<p> Developmental education continues to be an area of concern for higher education institutions. Understanding and developing programs to provide support and increase retention, completion, and success rates for developmental education students is vital to increasing degree attainment in the United States. This study explored one developmental education program at a Midwest community college implemented in 2011. A mixed-methods approach was executed to compare completion and success rates two years prior to implementation and two years following implementation, as well as to obtain qualitative information regarding perceptions of the program. Quantitative data analysis revealed increases in developmental education rates for qualifying Connection Program students when viewed holistically; however, varying degrees of program effectiveness were seen in discipline-level results. Qualitative data analysis revealed four emerging themes: 1) Flawed Placement, 2) Positive Intentions, 3) Flawed Execution, and 4) Student Ambiguity. These findings coincided with research in the developmental education field as areas of importance in regard to increasing degree attainment for these students.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine the relationships between demographic characteristics, self-efficacy, and persistence factors that attribute to the academic performance of American Indian college students who completed 24 semester credits or one year of college. The data collection instrument used were three surveys administered as one web-based survey. The surveys included a 10-item demographic survey, 15-item Modified General Self-Efficacy Exam, and 34-item College Persistence Questionnaire used to obtain data on student self-efficacy and factors that attribute to college persistence. The respondents were American Indian undergraduate students (<i>N</i>=201) who attended a community college branch located in the rural Southwest. The collected data were interpreted using a bivariate correlation and multi-regression statistical analysis using SPSS version 21. The study findings described characteristics of American Indian college students who showed high levels of self-efficacy. The study findings also showed that college persistence factor, academic conscientiousness, was statistically significant in predicting students&rsquo; cumulative grade point average (GPA) range. The findings of this study shed light on the need to explore additional factors that perceive to affect the self-efficacy, college persistence, and academic performance of American Indian college students in the rural Southwest. </p>

<p> Community college graduation rates are low, and community colleges have been tasked with producing more graduates to meet workforce needs. Research has determined that engaged students remain at their institutions and complete their degrees. Service learning has been identified as a high-impact practice that engages students with their learning and builds connections between students and campus personnel. The majority of service-learning research, having been conducted with 4-year colleges and universities, may have limited applicability to the community college population. This qualitative descriptive case study describes how institutionalized service learning on 1 community college campus is structured, supported, and operated. The study used the framework of student success, service learning, and institutionalization to determine how the college provided resources and opportunities for service learning. Participants for the study were selected using mixed purposeful sampling to identify individuals recently involved with service learning at the college; data came from document reviews, campus and Internet observations, college staff interviews, and student group online discussions. Data were collected and analyzed using a spiraling technique. Findings indicated that the college's curricular and cocurricular service-learning activities were integrated throughout the campus in many departments and with different groups. While the service-learning coordinators made distinctions between curricular and cocurricular service learning, student participants did not make such distinctions. Students in this study were engaged with their service learning. These findings have applicability for all community college educators, demonstrating that institutionalized community college service learning might lead to greater retention through graduation.</p>

<p>Increasingly more service members are separating from the military as the United States draws down the force and moves towards a post-war era. Tens of thousands of these veterans will leverage their GI Bill tuition and housing benefits in an attempt to access Southern California community colleges and bolster their transition into mainstream society. Some of these men and women have served multiple tours in combat zones and carry with them the burden of physical and mental injuries. After 4 years of GI Bill benefits costing over $20 billion and supporting 750,000 veterans or their dependents, it is unclear whether these veterans have been successful in higher education. This study starts the dialogue for further quantitative research on this diverse population. </p><p> Using quantitative methodologies based on a nontraditional student attrition model, 261 student veterans at three Southern California community colleges were surveyed to determine how military service affects their persistence. Background variables, academic and social integration, psychological outcomes, and military service perspective as related to student veterans' intent to persist, college GPA, and rate of attendance formed the framework for research. Findings show that student veterans' intent to continue their educational goals is affected by their military service perspective. Military service is a significant intervening variable that distinguishes veterans from other nontraditional students at community colleges. Military GPA was found to have a stronger association with college GPA than high school GPA. Although academic integration was the strongest predictor of college GPA, the most successful student veterans balance their work, family, and academic lives. Although some findings relate closely to existing higher education literature, the experience and perspective of military service produces both advantages and disadvantages for veterans in college. Accounting for veterans' persistence and acknowledging their diversity are measures which will strengthen their chances for academic success. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are addressed in this study. </p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to explore community college counselors' perception of role strain in their positions. Role strain theory explains the difficulties individuals face as they determine which behavior expectations they fulfill in their relationships. It was determined that counselors have important role relationships with students, college administrators and their peers.</p><p> Through qualitative analysis, this study provided knowledge about community college counselor's perceptions about expectations of their role on campus. The study discovered student and administrator expectations of counselors, and beliefs counselors held regarding their roles based on formal educational and on the job trainings.</p><p> This research aimed to answer the following questions: (a) How do California community college counselors define their roles in serving their student population? (b) What are California community college counselor's perceptions of student, administrative and professional expectations of the counselor's role? (c) What are the role expectations community college counselors learned from their formal education and on the job training programs? and (d) How do community college counselors perceive any differences in role expectations to affect their ability to provide quality counseling services? To answer these questions, in-depth interviews were utilized to collect qualitative data from community college counselors.</p><p> The findings resulted from qualitative data analysis of the interview transcripts from study participants. Using thematic coding and analysis the interview data was grouped by codes into recurring themes. This resulted in the identification of four critical themes: (a) counselor preparation; (b) counselor role expectations; (c) counselor experiences with students; and (d) Counselor perceptions of college administrators.</p><p> The results showed to improve counseling practice, counselors must discover ways to effectively deal with student mental health, and teach students how to navigate the higher education system. Counselors must also learn new ways to meet administrative requests for data based on information they already collect from students. This research be further developed by collecting data from a larger more diverse group of counselors. The data can be enriched by analyzing what Master's programs intend to teach future counselors. Last, collecting data from students is always recommended as the goal is always to improve their success.</p>

<p> Obesity is described as a chronic disease affecting adults, children, and adolescents. It has become a significant burden for the healthcare system and is considered one of the top health problems contributing to severe complications from childhood through adulthood. Obesity represents one of the most worrisome health problems in the United States, because it directly affects the health of individuals.</p><p> The research objective was to educate parents and grandparents of Latino children under age 17 regarding the importance of healthy food choices and physical activity. The aim was to empower parents and grandparents to practice health promotion and disease prevention. A descriptive design with pretest and posttest was utilized to indicate the knowledge gained by participants after the instructional phase. The result of the data analysis indicated an increase for the majority of participants regarding their level of understanding about healthy eating and the importance of physical activity.</p>

<p> This study explored the conditions and outcomes of student transformational learning (TL) in a semester-long community college work placement context. Thirty-five interdisciplinary students participated in an appreciative inquiry survey and interview protocol. 31% experienced a high degree of TL, reporting nearly twice the degree of change as low TL students and also exhibiting multiple TL outcomes. They exhibited self-growth, changed frame of reference, confidence, new behaviors and habits, and also described an emergent sense of hope, empowerment, and new possibilities. Positive emotions were the strongest differentiator of high versus low TL. The professional learning context, work culture, and relationships facilitated the greatest impact for high TL. Financial aid was the only personal condition of significance. Leveraging new workplace experiences to catalyze authentic learner capabilities as characterized by TL, offers promising potential for educators and employers alike to build sustainable future capacity. Continued TL research should explore positive, holistic methodologies.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of students enrolled in a basic skills math class at a California community college and the role of the peer model in informing their college-going behaviors. There is significant interest in increasing the number of students who complete basic skills courses and make progress towards a degree and transfer to a four-year college. While poor performance by students enrolled in basic skills classes is generally associated with a lack of academic preparation, research indicates that students may lack the cultural capital or college know-how necessary to be successful. This case study considers the role a peer model can play in informing students of college-going behaviors when interventions are embedded in the classroom. </p><p> The site of this case study was an Arithmetic class taught in the fall 2012 semester at a mid-size, diverse community college in northern California. The class included embedded interventions provided by a peer model who demonstrated college-going behaviors. Semi-structured interviews with six students, the peer model, and the instructor, as well as observations of the classroom and supplemental instruction, provided rich data for the findings and implications of this study. The central research question was, &ldquo;How do embedded interventions offered in a basic skills math class inform college student behavior?&rdquo; </p><p> Purposeful sampling was used to identify the participants for this qualitative study conducted in the tradition of a bounded case study. Initially, two primary themes were identified and used to guide my data analysis: 1) the significance of feeling cared for, and 2) acquiring college know-how. Later in the process of data collection and analysis, I identified the significance of setting and maintaining expectations and the emergent theme of faith. </p><p> The findings from my study have implications for both practitioners and researchers. For practitioners, this study provides a framework for teaching students college know-how in order to advance student success, specifically students enrolled in basic skills courses. The findings from this study also indicate the significance of students feeling cared for and how this contributes to course completion and success. For researchers, data from student interviews indicate that we can learn from students about the factors they believe inform their course success. Including student voices in future research about student success will help the field understand the interventions or treatments that students find most significant. </p>

<p> Current research shows that students with a growth mindset are more motivated to learn, want to work harder, are less discouraged by difficulty, use more effective strategies for learning, and have higher academic performance in comparison to students without this mindset. Despite these promising findings, a growth mindset is sometimes not reinforced or is even refuted by classroom conditions. The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore how community college educators create classroom environments that foster a growth mindset. The conceptual framework for this study was a social constructivist approach where the interviewer and the participants co-constructed the interpretation of how to influence a growth mindset in the community college classroom. Data were collected through 14 in-depth interviews with community college educators who completed a workshop on influencing a growth mindset. Data were analyzed through categorizing, coding, and identifying themes that answered the research question. The findings of this study indicated that the mindset of the student and the teacher play an important role in academic success at the community college and that faculty desire training in tools and strategies to create classroom environments that foster a growth mindset. Recommendations include an in-depth, experiential professional development program based on research where community college educators from a variety of disciplines can collaborate to gain new knowledge and skills. Training community college educators using the most effective ways of fostering a growth mindset to increase students' motivation, effort, and persistence will lead to greater academic success and degree completion.</p>

<p>For over a decade, the nursing profession has increased enrollments and established new education programs in response to the national nursing shortage. The profession has focused on increasing the numbers of new graduate nurses prepared to replace the nation's aging nursing workforce. Considering the expense of this educational process with close supervision requirements, limited clinical spaces, and high attrition rates, this exploratory mixed methods study examined mentoring as a success strategy to retain nursing students in school. This study of nursing students enrolled in an associate's degree program in one California community college explored mentoring from the students' point of view. The study explored the personal perceptions and meaning attributed to the mentoring experiences of one group of nursing students. </p><p> Using focus group interviews, the qualitative phase of this study identified the characteristics and shared experiences of 20 volunteer participants. In the second phase, 112 student volunteers (57% response rate) completed an online survey developed from an analysis of the focus group interview data. The respondents' demographics were representative of the four semester nursing program student body. The survey findings affirmed that the participants perceived mentoring by a registered nurse beneficial and useful. Coaching and encouragement from a nursing professional as well as peer support had a positive impact on the program outcomes of retention and program completion. </p>