This dissertation's two primary purposes were to construct an alternative socioeconomic status model and estimate how it predicts student success in higher education. This research filled a gap in knowledge about the widely acknowledged disparities in higher education based on socioeconomic status. Prior research has often relied on parental…

Research shows college readiness can be predicted using a variety of measures, including test scores, grades, course-taking patterns, noncognitive instruments, and surveys of how well students understand the college admissions process. However, few studies provide guidance on how educators can prioritize predictors of college readiness across…

Noncredit community college enrollment accounts for approximately 40% of all enrollment in the two-year sector, or five million students (American Association of Community Colleges, 2016). Yet, this population is seldom discussed in the higher education literature due to inconsistent definitions, funding, and data reporting at the state level.…

Purpose: To examine demographic, functional, and clinical multiple sclerosis (MS) variables affecting employment status in a national sample of adults with MS in the United States. Method: The sample included 4,142 working-age (20-65 years) Americans with MS (79.1% female) who participated in a national survey. The mean age of participants was…

Teacher churning likely harms student achievement. However, the phenomenon of within-school grade-level teacher reassignments is understudied. The current study provides descriptive evidence on the frequency and predictors of within-school teacher grade switching using both longitudinal administrative data from Michigan and nationally…

The web tables in this report provide original and revised estimates of statistics previously published in 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08): Student Financial Aid Estimates for 2007-08 (NCES 2009-166). The revised estimates were generated using revised weights that were updated in August 2013. NPSAS:08 data were…

This study conducted secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to examine the degree to which student, family, and school constructs predicted self-determination outcomes. Multi-group structural equation modeling was used to examine predictive relationships between 5 student, 4 family, and 7 school…

This study conducted secondary analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) to examine the degree to which student, family, and school constructs predicted self-determination outcomes. Multi-group structural equation modeling was used to examine predictive relationships between 5 students, 4 family, and 7 school…

Social skills function as a vehicle by which we negotiate important relationships and navigate the transition from childhood into the educational and professional experiences of early adulthood. Yet, for individuals who are deaf, access to these opportunities may vary depending on their preferred language modality, family language use, and…

The ratings given by citizens to local public schools in the United States have been rising in the last decades. Using national public opinion surveys, this study seeks to understand the determinants of public evaluations of local schools across time. Aggregate trend analyses indicate that public evaluations of local schools are influenced not…

Many higher education studies have examined linear relationships between student experiences and outcomes, but this assumption may be questionable. In two notable examples previous research that assumed a linear relationship reached different substantive conclusions and implications than did research that explored non-linear associations among the…

The objective of this study is to examine the social profile of students who are enrolled in Basic General Education in Ecuador. Both a descriptive and multidimensional statistical analysis was carried out based on the data provided by the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment in 2015. The descriptive analysis shows the…

In the quest to improve measured educational outcomes national governments across the The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and beyond have instituted large-scale assessment (LSA) policies in their public schools. Controversy almost universally follows the implementation of such testing, related to such topics as: a)…

Disparities in science achievement across race and gender have been well documented in secondary and postsecondary school; however, the science achievement gap in the early years of elementary school remains understudied. We present findings from the recently released Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 that…

This policy brief advances the growing literature on how student loan debt affects individuals' other economic decisions. Specifically, it examines the impact of student loan liabilities on individuals' homeownership status and wealth accumulation. The analysis employs a rich set of financial and demographic control variables that are not…