Community College Education Administration Commons^™

Exploring Culturally Responsive Faculty Practices That Support Student Success In Community College Classrooms, Mary Catherine Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the culturally responsive teaching practices used by six community college faculty and instructors in their in-person courses. Faculty and instructors taught courses included in certificate and degree programs related to early childhood education, human services, and criminal justice at one midwestern community college. Specific content areas included sociology, political science, and child development. Data collection for this study included comprehensive interviews with each instructor, an analysis of documents including syllabi, student assignments, and assessments, and multiple classroom observations. This study was anchored in a theoretical framework based on the constructs of culturally responsive teaching practices. Each …

Measuring Academic Momentum: A Quantitative Study Of Supplemental Instruction As A Community College Student Support Strategy, Cornelia Slater

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

MEASURING ACADEMIC MOMENTUM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY

Cornelia Vanessa Slater, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2026

Quortne R. Hutchings, Director

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for diverse populations of students where completion rates are an ongoing challenge. Supplemental Instruction have been used as an academic intervention to improve success largely in four-year institutions. This quantitative study, guided by Xueli Wang’s momentum theory analyzed two research questions: (1) how supplemental instruction (SI) participation is associated with student academic success, course retention …

Mapping Perspectives: Community College Career Advisors’ Viewpoints For Enhancing Economic Mobility And Career Selection—A Q Methodology Study, Christopher Ryan Harrison

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

In an era of rapid workforce transformation and increasing demand for postsecondary career readiness, community college career advisors play a critical role in supporting students’ economic mobility and informed career decision-making. Traditional academic advising, which primarily focuses on course registration and degree completion, may not fully address students’ evolving career development needs. This study employed Q methodology to examine the subjective viewpoints of career advisors in North Carolina community colleges regarding strategies to enhance students’ career outcomes. Grounded in human capital theory and career construction theory, the study investigated how advisors integrate labor market data, wage trends, and workforce expectations …

Community College Student Success During Covid-19 Pandemic Based On Class Modality, Rebecca Aslinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative, comparative study was to determine whether there were significant differences in Introduction to Education grades as measured by GPA among community college students between 2018-23 with the change of class modality due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This study examined differences in Introduction to Education grades as measured by GPA at three community colleges from 2018-23. Archival data were used for this study. The population for this study consisted of all students enrolled in the Introduction to Education course at three institutions. Both in-person and online classes were examined during the time before, during, and …

What Does The Staff Say?: Front-Line Staff Perceptions Of Their Role In Student Success, Lee A. Helbert

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study focused on exploring the perceptions of front-line staff in supporting student success at a mid-western community college. These staff are generally the employees who are not generally involved with teaching or administration, but work in offices like the business, financial aid, enrollment services, or are administrative assistants to the different departments. Nine participants participated in individual interviews and/or a focus group discussion. These front-line staff shared their stories that related to how they saw themselves contributing to student success, what they saw as the challenges and benefits of supporting students, and what professional opportunities were provided by the …

Institutional Adoption And Implementation Of A Mandated Community College First Year Experience Course, Carmen Varney Purpus

Dissertations

This purpose of the research study is two-fold. The first aim is to establish strategies that can guide community colleges interested in the implementation of a mandated First Year Experience course as well as to identify barriers community colleges may encounter to help them move from desiring a mandated student success course to acting to create one. It is widely believed that student success course helps students learn to be successful, but it is not a widely accepted practice to mandate it for all students.

The second objective is to add to the limited body of research. A nonexperimental descriptive …

Analyzing Two-Year College Student Success Using Structural Equation Modeling, Jessica Taylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The goal of this study is to more fully understand the scope of community college student success using the principles of mindset, engagement, and college readiness. Using structural equation modeling ensures this study is able to measure the combined effects these concepts have on student success, group differences, and the combined model of student success. Findings suggest student success can be significantly impacted by self-belief and mindset behaviors that can outweigh the initial effect of academically under-prepared students. Groups included in this study are non-traditional students, minority populations, first generation students, and Pell eligible students.

Student Demographic And Academic Characteristics That Predict Community College Student Success In Online Courses, Jennifer L. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

Online student success is a concern for higher education institutions especially community colleges with open enrollment admission. This study analyzed online student success using online GPA (dependent variable) and both demographic and academic characteristics of online students (independent variables) to determine which characteristics significantly correlated to and predicted student success in online courses. The sample included an unduplicated count of 4,046 online students enrolled in at least one online course during fall 2015 and spring 2016 at a public, Midwestern community college. Six research questions and twelve hypotheses were used to determine which independent variables led online students to a …

The Impact Of Orientation Programming On Student Success Outcomes At A Rural Community College, James M. Davis

Online Theses and Dissertations

Economic and fiscal challenges, increased public scrutiny, and calls for accountability from stakeholders necessitate that community colleges work diligently to improve student success outcomes. Programs, services, and initiatives need to be developed and implemented that will increase student retention. Orientation is an important intervention service that can help new students to acclimate and make a more successful transition to college. There is a need to study programs that increase student success, and new student orientation programs have demonstrated their promise in reducing student attrition. This quantitative study examined a first year new student orientation program at a rural community college …

The Neglected Minority: Interviews With Successful Community College Students From Poverty, Heather Hollifield-Hoyle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poverty in the US is growing at an alarming rate. The current economic climate demands higher education to embrace the economic diversity of all students and to prepare them, regardless of economic class, for a globally competitive workplace. Unfortunately, the higher education community is not as adept at serving low-income students, as it is middle- and upper- income students. Low-income students are less likely than their more affluent peers to enroll in college or graduate. Employing qualitative narrative methods, this dissertation explores the factors that contributed to the persistence and success of 18, low-income, community college students. This study addresses …

Are Developmental Math Courses Being Offered At The Appropriate Time Of Day To Optimize Student Success?, Ralph Cox

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This research paper will identify if a relationship exists between success in pre-requisite developmental math courses and the time of day that the course is offered for students enrolled at a rural community and technical college in northwestern Minnesota. The ACCUPLACER Arithmetic test was administered originally during new student orientation and then, again, at the completion of pre-requisite developmental Math Foundations courses. Paired Pre- and Post- Test data was gathered over seven years, from 2002 to 2009, for a total of 268 students (n=268). The data was then evaluated using one-tail two-sample T-tests assuming unequal variances to determine if a …

Kctcs Student Success: An Outcome Analysis Of Kctcs First-Time Freshmen Entering Fall 2001, Billie Hardin

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem Statement

Since its creation in 1997, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) has excelled in many areas of its open enrollment or open access mission. Yet, many KCTCS students do not persist to graduate with a credential or transfer to a 4-year postsecondary institution. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), reports that of the fall 2001 students who entered KCTCS colleges, only 50.2 percent earned a degree, transferred to a 4-year college or university, or were still enrolled in a KCTCS college within three years. CPE further reports that more than half of Kentucky’s 2004 entering …