This dissertation was designed to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of a Ninth-Grade Transition Program at a Rural High School in Central North Carolina. The ninth grade is a pivotal year that determines which students will prevail and which students will fail to finish high school (Hertzog, 2003). It is essential that schools put in place…

According to Gilroy (2007) individuals with learning disabilities (LD) represent the fastest growing population of disabled college students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate and to report the types of support services offered to LD students enrolled in four Western Pennsylvania universities. The researcher conducted…

Across the nation, school policymakers are grappling with what to do about the increasing numbers of students who do not advance beyond ninth grade. National estimates put the student attrition rate before tenth grade at between 11 and 33 percent, and only about 70 percent of ninth graders make it to graduation. This policy brief focuses on one…

This paper attempts to offer a critical examination of the notion of student support in higher education in the UK. It compares some of the key ways in which student support is understood across the sector and contrasts a humanistic view with understandings driven more by instrumental and therapeutic concerns. The possible risks and effects that…

For big urban districts, it can be slippery work to catch and hold students who are falling off track at a point that derails too many graduations: the transition from 8th to 9th grade. This article reports that the Chicago school district is putting a suite of new data reports into the hands of those who teach and counsel its 30,000 freshmen this…

This research seeks to contribute to current discussion of gender differences in experience of higher education. Its specific focus is to compare the assessment of various university services by male and female students. The research sample consisted of 9793 students who participated in three University of Western Sydney surveys in 2004 and 2005.…

Enrollment management is a major component within the organizational structure of most four-year universities today. However, this is not necessarily the case with community colleges. With the continual decrease in public funding and increased competition with private colleges and universities, public community colleges are now being forced to…

Since their introduction in 2006, for the two years for which figures are available, variable tuition fees have brought 1.3 billion British pounds new income into the higher education sector. This report provides an insight into how this income has been used by English universities. It is based on national data and responses from 62% of English…

In this article I critically evaluate whether or not learning skills acquired in the university access programme enhance participation in academic practice. University access programmes have been developed with a view to preparing and empowering under-prepared students who did not meet the university criteria. The article claims that even though…

Improving student outcomes requires better tools for assessing program effectiveness. Student success courses are offered on most college campuses. However, extant research is overwhelmingly summative, of mixed rigor, and focused on four-year colleges, providing limited support for improving practice in community colleges. This study examined…

The Learning Communities Demonstration is a national research project that is testing the effectiveness of learning communities in six community colleges across the United States: Merced College in California; The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in Baltimore, Maryland; Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida; Houston…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the common programs and practices that Beating the Odds (BTO) high schools in California are using to achieve high graduation rates. More specifically, this study identifies specific programs and practices that the high schools are using to address at-risk student behaviors as well as…

As concern grows about the level of college completion in the U.S., higher education leaders are seeking ways to help more students attain their educational objectives. This study sought to aid that effort by determining if a theoretical framework of sense of community developed by McMillan and Chavis (1986) influences students' decisions to…

Institutional leaders, educators, and policymakers are challenged to improve educational outcomes for all students, including Latinos. "Excelencia" in Education responds to this challenge by linking research, policy, and practice that supports higher educational achievement for Latino students. Premier in this effort is Examples of…

This technical report presents the findings of a study of perceptions of elementary public school educators regarding the academic and social emotional needs, existing institutional supports, and potential areas for improving school responsiveness to educational obstacles faced by military-connected children experiencing transitions and parental…