It is common for graduate programs to be plagued by delays in on-time student completion or to experience student attrition. Students have experienced such delays in a local program at the University where I am employed as a lecturer. Therefore, this dissertation was undertaken with the aim of supporting university students at the graduate level…

States across the U.S. have been passing legislation aimed at identifying and supporting students who may have dyslexia. In Arizona, this legislation requires school districts to screen students for indicators of dyslexia, have one teacher in every K-3 school trained in dyslexia, and provide evidence-based reading instruction. However, it is…

Most higher education institutions in the United States are bound to the triad's regulations, but their methods for integrating external policies with internal ones are unstudied. Employing a single-case, embedded design, this qualitative study centers on a midsize public, research institution in the eastern United States to explore how one higher…

With the continual decline of high school graduation rates in South Carolina, there is a need for high schools to look at alternative pathways to graduation. Many of the current alternatives offered to students remove them from the high school setting or interactions with the student body. This study focused on an alternative pathway to…

Limited research is available on student-athlete development and its effectiveness on the lives of student-athletes. In 1991, the NCAA created an optional program to further support the student-athletes: Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS/Life Skills Program). By creating this program, the NCAA admitted that student-athletes…

The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological qualitative research study was to solicit the perceptions of currently attending as well as recent graduate minority male students of one Texas private, postsecondary institution regarding the identification of academic, social, financial, and moral support programs considered to be most…

The American GI Forum (AGIF) contains several programs and initiatives, with the significant focus being on supporting students. There is a need to better understand their needs as students so that the organization can better serve them. This study focused on the issues facing veteran students in higher education and the strategies that AGIF can…

Ensuring all students learn at high levels is demanding. Multi-tier systems of supports (MTSS) has shown promise as a way to promote high levels of learning for all students while catching students who are struggling to learn. However, implementing MTSS models in school districts and schools has seen its challenges. The context of an individual…

Latin-American governments are increasingly promoting public-private partnerships to provide much-needed external support to schools, but little is known about the mechanisms through which such partnerships operate. This study aims to contribute to the literature on external support for school improvement by analyzing how a non-government…

The percentage of students enrolled in online courses is higher for community college students than it is for students attending four-year colleges and universities (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2017a). The trend is concerning as community college students who as a whole, are at risk for success are enrolling in courses that have…

This qualitative study examined how Multi-tier System of Supports (MTSS), a systematic approach to providing academic and behavioral supports to students, was implemented and experienced by macro and micro levels of educators in the Bermuda Public School system. I asked three research questions regarding: (a) how MTSS was being implemented in the…

Approximately half of students at the community college level leave the institution before degree completion. Community college students are more likely than four-year students to be first-generation students, attend school part-time, be less prepared academically, work full-time, have family responsibilities, and have entered college later in…

Students, who are at risk of academic failure, are reading and achieving below their grade level yet the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that all students perform on or above grade level. Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Education Program (NAEP) showed that 37% of fourth graders across the United States are reading below grade…

This study investigated the implementation and impact of Reading First programs in 8 elementary schools across the state of Mississippi. The study assessed how principals, literacy coaches, and kindergarten through third grade teachers perceived the implementation of the Reading First program at their respective schools. Data from these three…

With reports alleging a sharp decline in student achievement in the last several years, there has been a call for higher standards in the United States education system. In response, with bipartisan support, politicians overwhelmingly passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and…