The recent complexity of the university system, with diverse academic trajectories and varying socio-demographic characteristics of students, has led to increased access for historically underrepresented students. This has resulted in a rising number of adult learners, students with external responsibilities and individuals returning to education.…

This dissertation is composed of three studies linking general education astronomy to student performance, course-taking, graduation, and identity. The first study examined demographic and academic predictors of astronomy performance among a cohort of N=1,909 community college students enrolled in astronomy courses in a large suburban community…

The purpose of this study sought to examine how midterm math performance can impact a student's final math performance, STEM performance, overall performance, as well as retention and graduation with a STEM major. The sample consisted of 283 first-time full-time undergraduate students who were admitted in Fall 2014 as STEM majors within a liberal…

Completion of remedial mathematics has been identified as one of the keys to college success. However, completion rates in remedial mathematics have been low and are of much debate across America. This study leverages machine learning techniques in trying to predict and understand completion rates in remedial mathematics. The purpose of this study…

Schools and neighborhoods are adolescents' primary environments, and each has a significant influence on their academic success. The majority of studies on educational attainment have examined the impact of a single context--either the school or the neighborhood--suggesting mixed findings on school and neighborhood effects as well as potential…

This study investigated whether instructional modality in an undergraduate degree program, either traditional on-campus or asynchronous online, and racial/ethnic group could predict students' reports of satisfaction with the institution, retention year-over-year, and graduation within an eight-year award rate. Data from surveys and enrollment…

Working from the notion that the goal of middle school is to prepare students to successfully transition to high school, Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC) researchers investigated a range of outcomes consistent with this aim, such as performance in ninth grade, promotion to tenth grade, and course grades or test scores in middle…

Using publicly available data, the researchers examined variables that may predict English learner graduation rates (ELGR) at the school and school-system levels to determine whether the school average per pupil expenditure (PPE), the school mobility rate (MOB), the percentage of teachers out of field (TOF), and the percentage of inexperienced…

STEM preparation--especially high school math course-taking--is a key predictor of college entrance. Previous research suggests that high school English learners (ELs) not only take fewer advanced math courses but also enroll in college at much lower rates than non-ELs--a group that includes former ELs. In the present study, we alter the analytic…

The interest and participation in dual credit programs and courses has grown over the past several decades, especially within Texas; however, there is a lack of research that shows how the participation in dual credit programs and courses has impacted leading and lagging student success metrics once they enroll at a post-secondary institution. The…

Physics education research to date has predominantly focused on the undergraduate level. This has left critical avenues of research in graduate education relatively understudied and has motivated much of my research. Numerous studies across the education research landscape have analyzed undergraduate admissions practices, but few have critically…

This study was designed to determine whether the alignment of state and local priorities was a predictor of improving results, specifically the reduction in the percentage of inexperienced principals and percentages of low-performing schools and the increase in graduation rates. The population of this study included 115 North Carolina school…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine if and to what extent students' Cognitive Ability, first-term GPA, and ethnicity predict student graduation status from a CTE college in Texas. Student retention rates continue to be a cause for great concern for higher learning, even more so for CTE institutions.…

While students have enrolled in college at increased rates since 1996, graduation rates have remained mostly stagnant (NCES, 2022). First-generation Appalachian students, specifically, had lower college completion rates but higher college enrollment rates than their peers (ARC, 2018). Since 2007, researchers have supported the use of non-cognitive…

Background: Increasing the persistence of engineering transfer students can help meet the US national priority of increasing the number of engineering graduates. Many transfer students experience a decrease in their grade point average (GPA) at their receiving institution, known as transfer shock, which can lead to them leaving the institution.…