Gun violence is a critical public safety concern in the United States. In 2006 California implemented a unique firearm monitoring program, the Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS), to address gun violence in the state. The APPS program first identifies those firearm owners who be-come prohibited from owning one due to federal or state law,…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of students formally enrolled in a California community college promise program at Mountain View Community College, Lakeview Community College, Hillcrest Community College, and Ocean Valley Community College, each located in Southern California. The…

Implementing a randomized controlled trial design, the present study investigated the effects of two types of accommodations, linguistic modification and a glossary, for English learners (ELs) taking a computer-based mathematics assessment. Process data including response time and clicks on glossary words were also examined to better interpret…

Open-access colleges are an important pathway to economic mobility for millions of Americans. But graduation rates at these colleges are low--for example, only 36 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen at community colleges graduate within three years. Over the last two decades, MDRC and others have conducted research to build the evidence base…

This study examined the association between participation in a school-based group-mentoring program (Project Arrive) and academic outcomes in a group of ninth-grade students who had been identified as at high risk of high-school dropout (n = 239). Comparison participants were ninth-grade students with similar levels of risk (n = 980). Using…

Gamification is a term first coined early in the 21st century, and the application of its principles has been seen in the business world. Department stores, convenient stores, airlines, and credit card companies have implemented loyalty points to keep customers buying their products. From the business world, to the daily lives of students,…

Foundations across the country engage in grantmaking to eliminate the opportunity and achievement gaps in K-12 public schools. Many of the strategies and investments that funders have supported in recent years focus not only on "more time" but also on "better use of time" in schools. This better use of time centers on outcomes…

In 2 experiments we investigated the efficacy of self-paced study in multitrial learning. In Experiment 1, native speakers of English studied lists of Dutch-English word pairs under 1 of 4 imposed fixed presentation rate conditions (24 × 1 s, 12 × 2 s, 6 × 4 s, or 3 × 8 s) and a self-paced study condition. Total study time per list was equated for…

Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

The Aid Like A Paycheck student survey was designed to shed light on students' academic and financial attitudes, behaviors, and circumstances over the course of a semester. This supplement to MDRC's final report on Aid Like A Paycheck describes the survey, response rates, and responses to each survey item at three community college systems: two in…

This dissertation includes three chapters focusing on policies directly related to improving college access and success. The first chapter focuses on lifetime eligibility of federal and state financial aid policies. The Pell Grant plays a critical role in helping students across the US to afford undergraduate education. In spite of its importance…

This article learns from student voices about how their education abroad experiences were shaped by their agency. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 22 U.S. community college and university students and with U.S. faculty and U.K. senior staff who worked at a Study Abroad Center in London. The study focuses on what the students said…

According to the US Department of Education, adult learners make up 45% of all part-time enrollment in community colleges, compared to only 27% of full-time students. As the enrollment of adult learners in post-secondary education increases across the US, accountability efforts among higher education institutions has prioritized full-time…

Since 2004, the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) has offered the Executive Development Program (EDP), a leadership program for sitting school principals that is typically delivered in two-day workshops once per month over 12 months. From its inception through 2018, 15,000 principals across 23 states have participated in the EDP.…