In December 2020, Complete College America (CCA), in partnership with the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, launched a rigorous 12- to 18-month project designed to increase student success and completion rates at small liberal arts institutions. The focus was on building and enhancing support systems for first-generation and Pell-eligible students, and…

Communication centers often focus on supporting students' communicative competencies in public speaking but some centers have expanded this focus to include support for English language learners (ELLs). Armed with research on the value of conversation in language acquisition, the University Speaking Center has incorporated peer consulting of ELLs,…

Supplemental instruction (SI) has proven highly effective at improving success rates in high-risk first and second-year courses, in part because peerled SI sessions inculcate best-practice study skills in a specific learning context which provides opportunities for skill mastery. A successful SI program in the Faculty of Science at the University…

This study examines innovative practices that have been implemented in a summer session for an elementary school district in the Chicago area, and how program practices of a community college program work to provide academic support for first-generation, college-bound students from low-income households to encourage postsecondary educational…

This study examines two community college instructional support programs to explore the effectiveness of an evaluation model--responsive evaluation theory--that may ease the tensions between a concern over programs' processes and reporting requirements for program outcomes. The study uses a comparative qualitative case study design and applies…

Higher education institutions are facing challenges with regard to improving the success and pass rate of students. Mentorship in the life skills programmes should contribute significantly in addressing these issues. A study was undertaken to determine students' perceptions of the life skills programme at the Tshwane University of Technology. The…

North Queens Community High School serves approximately 200 students, 16-20 years old, as they strive to reach their personal and academic goals. All students at North Queens have previously been enrolled in high school elsewhere and are over-age and undercredited. Small class sizes, student-centered support, and an accelerated credit acquisition…

This report comprises summations and brief case descriptions of some of the effective programmes and other support mechanisms that New Zealand Tertiary Learning Advisors (TLAs) provide for students in universities, polytechnics, institutes of technology, and other tertiary institutions. The programmes demonstrate tangible impact on student…

As much as it is eagerly anticipated, freshman year is often a time of confusion, disorientation, and even alienation for many students. One in four college freshmen will drop out before completing sophomore year. The reasons for this high level of withdrawal vary, but a report suggests that new students often feel overwhelmed and unprepared for…

Which factors promote student transfer from California Community Colleges (CCC) to baccalaureate-granting institutions? How do community college practices support this transition? Which student behaviors and characteristics particularly facilitate their movement to four-year colleges and universities? The Research and Planning Group for California…

Our examination of three schools demonstrates how students can be involved in school reform by giving input about problems, helping design the reform, and sharing implementation responsibilities with adult leaders. Their involvement affects both the reform--as students leave their fingerprints on it--and the students themselves, who show signs of…