Student retention is an important issue in distance education. In the literature of higher education literature, however, information on student retention in online courses is incomplete. Few empirical studies have been conducted. Many articles reference the issue and then provide descriptions of best practices to address retention. Seldom,…

This article focuses on findings from the author's dissertation study on 100 teachers (K-12) from 13 states, who were beginning a video-based distance learning Master's Program at a western United States university during summer term 2000. The purpose of the study was to find out if a specially designed orientation booklet of activities that…

The purposes of this study were to ascertain which Texas public community colleges have been able to graduate the highest percentages of black males and to analyze the factors contributing to that achievement. An institutional questionnaire was developed, designed to elicit information regarding policies and/or practices directly related to the…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

In order to explore the differences in engagement levels between entering and returning community college students, the researcher analyzed 13,300 surveys from the 2007 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) pilot data set utilizing a quantitative methodology. This study focused on analyzing engagement levels of entering and returning…

Students and parents need ample time and accurate information to prepare for the financial burden of a college education--those who lack this knowledge base face a significant access barrier to higher education. This problem can be countered by the delivery of comprehensive, integrated financial aid information, an approach identified by the…

Significant progress has been made over the past four decades in enrolling more students from historically underrepresented groups in U.S. colleges and universities. While total enrollment increased by about 40% overall, minority student enrollment increased by 146%, with Hispanic undergraduate enrollment greatly outpacing other racial/ethnic…

A study was conducted at Laramie County Community College to assess the performance of developmental students and evaluate the effectiveness of the college's testing and placement system. The study tracked students entering in fall 1993 whose placement scores identified them as developmental to determine actual enrollment and performance in…

To help improve teaching and learning and to provide data required by the California community college system, Porterville College (PC) has assembled a list of core indicators of effectiveness and student success. This report describes PC's indicators and includes information on measurement criteria and data sources. First, definitions are…

This report provides statistical information on minority undergraduate participation in postsecondary education and postsecondary persistence among racial-ethnic groups, based on the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). The data indicate that, after a dramatic increase in minority enrollment in the 1960s and 1970s, there was uneven…

There is significant evidence demonstrating the inability of the teaching profession to keep pace with other occupations in the retention of talent. While minority teachers have been found to be especially at risk, many teachers, both minority and nonminority, leave the profession within a few years of entering. The purpose of this study was to…

Beginning in 1992, Atlantic Community College, in New Jersey, conducted a 4-semester study to determine which factors resulted in student attrition and whether the factors that affected retention changed during the study period. The study population included 119 degree-seeking students who entered in January 1992 and who took the state's basic…

Until the beginning of 1994, federal law permitted mandatory retirement of tenured faculty at age 70. The Committee on Mandatory Retirement in Higher Education, formed by the National Research Council, was charged by Congress to examine potential effects on colleges, universities, and faculty members of ending the exemption for tenured faculty…

The Student Participation And Retention Keys (SPARK) project at Blue Ridge Community College sought to determine why adult basic education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) students dropped out of the college's basic skills program and how student retention could be improved. With input from current and former students, a survey form…

This book of student activities is intended to be used with a text, "Keeping a Head in School," written for preadolescents and adolescents with learning disorders. It includes a variety of work sheets, puzzles, games, and checklists, to accompany the text's chapters. The first chapter has activities concerning basic concepts related to learning…