Despite continued growth in enrollments, graduate program attrition rates are of great concern to academic program coordinators. It is estimated that only 40 to 50 percent of students who begin Ph.D. programs complete their degrees. This book describes programs, initiatives, and interventions that lead to overall student retention and success.…

Lack of information and advising prior to college matriculation may contribute to poor post-secondary outcomes among non-traditional students. We conducted a large-scale, multi-arm field experiment with the U.S. Army to investigate whether a package of research-based personalized information and access to advising affects postsecondary choices and…

This narrative inquiry qualitative study analyzed eleven community cultural wealth (CCW) capitals (cultural strength and assets) to determine whether they were utilized by first generation Mexican American students to thrive in their trajectories from high school to elite universities. The 11 explored capitals--"academic,"…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the possible relationship between parental incarceration and the outcomes, frequency of participation, motivations, challenges, and supports of college students with incarcerated parents. The study was conducted at an unnamed academic institution with individuals enrolled in a four-year degree…

This qualitative study investigated the lived experiences of nine African American men who graduated from predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in the United States. Prior researchers have indicated that African American men enrolled in predominantly White colleges and universities exhibit lower graduation rates than other ethnic and gender…

Postgraduate students often find work and thesis preparation demands compelling which in turn affect their thesis completion. The authors conducted a descriptive survey with a sample of 161 graduate thesis candidates (representing a 57% data collection return rate) using the census of the target population. Three scales were used to measure…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the experiences that contributed to the persistence of African American males at a historically Black college. The problem was that the percentage of 18- to 24-year-old African American males enrolled in the nation's colleges and universities over the past two decades has…

The Big Five has dominated personality-performance literature, but within the overarching Five Factor Theory characteristic adaptations can be more contextually specific and better predictors of performance. Hardiness, defined as a worldview, is one such characteristic that has shown utility predicting performance when measured in addition to and…

This phenomenological case study investigated the experiences of doctoral student parents at a research university. Purposeful sampling was used to select six participants for maximum diversity of experience. The participants shared if and how their experience in their academic departments differed from their non-parent peers. The research…

The purpose of this self-study was to take an in-depth look at the development of the pedagogy of one teacher, myself, and to describe and explain how this style of teaching developed both from early familial influences and through experiences I have had throughout my career. This study focused specifically on my use of storytelling in the…

This work studied an institution's experiences with acceleration and placement reform in English coursework as changes in these measures affected student persistence, completion, and subject mastery in English composition. Through assessing student learning outcomes after placement reform and acceleration, this study compared students' success…

Agricultural education, like many other disciplines, is experiencing a shortage of school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers. We examined the perceptions of Pennsylvania SBAE teachers regarding extended contracts as they have been identified as a possible tool to improve recruitment and retention. The purpose of the study was to sample…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the largest disruptions in educational history. The impact on learning loss and social-emotional well-being from the pandemic threatens to compromise achievement outcomes for an extended number of years. Previous research has proven relationships between grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and academic…

Background/Context: Professional development (PD) programs have been the primary tool school districts have used to improve teachers' knowledge and skills, though the evidence is mixed on the degree to which these investments translate into improved outcomes for teachers and their students. Further, most research has tracked researcher-designed…

This is an exploratory study to examine the perceptions of special education instructional coaches on their role in retaining alternative licensure special education teachers. As public education is an area experiencing hard to fill open positions for special education teachers, many districts are hiring special education teachers on alternative…