A newly identified character trait defined as "passion and perseverance for long-term goals," grit adds to our understanding of student behavior. While certain parts of grit can be taught, research is only beginning to examine how educators can do so.

College student persistence continues to be a vexing problem for colleges and universities. In Rethinking College Student Persistence (2014), Braxton, Doyle, Hartley, Hirshy, Jones, and McLendon explored the indirect role between cultural capital and first-year student persistence. The significance of this role becomes more important when one…

Low teacher engagement and retention are challenges faced by many schools, especially in high poverty contexts. In this case study, readers will draw on feedback and reflections provided by teachers that reflect realistic concerns current and aspiring school and districts leaders are faced with today in an endeavor to respond to these challenges.…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how science teachers who persisted in urban schools interpreted and responded to the unique features of urban educational contexts. With 17 alumni who taught in metropolitan areas across seven states, the Science Educators for Urban Schools (SEUS) program provided a research setting that…

This paper reports on the feasibility of "The Study Place Project" (TSP[superscript 2] ), a novel intervention designed to improve academic achievement and retention for first-year college students. Our aim was to provide students with regular study sessions in a minimal distraction environment, allowing them to apply their own…

What does it mean to be 'excellent', particularly for the higher education institution? Without a definitive answer to that question, university rankings have become a proxy for quality and excellence. As such, higher education institutions are continually seeking ways to improve their rankings, with the implication being that these rankings…

Despite a long tradition of social science research on educational access and barriers to inclusion for underrepresented minorities and the poor, until recently such issues have gotten relatively little attention in quantitative investigations of honors education. Public interest in educational access has grown in recent years, however, energizing…

England is currently facing a crisis in the recruitment and retention of teachers, with one-in-three newly qualified staff leaving the profession within five years of completing their training. This paper investigates several different aspects of the lives of recently qualified teachers in England, including their life satisfaction, mental health,…

The 2019 Kappa Delta Pi Teachers of Color Summit addressed three critical issues facing teacher education programs: recruitment, retention, and support of teachers of color upon graduation. This article targets strategies for teacher preparation programs to support teachers of color after graduation.

Positioned at a unique intersection of managing academic pressures and embodying racial and ethnic minority identity status, international graduate students of color (IGSCs) are frequent targets of multiple stressors. Unfortunately, extant counseling literature offers counselors little information on the psychosocial strengths IGSCs employ (e.g.,…

The first-year student experience in college is a crucial time for personal and professional development, especially for students entering science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Unfortunately, it is also the time when students most commonly leave STEM, largely due to disconnection from faculty and peers. The Freshman…

The phenomenon of teenage motherhood is a major concern worldwide. The teenage mothers endure many challenges that could affect their academic goals and successes if there is insufficient support. However, some teenage mothers manage to develop certain forms of flexibility to manage these adversities. This study explored the teenage mothers'…

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has added more stress to an already high-stress profession: American public school teacher. The authors of this report share the results of a new survey of nearly 1,000 former public school teachers and reveal how important stress has been--even more so than pay--to teachers' decisions to leave the…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that examines Oregon's statewide promise program. Representatives from Oregon's Higher Education Coordinating Commission and K-12 state and local education agencies worked with the Regional Educational Laboratory Northwest to conduct this study of Oregon Promise's reach and impact in its…

The "What Were the Reach and Impact of the Oregon Promise Financial Aid Program in Its First Two Years?" study examined Oregon Promise, a program that promotes students' postsecondary attainment by covering nearly all community college tuition. The study used student data from K-12 public schools, Oregon Promise applications, and…