This study linked ninth-grade student background data and school-reported high school transcript data from the national High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) to student item responses on the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment to examine the relationships between high school coursework and…

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study was to investigate the relationship of course-taking patterns of community college students enrolled in a major's biology sequence to successful transfer into a biology or biology-related degree track at four-year institutions. The research was guided by the seminal work of Adelman (1999,…

This report explores college-bound students' awareness of the range of math courses available, how those students make decisions regarding high school math course enrollment, and the implications of those choices for college admissions. Its focus is on students who are historically underrepresented in higher education, particularly Black and…

Higher education today is placing more emphasis on student advising in order to attract and retain students, and as a result, professional advisors are becoming more commonplace at universities across the nation. Institutions that follow this practice may still be interested in having faculty members mentor students in hopes of developing…

Community colleges educate nearly half of all students who complete postsecondary degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. For many matriculated students, chemistry is a required gatekeeping course for postsecondary retention and advancement in STEM majors. This research explored community college student…

We present an analysis of A-level subject choices at around age 16 for a cohort of students in English schools who completed their studies in 2014. We examined both the National Pupil Database and a unique rich dataset on the subject preferences and subsequent choices between the ages of 16 and 18 (i.e. GCSE and A-level). We found substantive…

The recent reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act--the principal federal education program supporting career and technical education (CTE)--expressly aims to "align workforce skills with labor market needs." "How Aligned is Career and Technical Education to Local Labor Markets?", co-authored…

Liberal Arts programs are often characterized by their open curriculum. Yet, the abundance of courses available and the highly personalized curriculum are often overwhelming for students who must select courses relevant to their academic interests and suitable to their academic background. This paper presents the course recommender system that we…

Within the confines of this study, the Researcher investigated Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Gateway program outcomes at a Midwest suburban school district. The study examined specific academic achievement outcomes and attitudes regarding STEAM courses and STEAM careers among students who completed at least one semester in a middle school PLTW…

This study investigated effects of Ratemyprofessors.com and university student evaluations of teaching on students' course decision-making and self-efficacy in an ethnically diverse undergraduate sample. It also investigated if these effects were impacted by evaluation positivity. Additionally, the study explored if attitudes toward…

Background: Varied and complex forms of parental influence may shape young people's decisions about whether or not to study science once it is no longer compulsory in school. Purpose: This study attempts to identify the role of parents in influencing the choice of science subjects in Mauritius among students at the end of the third year of…

We introduce a new approach to measuring the match between education and occupation by using the number of college courses related to one's occupation. Previous studies have only considered the match between college 'major' and occupation. That approach ignores the content of education and the courses taken in college. We find that taking courses…

This article presents a new measure of curricular intensity that is objective, parsimonious, clearly defined, replicable, and comparable over time for use by researchers interested in examining trends, causes, and outcomes of high school course taking. After proposing a reduced-form version of Adelman's curricular intensity index comprised of…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of new developmental statistics-based courses to traditional algebra-based developmental courses. The study used extant data from eight institutions and a matched sample of 2,041 students (Treatment, N = 748; Comparison, N = 1,293). All students enrolled in a treatment or…

Tertiary institutions are experiencing an increased number of enrolments, with students varying in their demographics, previous education, and academic achievement. This relative increase in undergraduate enrolments in Australia has not translated to an increase in student retention or graduate numbers. This prompts the need to explore predictors…