Methods to estimate the causal effects of interventions are increasingly used in clinical medicine, public policy and social science. Using observational data, researchers can obtain causal treatment effect estimates without the ethical risks and time constraints that typically burden randomized experiments. The three studies in this dissertation…

The study explored the relationship between how many student success programs and which programs first-year students of color at the University of Kansas (KU) participated in and how this was related to outcomes of retention to sophomore-year and first-year GPA. The study used data from the University of Kansas of students of color who…

Using National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data, this report presents national and state-by-state findings on the postsecondary enrollment and completion outcomes of high school students who began taking dual enrollment (DE) college courses in fall 2015, tracked for four years after high school. This report describes the size and significance of…

"Social Belonging" interventions for college students aim to reduce the impacts of negative stereotypes that may burden students in underrepresented groups and affect their persistence in college. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of…

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…

Gaps in advanced high school coursework by socioeconomic status and geography persist in the United States, even among students with the ability and access to succeed in them. Lack of information on course availability and inaccurate self-perceptions may contribute to these inequities. We report on a large-scale experiment designed to increase…

This study evaluates the impact of the peer-mentoring program implemented by a Chilean higher education institution on underrepresented students' academic success. Specifically, it assesses whether freshmen who enrolled in 2018 and took part in this initiative performed better than students with similar characteristics who did not. A quantitative…

Do Washington state's targeted, public preschool programs help socially vulnerable students succeed in elementary school? In this study, we explore this question by examining the state's Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program. Using statewide censuses of…

As a promising tool for improving math education and closing the achievement gap, the use of educational technology has dramatically expanded in K-12 education in recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ASSISTments was one of the few digital learning programs recommended for use in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Sahni et al.,…

Schools in the United States are becoming more diverse with respect to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, but many minority students experience disconnection from school for a variety of reasons. Longstanding research on the jigsaw method suggests that it has been an effective intervention for increasing interdependence among students and…

Early intervention is a method institutions use to identify and support students who are having academic difficulty and might be designated as "at-risk", or more likely to leave an institution (Villano et al., 2018). Institutions often adopt early alert systems to support early intervention efforts and student retention (Barefoot et al.,…

Student-Centred Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) is a set of collaborative learning techniques that are shown to reduce the continuation and awarding gaps between students of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnicities (BAME) and White students when SCALE-UP is implemented throughout every module in an…

Purpose: This study examines the impact of participation in a STEM Enrichment Summer Bridge Program, funded by the NSF Houston-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, on undergraduate student success outcomes, particularly for under-represented students. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses propensity score matching and logistic…

"Social Belonging" interventions for college students aim to reduce the impacts of negative stereotypes that may burden students in underrepresented groups and affect their persistence in college. There are different variations of "Social Belonging" interventions but they all have in common a goal of influencing students' sense…

In 2014, the national average for students identified as gifted was 6.8%, but in Pennsylvania, the average number of students identified as gifted was only 3.4%. Despite already being behind in average identification, a suburban district outside of Philadelphia continued to see numbers of gifted students decline (almost by 50% since 2015). Since…