The percent of students with disabilities enrolled in college is substantially less than students without a disability. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the percent of the general population who hold a Bachelor's level college degree stands at 34.6% compared to only 16.4% of people with a disability (People with a disability less…

The goal of this narrative research is to contribute to the body of literature regarding African American males in higher education. This research challenges the deficit majoritarian narrative that historically has perpetuated a negative image of the contributions African American males bring to education. As a conceptual framework, Critical Race…

Self-compassion has been shown to bolster resilience (Leary, Tate, Adams, Batts Allen, & Hancock, 2007), intrinsic motivation (Neff, Hseih, & Dejitthirat, 2005), and a general sense of well-being (Arimitsu & Hofman, 2015) as students cope with academic and life stressors. While research has begun exploring gender as a factor for…

This study utilized a mixed methods design for the purpose of understanding relationships among classroom environment, motivation, and engagement on student success at a single community college in the Mid-Atlantic region. Bandura (2006) provided the theoretical framework for this study which suggested that a student's classroom performance is a…

The purpose of this dissertation in practice study was to describe the engagement levels and challenges of faculty teaching at-risk students to better understand support strategies that may enhance the classroom experience for students and instructors. The aim of this study was to create a set of guidelines for community colleges to foster…

Community colleges are an important, yet understudied, tier of the higher education system in the United States. Community colleges serve students from all socio-economic backgrounds. As such, community college students face challenges to their educations not seen in those attending more traditional schools. This dissertation recognizes these…

Equity is not just about what colleges do: it is also about who they are, what they believe, and how they are situated within society at large. Equity-minded coaching seeks to make visible the social and structural context of exclusionary practices embedded within the leadership and institutions of American higher education. Equity-minded coaches…

Since the creation of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill in 2009, there has been a large number of veterans returning from combat in the Middle East and enrolling for classes on college campuses. As Post 9/11 veterans return to college, they bring with them many experiences including exposure to combat. Some of these returning military personnel suffer from…

Objective: The objective of this study was to create a model of English learners' (ELs) persistence based on theory and empirical research. Findings from this research informs community college educators in helping ELs persist and guide future research regarding this important student population. Method: We examined ELs' persistence using…

Community college students are more likely to be low-income, people of color and first generation in their family to attend higher education than their four-year peers. For a combination of these reasons, they are more apt to be housing insecure. This article discusses how some community colleges are providing new solutions for residences for…

The gaps in graduation and retention rates between ethnic and gender groups continue to be a foremost area of focus at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), The City University of New York (CUNY). Equity and inclusion is also a critical concern as it relates to faculty and staff. At BMCC, a college-wide initiative, Designing for Success,…

Research has shown that academic momentum is a key factor in degree completion for students attending 4-year institutions. The characteristics of 2-year students (also called community college students) often lead them to engage in behaviors contrary to the theory of academic momentum, and these behaviors theoretically reduce their likelihood of…

Previous research has generally focused on understanding individual variation in either on-line processing or off-line comprehension even though some theories explicitly link difficulty in processing to comprehension problems. The goal of the current study was to examine individual variation in performance both during on-line and off-line reading…

Data in this report reflect responses from 296 four-year and two-year colleges and universities that collectively enroll approximately 1,700,000 undergraduate students (according to data reported to IPEDS). Respondents participated in the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) national electronic poll of Effective Practices for Student Success, Retention, and…

Over the past decade, the college enrollment rate for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) graduates has steadily increased, but the college completion rate has remained relatively flat. At the same time, practitioners have realized that the "traditional" path through college--enrolling in one institution and remaining enrolled through…