Teacher shortages are a persistent challenge in the United States. I evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative pilot program that allowed principals to hand-select experienced staff members and paraeducators already working in schools to lead classrooms. Pilot educators are predominantly Black or African American. Districts reported randomly…

This study employed a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between peer mentoring and the academic success of students in STEM gatekeeper courses. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors contributing to the students' retention and persistence in a STEM program at an HBCU by…

The study below outlines the impact of an Early Alert Program at a Southeastern HBCU, examining this system's impact both between two cohort years, 2022 and 2023 respectively, and within the 2023 cohort. Further factors analyzed include the impact of gender, living on or off-campus, and the student's participation in tutorial services on campus.…

Given the critical role of mentoring in the success of African American males in college, it is essential to gain a deeper understanding of how mentoring programs can best support African American male students and what elements contribute to their success (Henry, 2021). Recognizing that mentoring significantly influences the retention, academic…

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of African American males who participated in mentoring and how doing so aided their persistence and academic success in higher education. The research questions explored the participants' lived experiences and how they contributed to their college experience. The sample…

Black male students have limited access to advanced placement classes and are often placed in special needs courses more frequently than their white counterparts (Hines et al., 2020; Wright et al., 2017). When compared to other demographic groups, indicators such as persistence, graduation rates, and GPA suggest Black male academic achievement…

This phenomenological study investigates teacher experiences using i-Ready's literacy-based software with Black male fifth-grade students in an urban school district in the Northeast region of the United States. The participant's knowledge about i-Ready is fundamental to understanding the program's impact on Black male fifth-grade students. This…

Access to college has increased substantially over the last 50 years, but student success--defined as the combination of academic achievement and degree or certificate completion--has largely remained stagnant. The gap between access and success is particularly noteworthy for male Black and Hispanic students, whose college completion rates lag…

The college enrollment and graduation rates of Black and Latino males continues to be a persistent higher education problem. Furthermore, institutions of higher education fail the interests and educational advancement of Black and Latino men by many measures such as retention and college completion rates. More specifically, institutionalized…

The attrition of Black males in higher education has garnered much attention within recent years. Subsequently, programming specific to this issue has been developed to intervene; however, there is very little research that has captured the impact of such initiatives. The current study employed a mixed methods approach to evaluate the effect a…

To address the persistent underrepresentation of women and racial and ethnic minorities in STEM, the current study utilized a quasi-experimental posttest waitlist control group approach to examine the effect of a 1-year virtual peer mentoring program on the academic, professional, and psychosocial outcomes of graduate mentors and undergraduate…

This study examined the levels of self-efficacy and hope of the students at-risk that participated in a college program with multiple retention initiatives. The students selected were identified as students at-risk due to their high school GPAs and standardized test scores. The initiative focused on enhancing their self-efficacy and hope through…

Undergraduate minority retention and graduation rates in STEM disciplines is a nationally recognized challenge for workforce growth and diversification. The Benjamin Banneker Scholars Program (BBSP) was a five-year undergraduate study developed to increase minority student retention and graduation rates at an HBCU. The program structure utilized a…

This mixed-methods study sought to examine teacher education candidates' practice-based field experiences and relationships with a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and an urban P-12 school. As informed by the Networked Improvement Community (NIC) and Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) conceptual frameworks, the three phases of data…

There has been a steady increase in college enrollment rates in recent decades, which has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in graduation rates. If this discrepancy is partly due to insufficient effort exerted by students, policies that aim at rewarding effort explicitly may succeed in increasing graduation rates. A unique and rich…