Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of academically under-prepared African American community college students regarding supports for and barriers to program completion. For the purpose of this study, program completion will be defined as satisfying all the academic requirements needed to attain a certificate, degree,…

A wide range of occupations require science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills, yet almost half of students who intend to pursue a postsecondary STEM education abandon these plans before graduating from college. This attrition is especially pronounced among underrepresented groups (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities and…

Given the challenges first-generation students face in college including lower likelihood to persist from their first to second year of college and the positive effect LLPs have been found to have on student outcomes, this study seeks to examine if and in what ways LLPs influence the first-year experiences of first-generation college students…

We used a mixed method research design to address the complexity of interrogating issues related to retention of Black mathematics teachers. The research design includes oral history interviews with retired Black mathematics teachers and large-scale survey data collected and analyzed from a Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality approach. It…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the influence of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) on teacher beliefs and behaviors that result in engagement of all students and persistence with those who struggle academically. This study consisted of eight high school teachers of English, mathematics, science, and social studies who each…

First-generation college students are students whose parents do not have a college degree, and they face numerous barriers in college. Yet, several first-generation college students (FGCS) are successful and are on-track to graduate with a bachelor's degree in four years. Their success is important because education is associated with increased…

Motivation and emotional regulation are important for the sustained focused study and practice required for high levels of achievement and creative productivity in adulthood. Using the talent development model proposed by the authors as a framework, the authors discuss several important psychosocial skills based on the psychological research…

Scaling up educational interventions in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field is critical but under-researched. We review and draw implications from a series of studies investigating the long-range impact of an implementation of an early mathematics scale-up model based on learning trajectories. Lasting effectiveness…

Interested in improving the quality of teaching in Higher Education Institutions (IES), we integrate research on good teachers, carried out by both the author and other researchers. These studies are distinguished by having used different methodologies, being carried out at different times and in different places; however, there are important…

National data indicates that community colleges enroll the highest percentage of Black students in higher education. Prior research suggested that increased sense of belonging promoted positive student outcomes and increased persistence of students within two-year campuses. To better understand what contributes to their sense of belonging, the…

The focus of this article is the result of an unexpected finding in a life narrative qualitative study. The research was conducted in a predominately White, research-extensive Midwestern state university and it explored how gender, ethnicity, and college experiences affected five undergraduate Latina students' perceptions of their academic…

Students must master content for success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but "how to" is rarely taught in college. Faculty are reluctant to sacrifice class time, believe such instruction is remedial, or assume students possess or will attain these skills independently. To determine whether explicit…

In this article, I utilize a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effects of Tulsa Achieves--a prevalent and understudied type of tuition-free college program. In contrast to concerns regarding tuition-free community college suppressing bachelor's degree attainment, I find that Tulsa Achieves increased the likelihood of transferring to…

Background: Research illustrates that student motivations influence learning engagement, persistence, and achievement in powerful ways and that positive motivations are linked to deeper learning, critical thinking, pro-social behavior, and better performance. Most studies of learner motivation, however, are conducted outside of STEM and are…

Although colleges in the United States have become increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, degree attainment remains disproportionately low among students from underrepresented and minoritized racial backgrounds. In this paper, we discuss the interactive influence of both person and environment factors in shaping academic persistence and…