The Doctoral Performance and Research submitted by Satoko Hayami, under the direction of Professor Martha Fischer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Musical Arts consists of the following: (1) Written Project: "Case Study of Community Engagement Project with Madison Japanese…

Many Black women choose community colleges for their post-secondary education; however, issues of retention and persistence prevail, and many do not graduate. This study examines Black women graduates from two Mid-Atlantic community colleges who are community college completers from two institutions that historically suffered with low graduation…

This qualitative study explored the impediments, social adjustments challenges, and classroom experiences of F-1 international students enrolled at community colleges in the Midwest region of the United States with at least one semester completed after their arrival. Through their respective accounts, the participants shared their positive and…

Retaining students through degree completion is a challenge for community colleges, with nontraditional, adult students being retained at a lower rate than their traditional counterparts. Though student engagement is recognized as an effective strategy for retaining students, there is a gap in research on how effective these strategies are for…

Community colleges experience difficulties in effectively placing students in the first college-level, gateway mathematics course. The use of one standardized exam, such as the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) has been proven ineffective. The effectiveness of using multiple measures is not known. This quantitative predictive…

This mixed-methods dissertation examines the experiences of academic counselors in the California community college (CCC) system who have provided distance/online counseling. As online education increases and is seen as a way to provide access to higher education at a lower cost to institutions, the need for online support services such as…

Between 2000 and 2013, the suburbs in the country's largest metro areas saw their low-income population grow twice as fast as primary urban cities. In 2018, the Pew Research Center reported that poverty increased more sharply in suburbs than in urban and rural counties (Parker et al., 2018). The rise in suburban poverty coincides with an…

Abundant research has covered the benefits of and barriers to partnerships between schools and community-based organizations (CBOs; Sanders, 2001; Valli et al., 2016). The aim is for schools and CBOs to come together to foster student growth, particularly during out-of-school time. If two independent organizations, such as a school and a nonprofit…

Collective impact (CI) initiatives provide a promising collaborative community-based approach for addressing health disparities, but they are challenging to evaluate. This paper provides a detailed strategy for addressing these challenges through a case study, with the goal of not only of evaluating the CI, but also putting organizations in a…

Policymakers in Texas want to understand the funding levels necessary for community colleges to meet their promise of providing an affordable and accessible pathway to a postsecondary certificate or degree. This study was conducted to help these policymakers better understand the extent to which Texas community colleges had adequate funding to…

Schools have long partnered with local organizations to support access to essential services like food, housing, or mental and physical health. Schools can build on wrap-around school models by helping students and families intentionally cultivate community relationships, skills, and knowledge, thus putting students on a path toward long-term…

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) annually produces a report examining degree and credential production in Kentucky in the previous academic year (July 1 through June 30) and over time. Using data from the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Data System (KPEDS), the report details the number and types of credentials earned at…

Sleep-related infant deaths are one of the top causes of infant mortality in the United States. A few behavior analytic studies have examined behavioral skills training to teach adults to arrange safe infant sleeping environments. These studies were conducted in an analogue environment, and no data were collected outside the training setting. The…

Spurred on in part by the labor shortages caused the pandemic, a growing number of employers are eliminating their degree requirements in favor of a skills-based approach to hiring. "Skills-based hiring" focuses on the actual skills and qualifications someone brings to the job instead of just the degree they've earned. For job seekers,…

Community colleges have a significant role in preparing early childhood educators who will likely one day teach in inclusive classrooms. Inclusive education models educate children with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers, promoting acceptance, decreasing discrimination, and fostering a society in which everyone lives and works…