This study assesses the impact of five years of community level activities in the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan (PYFMP) on four school-related risk and protective factors including academic failure, low school commitment, school opportunities for prosocial involvement, and school rewards for prosocial involvement. The intervention and…

Promise programs have grown in popularity as a way to provide college tuition/fees and other student supports in the hopes of increasing college access and success. This chapter presents results from a comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation of the Lake Tahoe Community College Promise Program. Using rich administrative data and interviews with…

School districts across the country are responsible for providing a fair and equitable education to all students who enter its doors. The current flows of immigration have created a challenge for educational agencies to meet the needs of newcomer immigrant adolescent students. As unique members of the education system, these students enter not…

The purpose of the study was to address the Adult TESOL leadership concern of insecure grant funding. It focused on two key performance indicators: Student retention and academic skill level gains. Students dropping out of the program and scoring poorly on assessments are an ongoing concern for leadership. The study used an intervention and…

As the Director of LEAD, an affiliated center with the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), the author and his colleagues have the opportunity to work with teachers and administrators to develop "Habits of Mind" and "Habits of Character" that focus expectations for students and teachers. Habits of Mind are aligned with Bloom's…

Pathways to Postsecondary Opportunities are the range of options created across education institutions, training providers, and community-­based organizations so that each and every young person can access the necessary and personally relevant credentials, skills, and training beyond the completion of a secondary credential that will propel…

Low-income, first-generation, urban students are typically underprepared academically for college-level course work and lack knowledge, which most non-first-generation students possess (Ward, Siegel, & Davenport, 2012). Success in higher education depends on students effectively navigating and transitioning into an institution (Pike & Kuh,…

This research explores the difficulties faced by many migrant, refugee, and immigrant adults confronted with technological ubiquity in economically developed countries. Preparing migrant adult learners for the digital world by building digital literacy skills can help to maintain home language proficiency, support English language learning, and…

The problem of low academic attainment for Latino/a students may be a result of the situation at the K-12 levels, a situation that is beyond the control of students or their families (Martinez, 2003). Analyses of school success must take into account the social and political hierarchies in schools, school systems, and communities, as well as the…

This multiple case study explored how the literate experiences of six African American men influenced their perceptions of and engagement with a community-based adult basic education and literacy (ABEL) program in a large northeastern city. The theoretical framework included a social practices view of literacy and a constructivist view of…

The purpose of this study was to identify instructional strategies and support services of five learning community programs that focus on the retention of African American students at California Community Colleges. Empirical research indicates that colleges and universities have historically structured their curricula, student services programs,…

This report explores mentoring as a tool for supporting the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals within the context of a larger reentry strategy--in this case, the "Ready4Work" model. "Ready4Work" was a three-year national demonstration designed to address the needs of the growing ex-prisoner population and to test the…

Learning communities are a popular strategy that community colleges nationwide have embraced in support of developmental students. In a learning community, a cohort of students takes two or more courses linked by integrated themes and assignments that are developed through ongoing faculty collaboration. While the number of learning community…

The Genesis Center is a community-based adult education center located in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1982 to assist immigrants and refugees from Southeast Asia in their transition to life in the United States, the Genesis Center now provides adult education, job training, and child care services to people who have immigrated from all…

American higher education is being asked to do more with less at a time when more students with different backgrounds, experiences, and expectations are seeking the support they need to improve their personal, professional, and civic lives. Learning communities (LCs) support the success of diverse learners, and learning community literature argues…