<p> This study examined the career development experiences of one African American man, a former student-athlete in a Division I revenue generating football team. This study focused on his experiences as a student-athlete who participated in football as he transitioned out of elite athletics. Division I collegiate athletics represents a highly sought opportunity (NCAA, 2015h). However, this opportunity may reduce college completion and disrupt maximal career development (Hartman, 2014; Van Rheenen, 2013). This qualitative case study of one participant explored the nuanced influences and pathways the participant used to enter his current career after completing college. Mark Savickas&rsquo;s (2002) Career Construction Theory (CCT), a constructivist non&mdash;<i>a priori</i> narrative theory, served as the theoretical framework. Qualitative interview data were collected during a progressive series of three separate in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Data were first analyzed using an inductive, open-coding process. Four patterns emerged from the data relative to the participant&rsquo;s career development experiences: ambivalence, performance prioritization/competitive spirit, practical mind-set/good judgment, and value of selected communities, which helped him decide on the ideal career environments. </p><p> Findings were then analyzed via the Savickas CCT tenets of successful career construction that include life themes, self-concepts, and life design. Findings include (a) the participant executed a largely linear pathway developing his career since retirement from elite athletics, (b) the participant experienced minimal challenges to reaching his current level, and (c) that participation in collegiate football provided valuable career development experiences. Additionally, the findings demonstrated a positive career development based on the participant&rsquo;s alignment of CCT tenets life themes, self-concepts, and life design.</p>

<p> Successful degree completion in American colleges and universities has become a national concern as the United States loses educational ground globally, and seeks to fill the unmet need for an educated workforce. One in five individuals who start their degree at a public, two-year institution complete that degree within three years (Snyder &amp; Dillow, 2015). Less than two in five complete within six years (Shapiro, Dundar, Wakhungu, Yuan, &amp; Harrell, 2015). Minority, first-generation and low-income students complete college at an even lower rate than their less disadvantaged counterparts (Complete College America, 2011; Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, &amp; Gonyea, 2008; Rath, Rock, &amp; Laferriere, 2013; Reindl &amp; Reyna, 2011). Completing a degree begins with the successful completion of a course. While course completion is contingent upon a variety of factors (Bean &amp; Metzner, 1985), the literature clearly indicates that faculty teaching methods have an impact on student success (e.g. Hamilton, 2002; Kuh, et al., 2008; McPhail, 2011). </p><p> The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to explore the relationship between the participation of novice (first-year), full-time technical college faculty in a comprehensive professional development program and the course completion of their disadvantaged students. For the purposes of this study, students were considered disadvantaged if they possessed one or more of the following characteristics: Black or Hispanic, first-generation, or low-income. This represents approximately 50% of the student body at the institution under study. Faculty gender and academic discipline were analyzed for moderating effects. </p><p> The study was conducted at a large Midwestern technical college using pre-existing data stored in the college&rsquo;s data warehouse. A static group comparison research design was used to compare the successful course completion of disadvantaged students (n=4,288) taught by two groups of faculty (n=51): the treatment group, who participated in a mandatory one-year professional development program consisting of 162 hours of orientation, workshops, campus visits, and mentoring; and the comparison group, who participated in a two-day Teacher Bootcamp and campus visits. Binary logistic regression was utilized to determine the relationships, among the variables. </p><p> The results of this study found a significant negative relationship between comprehensive professional development of novice technical college faculty and the successful course completion of their disadvantaged students. Faculty gender and academic discipline did not moderate this relationship. The negative relationship found sheds an important light on the unique needs of the disadvantaged student populations most often served by the community and technical colleges. This most vulnerable population of students, unlike their more advantaged counterparts, have a low margin of error when it comes to navigating the rigid structures of higher education. While comprehensive professional development can indeed change teaching practices, practitioners should carefully consider and evaluate the content being taught in a comprehensive program to ensure those teaching practices do not unintentionally become a detriment to disadvantaged student populations.</p>

<p> Transitioning youth in the foster care system to successful young adult living is essential. They must be able to achieve a high school diploma, which is challenging for many. Too often, foster youth and those in kinship care are at higher risk of homelessness, unemployment and incarceration. The purpose of this <i>Commitment Initiative</i> was to create a grant proposal to enhance the <i>Empowering Children to Achieve Academic Success: A Curriculum for Kinship Caregivers and Foster Parents,</i> by adding additional materials and making this updated resource available for use nationwide. This <i> Commitment Initiative</i> aims to provide foster parents, kinship caregivers, and child welfare workers who have 11^th and 12^th grade students in their care with resources to achieve postsecondary education, financial aid and employment. Included in the grant proposal is a budget, timeline, and staffing. Submission of this grant proposal was not required for the successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This case study explores the life experiences of adults with learning disabilities who participated in a work skills program during high school and later transitioned into adult life post-secondary education. This empirical research analyzes the issues related to the transitional outcomes of eight adults who are learning disabled (LD) post-public education. This study was guided by the following question: How do young adults with learning disabilities experience post-secondary life after their participation in a work skills program in high school? Three themes emerged from the data: (a) Establishing Self-Concept, (b) Developing Vocational/Life Directions, and (c) Building Hope for the Future. The findings of this case study are interpreted in light of Super&rsquo;s Stages in Career Development theory. This particular cohort of learning disabled adults are faring well in regard to obtaining employment and developing career/life directions regardless of disabilities. All of the participants are thriving at their own pace towards a more independent life. The work skills program they participated in during high school had a direct positive influence on their transition into adult life post-secondary education. Findings reveal that, contrary to some research, these young adults are actively engaged in adult life with the determination to work, learn, and gain independence as they navigate the transition toward adulthood.</p>

<p> In the United States, colleges and universities are under pressure from multiple sources to improve course completion and graduation rates and to reduce the cost of obtaining a degree. This qualitative phenomenological case study, underpinned by the social constructivist perspective, explored second-year manufacturing degree students&rsquo; perceptions of the impact of their teachers&rsquo; servant leadership behaviors on their successful course completions at a Midwest technical college. Servant leadership was the theoretical base for the study, which consisted of Q sorts by, and interviews with, students from two manufacturing degree programs. One program had higher course completion and graduation rates and the other had lower course completion and graduation rates. The responses were coded using data from an extensive literature review and were analyzed for themes according to the perspectives of the participants&rsquo; Q sorts and responses to interview questions. While the study did not reveal a simple, straightforward solution to the very complicated student success problem in technical college manufacturing programs, it did identify the elements of an emergent model recommended for manufacturing teachers: servant teaching.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this sequential, explanatory, mixed methods study was (a) to investigate the degree to which Career Technical Education (CTE) students in selected California Community College (CCC) believe that the core components of learning communities (LCs) designed for traditional, academic track students exist in LCs designed for CTE students; (b) to determine which of the core components, if any, are perceived by students as most beneficial, for CTE LCs; and (c) to explore any additional components that students might believe to be essential for LCs designed for CTE students. </p><p> In the first phase of this study, the <i>Online Survey of Students&rsquo; Experiences of Learning in a LC</i>, developed and implemented by the National Resource Center for Learning Communities, was administered to a cross section of 75 current CTE LC students from three California Community Colleges to determine the perception of implementation of the core components of a LC. In phase two, survey respondents were able to opt-in to a focus group or interview designed to determine which of the core components, if any, were most beneficial and to explore their experience in the LC to emerge any critical components not included in the survey instrument. Thirty-five survey respondents participated in six focus groups on campus. </p><p> The findings of this study support the following conclusions. Study participants in this study found all four components of a successful learning community integrated curriculum, innovative instruction, engagement and supportive services, present in their learning community designed for Career and Technical Education. Students found supportive services to be the most important component in their learning community, followed by engagement. Supportive services are perceived by students to be key to successful participation, retention and success of survey participants. Specific personnel, peer mentors, teaching assistants, coordinators, counselors and instructors, represent the greatest source of support and means for engagement connecting students to the larger campus community as well as to supportive services. A career focus in the learning community helps students persist and succeed in their learning community and serves as a point of engagement.</p><p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: John E. Roueche. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.