<p> The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the factors that predict active duty student persistence to graduating within four years. Data were taken from a secondary data source from a fall 2009 entering cohort from a university referenced here as Ridgeside University (RU). A binary logistic regression was employed in the analysis of the data. Results of the regression indicated that race, sex, military branch, program major, and primary funding type were significant in some extent in predicting active duty student four year completion. Implications of the results and recommendations for future studies conclude this research.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose.</b> The purpose of this study was to determine how Southern California community colleges have implemented best practices based on the 8 Keys to Veterans&rsquo; Success as identified by the U.S. Departments of Education, Defense, and Veterans Affairs to effectively support and retain military and veteran students in higher education programs. The study sought to determine the practices that provided the most substantial impact and what outcomes were utilized to measure success. </p><p> <b>Methodology.</b> Four military and veteran student program professionals within successful Southern California community colleges were interviewed. This sample population was selected due to the colleges&rsquo; excellent military and veteran student programs. A multiple-case study, qualitative analysis was conducted of the data collected. Limitations of this study include a small number of participants surveyed and the researcher&rsquo;s limited amount of time to conduct a more extensive research of current literature. </p><p> <b>Findings and Conclusions.</b> This study found that the most impactful &ldquo;keys&rdquo; supporting veteran student program success were providing a dedicated, functional space and creating a culture of trust and connectedness. These were followed by sustained campus leadership support and collaboration with the local community. The outcomes utilized were retention and graduation rates, followed by persistence rate and years to completion. Barriers were overcome by utilizing the keys effectively, including functional space on campus, enough qualified staff, and sustained support. Utilizing the 8 Keys to Veterans&rsquo; Success and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outcomes, colleges and universities can effectively implement military and veteran student programs and consistently measure their success. </p><p> <b>Recommendations.</b> Administrators should assess their military and veteran student programs utilizing the 8 Keys to Veterans&rsquo; Success as a rubric, then strategize plans and resources for program improvement. Further research is needed to assess best practices to support military and veteran students transitioning successfully from 2-year programs to 4-year universities and from college programs to meaningful employment.</p>

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to examine the administrative structure needed to coordinate the numerous institutions of higher education offering postsecondary degree programs on an Army installation. The study then identified the management problems and solutions to those problems, as perceived by Education Services Officers when coordinating among the participating institutions. The population consisted of representatives from eleven U.S. Army Continuing Education Services Centers.The Education Services Center representatives having the responsibility for coordinating the postsecondary programs were interviewed by telephone to collect the data. An interview form was designed to elicit non-directed responses to perceived major problems confronting the representatives, problems at Department of the Army and possible solutions to the problems.Education Services representatives encountered difficulty in providing a quality program during a period when on-Post program effectiveness was evaluated by Department of the Army. Major problems existed in the coordination among several institutions with differing administrative policies, requirements, and recognition of transfer credit.Solutions to the problems included the adoption of an Advisory Committee concept to assist in academic advisement and evaluation, the incorporation of evaluation in program, the development of guidelines for evaluation, and clarification of the requirement for negotiation of the institution agreement. Other recommendations were to develop more concise guidelines for quality assurance and evaluation, and for the closer correlation between academic needs of Army students and professional development needs of the U.S. Army. The reduction of the number of participating institutions was seen as a positive way to improve management and quality control of the on-Post programs.

<p> Currently, there is an increase in veterans returning to colleges, yet little understanding exists of their unique circumstances. Limited resources, programs, and staff for veteran services, along with physical injuries, cognitive impairments, and emotional disturbances due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and military sexual trauma (MST) further complicate the transition to college. Further, female student-veterans have additional pressures, such as women's health issues and motherhood, creating additional exigencies which affect their return to college. </p><p> Few studies have specifically sought to understand female student-veterans transitioning to college. Obtaining insight on the experiences of female student-veterans, utilizing the life story framework (Giele, 2010; Weber, 2011) and Schlossberg's transition theory (1984), allows for the discovery of how one's life course impacts the transition to college. </p><p> Therefore, this exploratory study uses a qualitative, phenomenological approach. Using semi-structured interviews, this study sought to examine the experiences and challenges of female student-veterans, as well as their identities, relationships, motivation, adaptability, strategies employed, and the role of health to determine the impact on transition from the military to college. </p><p> 17 women participated in the study. Findings indicated a need to be different than family expectations or education level, with many female student-veterans being first-generation college attendees. Relationships played an important role in supporting and mentoring female student-veterans. Having a strong drive to succeed, pursue career goals, and obtain a better life were the prevalent motivating factors for college education attainment. Female student-veterans demonstrated the ability to be adaptive to many demands and milieus, although transitioning to college presented many challenges. Anxieties were further escalated when the added responsibility of motherhood compounded demands, and created work-life-school balance issues. </p><p> In understanding that there are individual factors in the perceptions of work, life, and school demands, as well as strategies employed to cope with these obligations, a greater awareness and understanding can be realized. Further research in this area is necessary to develop a greater cognizance, discover additional issues, and ultimately inform and develop policies, programs, and services that can be implemented to meet the needs of female veterans transitioning from the military to college.</p>

<p>The purpose of this action research study was twofold: 1) to investigate the role the Socratic Method of teaching had (if any) on the leadership skills of Junior Reserve Officer Training Cadet (JROTC) leaders at a military boarding school in the Midwest, United States, and 2) to determine if there was any change in the researcher&rsquo;s teaching while implementing the Socratic Method to his JROTC Cadet leaders in his Western Intellectual History class. The researcher defined leadership based on the Five Leadership Practices derived from the Student Leadership Practices Inventory. These practices consisted of Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. Through the collection of data via a pretest and posttest on the leadership skills of the cadet participants, student weekly journal entries, the researcher&rsquo;s weekly journal entries, classroom observations, an end of the year questionnaire concerning the cadet participants&rsquo; self-perceptions of their leadership development, and video-recordings of Socratic discussions, the researcher was able to ascertain the development of leadership skills and his own pedagogical development. The data supported that the cadet participants perceived an improvement in their leadership skills after engaging in the Socratic Method in Western Intellectual History class. Moreover, themes that emerged from the journal entries and answers to the end of the year questionnaire aligned with the leadership characteristics in the Five Leadership Practices. Furthermore, the data revealed that the researcher&rsquo;s pedagogical experience, specifically in lesson delivery, changed during the time he used the Socratic Method of instruction in his Western Intellectual History class. </p>

<p>The need for accurate information about the achievement of students whose military parents are deployed to a war zone or whose military parents are eligible although not currently deployed to a war zone is important in order to ensure that we are providing for the educational wellbeing of these children as their parents defend our nations freedoms. The purpose of this posttest-only comparative efficacy study was to determine the achievement outcomes of sixth-grade students with a military parent deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) or sixth-grade students with a military parent not deployed to a war zone (<i>n</i> = 10) compared to same school students whose parents have no military affiliation (<i>n</i> = 10). The study&rsquo;s dependent measures were Academic achievement as measured by end of sixth-grade (1) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Math, (2) Nebraska State Accountability Assessment Test-Reading, (3) Measure of Academic Performance-Math, (4) Measure of Academic Performance-Reading, (5) Research School District&rsquo;s Descriptive Writing Assessment for (a) Ideas and Content, (b) Organization, (c) Voice, (d) Word Choice, (e) Sentence Fluency, and (f) Conventions, and (6) Research School District&rsquo;s Essential Objectives for (a) Language, (b) Math, (c) Science, (d) Social Studies, (e) Health, (f) Physical Education, and (g) Music. The overall pattern of end of sixth-grade statistical equipoise between group comparisons indicated that the goal of educational wellbeing for these students of military families, and control group students alike, was being met and was reflected in measured proficient and advanced level performance requiring students&rsquo; day-to-day engagement at school and support at home. </p>

<p>The purpose of this research is to investigate Chickering and Reisser (1993) Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education and determine the relationship, if any, among these principles and student performance and satisfaction in the in-residence verses virtual Professional Military Education (PME) programs. Additionally, determine if there is a difference in satisfaction and performance between the virtual and in-residence PME. All Airmen (Amn) of the United States Air Force (USAF) must attend Airman Leadership School (ALS) as a part of their Professional Military Education (PME) (Air Force Instruction 36-2502, 2009; Air Force Instruction 36-2618, 2009). This training is offered via two venues: an in-residence program and a virtual learning program. The average age of students (Senior Airmen) attending ALS is 28.7 years of age (J. Geidner, personal communication, January 29, 2015), which aligns these individuals to the Millennial Generation (Koeller, 2012; Papp & Matulich, 2011). Despite a population of students well-versed in the use of computers and technology, the individuals attending the virtual learning program experience a failure rate which is 34.21% higher than for students attending in-residence (J. Geidner, personal communication, January 29, 2015; E. DeVoursney, personal communication, January 30, 2015). Research by Chickering and Reisser (1993) describes seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education that facilitate effective learning in both in-residence and virtual environments. Partridge and Hallam (2006) suggests these principles of good practice may align well with the characteristics of millennial learners. This research has determined we can support current literature (Koeller, 2012, Espinoza et al., 2010; Papp & Matulich, 2011, Coomes & Debard, 2004) which shows a relationship between Chickering and Reisser?s (1993) seven principles and the characteristics of the millennial students (Figure 1). It identified there is a statistical significant difference in student?s satisfaction and performance between the two learning programs. There is a moderate to strong positive correlation, in both in-residence and virtual ALS, between the seven principles, satisfaction and performance. The educational venue, with the inclusion of the seven principles, statistically significantly predict student satisfaction and performance. Therefore, the research has shown with the inclusion of Chickering and Reisser (1993) Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education there will be an increase in student performance and satisfaction.

<p> A qualitative research study utilizing the Delphi research technique was used to explore the integration of leadership, ethics, and organizational culture into the curriculum of a Military Aviation Safety Leader. Despite the existence of safety programs and education, the military services still experience deadly aviation mishaps. There is a dearth of literature that has focused on curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders, specifically on whether or not leadership, ethics, and organizational culture should be integrated into safety topics. As a result, there is wide variance in curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders across the military services. The problem addressed in the present study is the incomplete understanding of how integration of leadership, ethics, and organizational culture may enhance the unique educational needs of the Military Aviation Safety Leader and the issues that stem from the dearth of research and understanding. The issues that directly stem from the paucity of research and understanding include poor standardization in curricula; curricula that are inadequate to the needs of the Military Aviation Safety Leader; and ultimately, poor safety practice and increased aviation mishaps as a result of non-optimal education for the Military Aviation Safety Leader. A qualitative research method utilizing the Delphi research technique was chosen as the best approach to investigating the research problem. The Delphi technique of probing experts over several rounds of focused questions achieved development of information in the form of expert consensus which in turn yielded relevant information for the literature and school curricula. In turn, future Military Aviation Safety Leaders will benefit from the information generated by the study, elevating their awareness of how ethics, leadership, and organizational culture may enhance safety in the organization. Thirteen Military Aviation Leaders were chosen to participate in the Delphi study. The research revealed that there are positive relationships between ethics, leadership, organizational culture, and safety. The research demonstrated that these topics should be integrated in safety curricula for Military Aviation Safety Leaders. The research examined methods and media for curriculum delivery. Case studies and small group scenario-based discussions ranked as methods of curriculum delivery most preferred by the experts. Resident teaching was preferred over on-line teaching media for curriculum delivery. The expertise and experience of the Delphi panel was a significant strength of the study in its findings which will improve and enhance understanding of the benefits of integrating leadership, ethics, and organizational culture into the curriculum for a Military Aviation Safety Leader.</p>

This thesis studied the retention of United States Naval Academy Voluntary Graduate Education Program (VGEP) and Scholarship participants in graduating classes of 1983-1998. The comparison group of nonparticipants consisted of USNA graduating classes 1983-1998 with an Academic Quality Point Rating (AQPR) comparable to the early graduate education students. AQPR was used in order to make the academic backgrounds similar for the participants and non-participants. The retention behavior of program participants and nonparticipants was compared to determine if participation in early graduate education affected retention. The models analyzed retention to each year of service between six and twelve years. In the retention models for unrestricted line officers, both VGEP and Scholarship had a small positive effect on retention to 7 YCS. Although the adjusted differences in retention are not large in magnitude, the results dispel the notion that early graduate education programs are used as vehicles by junior officers to facilitate transition to the civilian labor market following expiration of their initial service obligation. No changes to the service obligations for these programs were recommended.