Students with lived experience in government care can face significant challenges in their lives and their educational journeys. Students entering higher education may be simultaneously transitioning out of government care and grappling with the complexities of a new educational system. Students formerly in care are more likely than the general…

Although more students with disabilities are attending university than ever before, many still have difficulties with the transition from high school. Transition research has extensively examined the factors and barriers that support or hinder successful transitions for students with disabilities. However, there has been little explicit focus on…

Retention of students in university or other postsecondary education programs is a common problem for many institutions, with retention from first year to second year of study being particularly problematic in Canada and the United States. A number of factors are known to affect retention, and a number of measures have been identified which can…

The transition from high school to post-secondary education is often difficult for students. The literature examining factors that foster a successful transition generally focuses on previous academic achievement and/or individual differences that enable students to navigate the culture of university. Through interviews with first year university…

A 2013 British Columbia Council of Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) research report suggested the need to continue research on mature students for the sake of ensuring access to postsecondary education (PSE) for adults and other categories of non-traditional students. The 2013 report laid a basis for this study which investigates key elements of…

This study involved a one-time survey of first-year undergraduate students at a Canadian University to determine their expectations when beginning a writing intensive course (i.e., the so-called "W" course, which is required of all first-year undergraduates at the University of Manitoba.) In this study, we focused on the University's…

In this applied research project, the tendency for Youth Workers to treat admissions as a sudden procedural event was problematic at a treatment program. Literature from (brief) constructivist therapies, youth care work, and interviews with administrators, youth workers, and youths at a treatment program were used to solve the problem. The Context…

This appendix was created to minimize aspects of the data analysis carried out for the quantitative study of Transition Years Initiatives in Ontario (Canada) schools. Technical appendices for the multivariate statistical procedures used in this analysis were needed for chapters 5 through 9 of the main report. The bulk of these appendices are path…

The purpose of this study was to assess both the needs of students in transition from elementary to middle school and the extent to which those needs were being met. A questionnaire was used to obtain the perceptions of 117 sixth-grade students, 64 parents of sixth-grade students, 37 parents of fifth-grade students, nine sixth-grade teachers, and…

This research report represents the first phase of a multi-year collaborative research initiative of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario. The initiative is designed to develop a cohesive picture of the pathways from secondary school to college. The major purpose of this phase of the research was to identify…