The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify possible relationships between academic achievement, as measured by high school graduation rate and ACT composite scores of individual school districts within the state of Tennessee, and the per-pupil expenditure of each district. Research was conducted to determine whether a significant…

Guided pathways are emerging as a strategy to help students complete a credential in a timely manner by encouraging or requiring them to select a program, and develop a degree plan or map, on a specified timeline. At a minimum, institutions may ask students to identify a meta-major, which is a broad area of academic programs with related courses…

In 2014-15, the high school graduation rate reached a record high of 83 percent (U.S. Department of Education 2016). Despite the gains, over half a million students still drop out of high school each year (U.S. Department of Education 2015). High schools have adopted various strategies designed to keep students who are at risk of not graduating in…

This study uses the Clark and Estes gap analysis framework to examine completion rates in online learning. The purpose of this project was to identify the knowledge, motivation, and organizational barriers influencing the first cohort of an online MBA program at a prestigious university. The results and recommendations from this study provide a…

Early warning systems (EWS), in the context of secondary transition, are tools that analyze individual student-level data and estimate each student's risk of dropping out of school or completing school on time. Such tools generally consider three primary types of data--commonly referred to as the A, B, Cs: attendance/absence data,…

This case was developed for use with future school and district leaders in an educational setting. There are several topics of discussion that can be developed, including but not limited to decentralization as a large-scale reform, policy implementation, the superintendency, and urban schools. The setting is a fictional southwestern urban school…

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a form of critical participatory action research that provides young people with opportunities to identify injustices in their current social realities, to gather and analyze data about these phenomena, and to determine actions that will begin to rectify their negative outcomes. A growing body of…

Launched in 1997, the Diversity Scholars Research Program (DSRP) is an undergraduate performance-based scholarship program that aims to attract academically talented, underrepresented minority (URM) students to the IUPUI campus. The program provides financial assistance (tuition, academic stipend, conference travel, and some housing), mentoring,…

Many interventions have been proposed to improve the retention and graduation rates of engineering students. One such intervention is to use study groups for first-year college students; such groups provide a structured environment in which the students can learn course material from each other outside of class and can provide the students with a…

This article considers student affairs practice within the Completion Agenda by studying community college student affairs educators' beliefs about their work related to the value others attribute to it. The Completion Agenda's goals are largely economic, and community colleges have been asked to focus on speed rather than the quality of the…

Canadian schools introduced community service program in 1999 to engage youth in diverse communities of Canada. Many studies have identified the gap in understanding immigrant youths' experience on mandatory community service but has yet to study immigrant youth's experience. Therefore, this paper explores the experiences of young Nepalese…

Studies of psychological distress (PD) in university students have shown that they have high prevalence rates. These findings have raised concerns that PD may be leading to poorer student outcomes, such as elevated dropout rates. The aim of this study was to examine the association of PD in undergraduate university students with the competing…

Purpose: For several decades, human and financial resources have been the focus of academic institutions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields of study because of low matriculation and graduation involving diverse student populations. However, there is a paucity of research about pathways to doctoral-level education and…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), from 2000-2010, in higher education there was a 73% increase in the enrollment of African American students in college and universities nationwide, however, the tragedy is that African American students have the lowest nationwide graduation and retention rates, and from 2010-2015…

With the projected radiography healthcare worker shortfall, improved program completion is essential in order to meet workforce needs. The purpose and the specific research question addressed in this study was "Is there an association between completing the pre-admission requirements prior to beginning core radiography courses and Radiography…