Retention of students in university or other postsecondary education programs is a common problem for many institutions, with retention from first year to second year of study being particularly problematic in Canada and the United States. A number of factors are known to affect retention, and a number of measures have been identified which can…

Veterans enrolled in college face unique challenges compared with those of traditional students. Their experiences and perspectives, coupled with battling stereotypes and entering an unstructured college setting, contribute toward what can be a difficult transition. Student veteran organizations, veteran resource centers, veteran-specific…

In November 2017, the National Center for Special Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences convened a group of experts to discuss and provide input on research needs for improving outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The discussion focused on four major topics of inquiry: (1) What do we know about…

This is the latest in a series of case studies highlighting best practices High Schools That Work (HSTW) network schools and districts are implementing to prepare students better for further studies and careers. Fort Mill High School is in Fort Mill, South Carolina, an outlying suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. Fort Mill links high quality…

This study explores whether students from low-income families and racial/ethnic minority groups have the opportunity to benefit in what is arguably the most rigorous type of credit-based transition program: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). The analyses first describe national longitudinal trends in characteristics of…

While a number of studies have examined outcomes associated with early intervention programs that have a financial aid component, few have examined the experiences of student beneficiaries of those programs and the administrators charged with carrying out state mandates associated with the implementation of the programs. This gap in the literature…

Practical skills are important for the employability of biosciences graduates; however, first year science undergraduates often struggle to adapt to university practical classes, affecting skills development and decreasing their enthusiasm for laboratory work. This study describes the effects of introducing online multimedia practical support…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

Black Hawk College (BHC) is a comprehensive community college serving all or part of nine counties and a population of approximately 224,510 residents in a mostly rural area of north-west Illinois. This practice was fully developed and implemented for the Shifting Gears (SG) initiative during the 2007-08 academic years. Heeding BHC's strategic…

This report, which was commissioned as part of the Institute for Higher Education Policy's Walmart Minority Student Success Initiative, seeks to highlight how specific institutional policies and faculty-driven, classroom-based practices at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) can change in an effort to better support the academic and social…

Developmental education students make up almost half of the community college population in the United States (Bettinger & Long, 2005). Approximately 42% of first-time freshmen at community colleges must enroll in at least one developmental education course in English, reading and/or math (NCES, 2010). Many developmental education students are…

Increasing pressures on colleges and universities to ensure degree completion and job placement as measures of success make it imperative that the path to graduation is clear and that seniors receive the support needed to earn a degree and make a successful transition to life beyond college. This new edited collection describes today's college…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the common programs and practices that Beating the Odds (BTO) high schools in California are using to achieve high graduation rates. More specifically, this study identifies specific programs and practices that the high schools are using to address at-risk student behaviors as well as…

The inaugural report in the National Resource Center's new research series on college transitions examines institutional initiatives designed to support students in the second college year. The authors report on findings from the second administration of the National Survey of Sophomore-Year Initiatives, describing the kinds of programs offered…

The purpose of this study was to identify instructional strategies and support services of five learning community programs that focus on the retention of African American students at California Community Colleges. Empirical research indicates that colleges and universities have historically structured their curricula, student services programs,…