The Division of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services at Old Dominion University (ODU) submitted a Request for Assistance to examine the challenges sophomore students face that can lead to attrition. A doctoral research team conducted a exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods study consisting of a literature review, focus groups and interviews…

In Florida teacher retention a critical with more than 4,000 unfilled teaching positions and 1,200 teachers teaching with a temporary certificate. Issue such as negative impacts on student dropout rates, turnover rates, and an increase in recruitment costs. The problem in this study is the teacher shortage in central Florida rural schools.…

The research entitled, "The Factors That Affect Retention Rates of African-American Students Pursuing Stem Degrees from Historically Black Colleges and Universities" is a quantitative study that analyzes academic factors, specifically in the first year of college, and their impact on the retention of African-American Science, Technology,…

Nearly half of students who enter college do not graduate. The majority of efforts to increase college completion have focused on supporting students before or soon after they enter college, yet many students drop out after making significant progress towards their degree. In this paper, we report results from a multi-year, large-scale…

Nearly half of students who enter college do not graduate. The majority of efforts to increase college completion have focused on supporting students before or soon after they enter college, yet many students drop out after making significant progress towards their degree. In this paper, we report results from a multi-year, large-scale…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to better understand the lived experiences of novice teachers in K12 Hawaii schools implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) and what, if any, influence their experiences have on their resilience and retention. The research questions that guided this study: What are the lived…

While investing in the teacher workforce is central to improving schools, school resources are notoriously limited, forcing school leaders to make difficult decisions on how to prioritize funds. This paper examines a critical input to resource allocation decisions: teacher preferences. Using an original, online discrete choice survey experiment…

To help students realize their goals, community colleges across the country are working toward redesigning the student experience utilizing the guided pathways framework. Guided pathways is an institution-wide approach to student success that is based on giving students clear, coherent, and structured educational experiences that build in a…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was perhaps no group of students better prepared to make the switch to online learning than Gen Z. Research supports the fact that Gen Z adapts quickly to and enjoys technology integration in educational spaces (Barber, 2020; Mellman, 2020; Pavao, 2020; Strawser, 2020), yet no research has explored how at-risk…

This brief examines enrollment patterns, demographics, education patterns, and financial aid use for Minnesota undergraduate students who are adult learners. The analysis also explores the changes in those patterns and characteristics as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For purposes of this brief, the differing characteristics of two important…

Free online courses, including Massively Open Online Courses, have great potential to increase the inclusiveness of education, but suffer from very high course dropout rates. A study of 172 K-12 students and 114 K-12 teachers taking the same free, online, summertime programming course finds that student and teacher populations have different…

Belonging in a discipline or department is an important aspect of people's persistence in that discipline or department, especially for undergraduate students. Previous research has shown that increasing student feelings of belonging in a department benefits all students and is even more valuable for women, racialized people, and other…

Student support is a key focus within the widening participation agenda, as effective support enhances retention and success. However, student support is not well defined in higher education, which is problematic as it is difficult to measure success if stakeholders have different definitions. Without clear boundaries in student support, educators…

To ensure students with disabilities receive the services they need to support their learning, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004. IDEA requires that each state: (1) implement IDEA with fidelity; (2) sustain special education programs that meet IDEA's educational standards; and (3) monitor…

The academic underperformance of high school students with learning disabilities may reduce their access to higher education and decrease their employment opportunities. Based on stereotype threat hypothesis, the present study examined the role of stereotype threat in academic performance among adolescents with learning disabilities and the…