This study investigated the effectiveness of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Pathways Project in the Florida College System. The project, devised as a means of turning a new corner in community college success, sought to improve lackluster persistence, retention, completion, and success rates in America’s community colleges. The AACC Pathways Project has provided an evidence- and research-based roadmap that can adapted to a variety of institutional settings and scaled up to impact all students. The theoretical framework for this study was two-fold. First, behavioral economics and the Paradox of Choice helped to explain the decisions students make (or sometimes fail to make) and helped to define “maps” for every program of study, which aimed to get students on a path, keep them on a path, and ensure that they are learning. Second, learning theory informed our understanding of how motivation and goal-setting further clarified the supports and guardrails in these “maps” by creating and fostering student self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-determination. This study compared one participating institution with two non-participating peer institutions in the Florida College System. A robust difference-in-differences analysis was employed to both compare treatment vs. control institutions as well as pre- and post-treatment periods in the AACC Pathways Project. The outcomes of interest represented the same “Key Performance Indicators” in the AACC Pathways Project: the number of college-level credits completed in the first term and first year, gateway college-level mathematics and English completion in year one, fall-to-spring persistence, and overall college-level course completion rates in the first year. To better explore the impacts of the project in the local context, a secondary analysis investigated differential rates of change based on race/ethnicity, gender, and enrollment status (full-time or part-time)—all key demographics of interest to community colleges given their greater enrollments of underrepresented, underserved, and part-time students when compared to universities. Ultimately, this study sought to answer if guided pathways, as implemented via the AACC Pathways Project, improved student outcomes as measured by key performance indicators relating to persistence, college-level credits earned, and college-level course completion. The study was also charged with answering if the impact of the AACC Pathways Project differed for any subgroups of students at the treatment institution. The results were mixed—in some instances there were no differential changes, while in others there were higher or lower odds of measured outcomes. However, results for racial/ethnic minority groups, males, and part-time students in the treatment institution showed significant promise for the guided pathways movement. Indeed, early studies on the AACC Pathways Project have found positive changes in these outcomes. Thus, the most meaningful implication of this study is that this is provides a basis of knowledge of what is happening at one institution. Far more research and time is needed to have a better sense of the broader impacts of the guided pathways movement. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education. / Spring Semester 2019. / February 28, 2019. / AACC, American Association of Community Colleges, Community College Success, Guided Pathways, Pathways Project, Student SUccess / Includes bibliographical references. / Patrice Iatarola, Professor Directing Dissertation; James Klein, University Representative; Shouping Hu, Committee Member; Toby Park, Committee Member; Linda Schrader, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_709803 |
| Contributors | Pakowski, Lawrence Paul (author), Iatarola, Patrice (Professor Directing Dissertation), Klein, James D. (University Representative), Hu, Shouping (Committee Member), Park, Toby J. (Committee Member), Schrader, Linda B. (Committee Member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (155 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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