Thesis (Ed. D.)--UCLA, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-237).

Thesis (Master)--University of the Free State, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-198).

Many tertiary institutions are confronted with the challenge of unprepared students. This epidemic is largely due to factors in and out of individuals‟ control. These factors include academic proficiency, course-student match, support and integration, financial stability, preparation, personal circumstances and engagement. The main objective of this study is therefore threefold: Firstly, to describe what student readiness entails; secondly to understand why there is a lack of readiness among first-year Human Resource Management students, and thirdly, to identify and improve upon interventions that prepare students for tertiary education. For this study student readiness refers to the ability of students to meet the basic requirements to successfully enrol for a course without remedial assistance and to successfully complete their studies in the recommended timeframe. The target population of this study focussed on students who registered on a full-time basis for the National Diploma in Human Resource Management for the academic year 2014 (n=117). A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the students and an open-ended questionnaire additionally to the lecturers who teach first-year Human Resource Management students. The study was subjected to various statistical techniques such as Cronbach‟s alpha, t-tests, Pearson moment product correlation and Cohen‟s d. In doing so an improved insight into student readiness and success was developed. The main findings of the study indicated that there is a relationship between the type of schooling and readiness factors as statistical significance was noted. In addition, students who scored high on readiness factors were more likely to succeed in tertiary education. Moreover the number of interventions students is exposed to positively influence student readiness and success. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge which relates to the broader educational environment in South Africa and provides recommendations to address student readiness and success.

College readiness is a challenge for numerous college-bound students in the United States. A recent high school graduate or returning to school student has to contend with collegiate curricula, unfamiliar faculty, and new peers at a foreign institution. Therefore, acclimating to the new environment and new routine of college is necessary for a student’s success. A natural question that begins to arise is whether or not this experience is different for various subjects and disciplines. Mathematics is among one of the main disciplines in which college readiness is a main concern. Further complicating the situation, a true definition of college readiness is yet to be agreed upon. This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of math college readiness (MCR) of ten participants at a small parochial school. A purposeful sample of three types of individuals participated in the study. In particular, it documents teachers’, administrators’, and alumni’s experiences and how these experiences connect to their definitions of MCR. The primary data collection method was semi structured interviews and observations. Three main ideas emerged from the data relating to the definition of MCR: (1) content, (2) student behavior, and (3) school culture. Specifically, the cumulative characteristic of mathematics requires that gaps in knowledge need to be addressed as early as possible to ensure mastery. Student’s behavior allows for the material to be absorbed more efficiently. School culture plays a role in how this environment is formed in which students become learners and citizens in their community. Investigating how MCR is perceived can shed light on how we will better address the needs of a body of students in mathematics remediation. By examining the learning of mathematics we are offered an opportunity to explore the issues to better understand a remedy. This study provides recommendations for other practitioners in mathematics education.

After a review of K12-University partnership models, research into the current local and national education reform context, and an in-depth analysis of contextual factors in the launching of an initiative, the author proposed a program design for K12-University partnerships that included five essential components necessary for successful implementation. These components, also termed leverage points, were: clarity of the problem, outcome planning, a theory of change, clear stakeholder enrollment and commitment, and flexibility. Actively acknowledging and factoring in the fluid nature of public education initiatives, the author framed this program design within that of the emergence principle of complexity theory, which drove the rationale for flexibility in the model. The study then turned to a deep review of the successes and lessons learned from a K12/University partnership that was launched without the benefit of this program design. Finally, the study analyzed this specific K12/University partnership through the lens of the five essential components and made recommendations about the efficacy of this specific model. In the current national climate of declining resources and the need for more effective and innovative partnerships in the K12 and University settings, this program design offered a roadmap for local partnerships throughout the country to positively impact the student success.

This research investigated high school students, their parents, and high school counselors self-reported views about the nature and relative importance of different aspects of "College Preparation Knowledge." In brief, this research investigated many areas of College Preparation Knowledge (CPK) broadly defined as the facts and the processes needed to be known to be prepared to successfully apply, attend, and graduate from college. Practical suggestions derived from the research findings may help the high school counselor better serve their college-bound students and parents. / Educational Psychology

This study investigated the relationship of high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. The purposes of the study were twofold: First, to study the relationship of a practical arts high school curriculum as opposed to a college preparatory high school curriculum to performance in academic foundation college courses. Second, to analyze this relationship and its implications for high school students, parents, teachers, and counselors.

College access programs (CAPs) have proliferated throughout the United States to address disparities in college enrollment between White, higher-income students, and racial/ethnic minority and lower-income students. While CAPs have helped to reduce such disparities, considerable challenges remain. U.S. higher education leaders are facing renewed urgency to address this issue because racial/ethnic minority and lower-income groups are now the fastest growing segments of the population, and because educational attainment – acquisition of a college degree – is increasingly important to national economic growth and individual well-being. However, to date, only a few researchers have examined CAPs’ influence on participants beyond college enrollment, so there is a knowledge gap regarding the kinds of systems and supports needed to help members of these populations achieve a college degree. This study examines the relationship between CAP participation and the undergraduate experiences and outcomes of CAP alumni who enrolled in college. The primary data for this study consisted of individual interviews with 24 alumni from five CAPs in the New York City metropolitan area who subsequently attended college. The CAPs varied by primary funding source. Four to six participants per site were college juniors or seniors, recent college graduates, or individuals who enrolled in college but withdrew before graduating and never returned. The data highlighted the following key themes and implications: (1) CAPs in this study were largely successful in helping alumni enroll in colleges and universities known to be selective; (2) While the CAPs exerted helpful influences, alumni nonetheless faced serious challenges through the college years, such as meeting academic demands and navigating barriers of bigotry and intolerance that are deeply embedded on many campuses; and (3) CAPs in this study influenced alumni’s post-college aspirations, directions, and trajectories regarding career choices, and family and community uplift. Drawing on these findings, this study proposed a model of the psychosocial, academic, and sociocultural resources that appear to contribute to the undergraduate experiences, outcomes, and post-college trajectories of CAP alumni. The study concludes with implications for practice, policy and further research.

Often considered the gateway to the middle class in the United States, community colleges are struggling to find ways to support all students in career planning and preparation. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of first generation students who enter community colleges through the door of open access, place into developmental education (remedial) courses and must satisfactorily complete this often-rigid sequence before beginning college level classes. For many first-generation, under-prepared, underresourced students, this is a frustrating and often insurmountable barrier, causing many students to abort their postsecondary training. Creating intentional conditions and instructional strategies that support student learning is essential in increasing the number of first-generation, under-prepared and under-resourced students who enter and complete postsecondary training and degrees. Advancement via Individual Determination Higher Education (AVID HE) is one identified holistic support strategy showing positive trends in supporting this student population on one community college campus. This study used a mixed methods approach which included both a statistical analysis of a treatment group in a combined reading/writing course called WR91 Mt Hood Community College AVID HE Learning Communities and two stand-alone reading/writing courses called RD90/WR90 courses, along with a case study qualitative methodology to investigate how AVID HE supports pre-college developmental education students to develop sufficient social capital to transition from non-credit (pre-college) to credited courses and programs.