This paper uses Middle Tennessee State University's MT Scholars Academy, an extended early arrival program targeting first-year students who are classified as at-risk by a variety of measures, as a case study for demonstrating the effectiveness of AASCU's Re-Imagining the First-Year (RFY) initiative. In particular, this case study demonstrates the…

The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative case study design was to investigate whether a summer bridge program, developed for first-year, first-generation students, is effective in retaining students throughout the first year of college. The general problem for private and public institutions was that student college retention rates have…

Spanish teachers' feelings of self-efficacy can provide an important measure of their abilities to be effective in the classroom and, perhaps, affect student achievement. There is a need for qualitative research focused on the lived experiences of inservice foreign language teachers while they are immersed in the target culture in order to better…

Purpose: This paper aims to highlight the potential of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) summer bridge programs to promote college persistence by fostering a positive science identity among participants that is culturally consistent with the values and experiences of African American students. Design/methodology/approach:…

This case study examines the role of parents as situationally positioned educators during summer months. It illuminates the processes employed by a public charter school to empower parents to support student learning. The study is an action research case study of one school in a small network of schools. The goal was to determine the effectiveness…

Norco College, in Riverside County, California, developed the Summer Advantage program in 2012. This program is designed to reduce the number of students placed into precollegiate-level courses and increase first-year retention through participation in academic workshops, intrusive advisement, and college orientation. After four years, the Summer…

This case study reveals how middle school social studies teachers within a professional development program are encouraging their students to use multiple disciplinary literacies to create Our History Clips as they also work toward developing a classroom community of engaged student citizens.

This research provides preliminary results of an exploratory case study conducted of the Camps on TRACKS program in an inclusive, municipal day-camp program in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Positive changes are demonstrated in the social skills of nine day campers with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who participated in the program. In this…

This study describes an investigation of a research apprenticeship program that we developed for diverse high-school students often underrepresented in similar programs and in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions. Through the apprenticeship program, students spent 2 weeks in the summer engaged in biofuels-related research…

Drawing from the historical lens of cultural memory, I examined the development of three social studies pre-service teachers' African American history knowledge. The participants were engaged in a rigorous summer reading program dedicated to learning African American history. This qualitative case study examined both pre and post interpretations…

This longitudinal study assesses the impact of the University of Arizona's New Start Summer Program (NSSP) on participants' first year GPA and retention, controlling for incoming student characteristics. While programmatic participation significantly predicted first-year GPA and retention, this relationship became insignificant when controlling…

This study examines whether summer programming that relies on the delivery of a hands-on, experiential service learning curriculum to deliver content is able to reduce or eliminate summer learning loss in middle school students. Using Alexander, Entwisle, and Olson's (2001) faucet theory as a theoretical framework and a qualitative case study…

A shortage of highly qualified math and science teachers pervades the U.S. public school system. Clearly, recruitment of talented STEM educators is critical. Previous literature offers many suggestions for how STEM teacher recruitment programs and participant selection should occur. This study investigates how early STEM majors who are not already…

This report analyzes case studies of "more and better learning time" efforts around the country. With support from the Ford Foundation, America's Promise Alliance looked in Grand Rapids, MI; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; and Rochester, NY to see how time spent out of the classroom improved outcomes for students in low-income neighborhoods…

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if participants could improve their social interaction skills by participating in a virtual immersive environment. The participants used a developing virtual reality head-mounted display to engage themselves in a fully-immersive environment. While in the environment, participants had an opportunity…