talloires Declaration’s 10-point action plan and the key characteristics of ESD (UN DESD, 2006) served as the conceptual framework. The study found that the professors considered ESD an essential issue. The majority discussed the economic and social aspects of ESD; however, the environmental aspect was mentioned most frequently. The professors’ conceptualizations of ESD were influenced by their experiences and evidenced by the metaphors they used. Although their engagement with ESD differed, the professors expressed optimism toward ESD related teaching and learning. They regarded ESD as compatible with their subjects, and most had already been infusing sustainability into their courses or planned to do so. Additionally, the participants’ teaching practices reflected many of the characteristics of ESD. Even though the professors considered ESD challenging, they believed that they could make contributions to the college’s effort. The metaphor of “Planting a Seed” was frequently used to describe this holistic approach. The study also found that many professors regarded interpersonal relationships and communication significant factors for the advancement of ESD. The participants described several challenges to integrating ESD at their college. These related to time constraints, density of curriculum, institutional size and fragmentation, dearth of administrative support and incentives, students’ lack of academic preparation and sustainability awareness, students’ inability to focus on ESD because of personal, social, or economic circumstances, and professors’ frustration about a divisive atmosphere as a result of their engagement with sustainability. Despite these obstacles, the professors believed that ESD could be successfully woven into the community college experience.