The purpose of this quantitative cluster analysis was to create a profile of students attending, graduating, and withdrawing from an alternative high school located in Georgia. Using a hierarchical cluster analysis method, clusters were formed based on the clustering variables of age overage, poverty, Multilingual Learner status, student…

Improving student learning and behavior has been a topic of discussion in the education community for a long time. The Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) program is proposed to achieve this. While PBIS successfully improves academic and behavioral outcomes, there are concerns that it may only meet the needs of some students.…

Despite many theories on student success as well as many resources to help students make the transition from high school to college, many students do not persist in or graduate from college. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide insight into what takes place when students leave P-12 institutions and enter institutions of higher education…

Simulations were conducted to establish best practice in hyperparameter optimization and accounting for clustering in Generalized Linear Mixed-Effects Model Trees (GLMM trees). Using data-driven best practices, the relationship between a 9th Grade On-Track to Graduate (9G-OTG) indicator and observed high school graduation within four years was…

As the world of social media consumes the lives of adolescents, many high school students are spending more time engaging in social media platforms than their academics. People connect with one another in the physical world and the virtual world simultaneously in the current cyber era. As students continue to use spend more time using social…

College staff performing recruiting tasks without collaboration or shared knowledge formation creates redundancies and knowledge gaps. This study sought to investigate causes and find solutions to recruitment gaps and redundancies. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of interviews with college staff and recent high school…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the perspectives virtual high school graduates have about their self-regulation and college and career readiness by using an online survey and semi-structured interview. Of the 28 eligible participants who attended one virtual high school in the Midwest for at least two years and graduated…

Bullying was a pervasive issue affecting high schools in the United States despite anti-bullying programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of former high school bullying victims about why anti-bullying programs have not reduced incidents of bullying. The conceptual framework that supported this study was…

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 13 former career and technical graduates who participated in an internship while in high school. With each participant, the researcher conducted interviews that focused on their perceptions of their internship experience and the influence it had on their career or college pathway. The…

In January 2000, the Alternative and Safe Schools Instructional and Support Division (ASSIS) of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) was charged with developing guidelines that determined how districts could establish and maintain effective Alternative Learning Programs (NC DPI, 2014). In 2003, ASSIS produced the first…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which differences existed in the attainment of Texas Education Agency approved industry-based certifications of Texas high school graduates by their ethnicity/race, gender, and economic status. In the first study, the degree to which the attainment of Texas…

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of Career and Technical Education (CTE) and non-CTE high school graduates regarding CTE programs. Utilizing an anonymous online survey, data from 51 respondents were analyzed to explore viewpoints on valuable CTE programs, their influence on career trajectories and education, acquired skills,…

Recent high school graduates enter a period of postsecondary transition where they are expected to obtain employment, enter college, or enroll in a training program. Postsecondary outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are notably lower than their neurotypical peers. Forty-two percent of students with ASD present with normal…

The purpose of this research was to gain a greater understanding of the transition experiences of students on the autism spectrum. Because the transition phenomenon itself was the focus of the study, information was sought not only from the primary perspective of students on the autism spectrum, but also from family members who participated in…

The U.S. education system provides 12 years of public education, but with the main focus on academics, graduates may not know how to complete the many adulthood tasks required of them when they exit high school. This quantitative study investigated the health, money, home, and travel skills high school graduates from 2010-2020 learned from their…