Since 1983, policymakers and politicians have worked to stave off a perceived decline in the academic preparation of American students. Stubbornly low scores on international exams and signs that many U.S. graduates are ill-equipped for college and the workforce have lent urgency to this perception, and many states have made high-school graduation…

This research focuses on course-taking patterns of beginning community college students enrolled in one or more non-remedial science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses during their first year of college, and how these patterns are mapped against upward transfer in STEM fields of study. Drawing upon postsecondary transcript…

This is a narrative case study that analyzes Carl's experience as a nontraditional student who enrolls in a transition course after a 15-year hiatus from college. Specifically, the study aims at understanding the perceived impact that the course had on shaping the personal narrative of learning in college of a reentry student. Using a…