Understanding community college English language learner (ELL) goals may help educators better support ELLs to set and pursue those goals. One lens that has illuminated important differences in ELL goals is constructive-developmental theory (CDT). Using a CDT lens, this qualitative case study investigated the goals of six community college ELLs…

Family, school, and community contexts each link to secondary school enrollment, yet these factors have been comparatively examined only in limited ways. A holistic examination of contextual factors will be particularly important for engineering where college enrollment patterns vary by demographics. To begin explaining patterns of engineering…

Objective: This study seeks to deepen understanding of faculty leaders' perceptions of the concept of shared governance. Moving beyond descriptive considerations of faculty perceptions of efficacy of good or bad governance and the discourse focused on declining faculty involvement and conflict paradigms, I consider governance a co-constructed…

This study examines the dynamics of collaborative work that promote leadership as an outcome of team processes. Through an in-depth exploration of a community college that developed an organizational model of shared leadership over a period of seven months, this study aims to contribute to our qualitative understanding of how a vision of shared…

With the rising need for community college administrators, many colleges are looking outside of academia for individuals to fill upper-level positions. Controversy has risen over administrative hires as to whether the incumbent should be from within academia or from business. This leads us to question if there is a difference between individuals…

The purpose of this case study research was to investigate the use of Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) with a community college student enrolled in a college remedial reading course. This study explored two questions: (1) What types of reading strategies and behavior patterns are used by high school graduates enrolled in a community college…

This chapter provides a portrait of faculty development in community colleges, highlighting different issues facing faculty based on location and including a review of the impact of socialization on how faculty approach their roles. The research reported in this chapter draws from two sources: data from a qualitative case study, which provides the…

My dissertation utilizes an explanatory, sequential mixed-methods research design to assess factors influencing community college students' transfer probability to baccalaureate-granting institutions and to present promising practices in colleges and states directed at improving upward transfer, particularly for low-income and first-generation…