Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss135721
Reginald M. Gooch, Vinetha K. Belur, Sara B. Haviland, Ou Lydia Liu
Many institutions were forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to change admissions policies as a response to logistical challenges around testing. However, even as logistical challenges have resolved, pandemic-era changes to higher education testing policies which reduced or eliminated testing requirements have remained in place in many schools. Now, research evidence is beginning to emerge which looks at the effects that reductions to testing requirements are having on undergraduate admissions, making it possible to determine whether those policies are meeting their goals. This review examines the empirical evidence that has been gathered to date to identify trends in the effects of these testing policies and to make recommendations for increasing equity in admissions that institutions may wish to consider as they grapple with another change in higher education admissions: the striking down of race-conscious admissions. We find that test-optional admissions do not benefit equity in all cases, but that some contexts show more promise than others.
{"title":"Test-Optional Policies: Impacts to Date and Recommendations for Equity in Admissions","authors":"Reginald M. Gooch, Vinetha K. Belur, Sara B. Haviland, Ou Lydia Liu","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss135721","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss135721","url":null,"abstract":"Many institutions were forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to change admissions policies as a response to logistical challenges around testing. However, even as logistical challenges have resolved, pandemic-era changes to higher education testing policies which reduced or eliminated testing requirements have remained in place in many schools. Now, research evidence is beginning to emerge which looks at the effects that reductions to testing requirements are having on undergraduate admissions, making it possible to determine whether those policies are meeting their goals. This review examines the empirical evidence that has been gathered to date to identify trends in the effects of these testing policies and to make recommendations for increasing equity in admissions that institutions may wish to consider as they grapple with another change in higher education admissions: the striking down of race-conscious admissions. We find that test-optional admissions do not benefit equity in all cases, but that some contexts show more promise than others.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"85 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141812630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134703
Lisa A Jackson, L. Schelbe, Jennifer Geiger, Christopher Schoborg
Campus support programs (CSPs) in higher education institutions seek to address the barriers encountered by students who experienced foster care or homelessness (SEFC/H). This mixed methods study of a CSP at Florida State University examined the SEFC/H’s service use and students’ perceptions of the CSP to better understand student experiences. Study participants included 54 CSP students who graduated between 2015 and 2020. They completed surveys at graduation and six months and one year post-graduation. Students reported service use and perceptions of the services’ helpfulness. They described what they valued in the CSP and what the CSP could have done to better prepare them for life after graduation. Findings show a high level of service use and perceptions of helpfulness. Students reported valuing the support; resources; physical space; sense of belonging, community, family, and home; growth and motivation; and success because of their CSP involvement. Areas where students believed the CSP could better prepare them for life after graduation included finances, graduate school, career planning, life skills, and connections. Implications for CSP include assisting SEFC/H with (a) planning and life skills, (b) financial literacy and money, and (c) mentors and connections.
{"title":"Campus Support Program Service Use by Students Who Experienced Foster Care, Relative Care, or Homelessness","authors":"Lisa A Jackson, L. Schelbe, Jennifer Geiger, Christopher Schoborg","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss134703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss134703","url":null,"abstract":"Campus support programs (CSPs) in higher education institutions seek to address the barriers encountered by students who experienced foster care or homelessness (SEFC/H). This mixed methods study of a CSP at Florida State University examined the SEFC/H’s service use and students’ perceptions of the CSP to better understand student experiences. Study participants included 54 CSP students who graduated between 2015 and 2020. They completed surveys at graduation and six months and one year post-graduation. Students reported service use and perceptions of the services’ helpfulness. They described what they valued in the CSP and what the CSP could have done to better prepare them for life after graduation. Findings show a high level of service use and perceptions of helpfulness. Students reported valuing the support; resources; physical space; sense of belonging, community, family, and home; growth and motivation; and success because of their CSP involvement. Areas where students believed the CSP could better prepare them for life after graduation included finances, graduate school, career planning, life skills, and connections. Implications for CSP include assisting SEFC/H with (a) planning and life skills, (b) financial literacy and money, and (c) mentors and connections.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"29 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141813813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134617
Yi-Fan Li, Dalun Zhang, Heather M. Dulas, Mary L. Whirley
Students with disabilities are an increasing subpopulation in higher education. Recently, research has put an emphasis on students’ voices to explore their academic learning experiences, as well as the learning strategies they use to overcome learning barriers. This study aimed to investigate the academic learning experiences of students with disabilities in college or graduate studies and the learning strategies they used when faced with insufficient or delayed support. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gather data from three online focus groups, with a total of 10 participants. The results demonstrated three themes: experiences or issues related to university resources and accommodations, building influence through advocacy and education, and being an independent learner. Some participants continued to face academic learning challenges despite their active seeking of accommodations and support. Some participants utilized study strategies, especially when support was inadequate or not immediately provided. This study highlighted the urgent need for higher education institutions to establish support services and resources for all students. Related discussions and implications are presented.
{"title":"Academic Learning Experiences and Challenges of Students With Disabilities in Higher Education","authors":"Yi-Fan Li, Dalun Zhang, Heather M. Dulas, Mary L. Whirley","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss134617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss134617","url":null,"abstract":"Students with disabilities are an increasing subpopulation in higher education. Recently, research has put an emphasis on students’ voices to explore their academic learning experiences, as well as the learning strategies they use to overcome learning barriers. This study aimed to investigate the academic learning experiences of students with disabilities in college or graduate studies and the learning strategies they used when faced with insufficient or delayed support. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gather data from three online focus groups, with a total of 10 participants. The results demonstrated three themes: experiences or issues related to university resources and accommodations, building influence through advocacy and education, and being an independent learner. Some participants continued to face academic learning challenges despite their active seeking of accommodations and support. Some participants utilized study strategies, especially when support was inadequate or not immediately provided. This study highlighted the urgent need for higher education institutions to establish support services and resources for all students. Related discussions and implications are presented.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"90 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141812928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134793
Chad N. Loes, Brian P. An, Teniell L. Trolian
Rising student attrition, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in increased calls for higher education officials to better understand factors associated with increasing persistence rates, especially from the first- to second year of college. Though many studies have documented the influence of the frequency of student–faculty interactions on student persistence, less research has focused on the quality of those interactions, including potential mediating influences. To address these issues, this study used longitudinal data from 8,475 students among 44 four-year institutions to explore whether the quality of student–faculty interactions influences student persistence and whether student satisfaction mediates this relationship. Guided by theoretical models of persistence, we found that even in the presence of a range of potential confounders, students’ perceived quality of student–faculty interactions increased the odds of persistence to the second year of college. Furthermore, results from a Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) decomposition analysis suggest this relationship occurred indirectly through students’ satisfaction with the overall college experience.
{"title":"Quality of Student–Faculty Interactions, Persistence, and the Mediating Role of Student Satisfaction","authors":"Chad N. Loes, Brian P. An, Teniell L. Trolian","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss134793","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss134793","url":null,"abstract":"Rising student attrition, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in increased calls for higher education officials to better understand factors associated with increasing persistence rates, especially from the first- to second year of college. Though many studies have documented the influence of the frequency of student–faculty interactions on student persistence, less research has focused on the quality of those interactions, including potential mediating influences. To address these issues, this study used longitudinal data from 8,475 students among 44 four-year institutions to explore whether the quality of student–faculty interactions influences student persistence and whether student satisfaction mediates this relationship. Guided by theoretical models of persistence, we found that even in the presence of a range of potential confounders, students’ perceived quality of student–faculty interactions increased the odds of persistence to the second year of college. Furthermore, results from a Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) decomposition analysis suggest this relationship occurred indirectly through students’ satisfaction with the overall college experience.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"78 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141812797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-23DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134434
Beth E. W. Nahlik, Tara D. Hudson, Lindsay Nelson
For too many community college students, transferring to a four-year institution for a bachelor’s degree (i.e., vertical transfer) remains an unrealized aspiration. Prior research suggests that forms of capital can assist students in realizing their goals. Therefore, we sought to explore how relationships both within and outside of their institutions serve as sources of capital to support students’ vertical transfer journeys. Utilizing a qualitative research design, we applied Putnam’s (2000) two forms of social capital (bridging and bonding) and eight social support-related constructs from Moser’s (2013) expanded transfer student capital framework to data from focus groups and interviews with 33 pre- and post-transfer students. We found that participants actively constructed a patchwork of supportive relationships with both institutional agents and individuals external to the institution, which they utilized to search for, gather, and employ transfer capital. Our findings highlight that relationships outside of institutions are as crucial as relationships within the institution as sources of capital for vertical transfer students, suggesting a need to incorporate extra-institutional relationships into transfer capital frameworks and institutional initiatives to support transfer students. We also recommend institutions invest in programs designed to build students’ social and transfer capital.
{"title":"“To Make this Leap”: Understanding Relationships that Support Community College Students’ Transfer Journeys","authors":"Beth E. W. Nahlik, Tara D. Hudson, Lindsay Nelson","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss134434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss134434","url":null,"abstract":"For too many community college students, transferring to a four-year institution for a bachelor’s degree (i.e., vertical transfer) remains an unrealized aspiration. Prior research suggests that forms of capital can assist students in realizing their goals. Therefore, we sought to explore how relationships both within and outside of their institutions serve as sources of capital to support students’ vertical transfer journeys. Utilizing a qualitative research design, we applied Putnam’s (2000) two forms of social capital (bridging and bonding) and eight social support-related constructs from Moser’s (2013) expanded transfer student capital framework to data from focus groups and interviews with 33 pre- and post-transfer students. We found that participants actively constructed a patchwork of supportive relationships with both institutional agents and individuals external to the institution, which they utilized to search for, gather, and employ transfer capital. Our findings highlight that relationships outside of institutions are as crucial as relationships within the institution as sources of capital for vertical transfer students, suggesting a need to incorporate extra-institutional relationships into transfer capital frameworks and institutional initiatives to support transfer students. We also recommend institutions invest in programs designed to build students’ social and transfer capital.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"141 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141810989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss133939
Pei Hu, Joe O'Shea, Allison Peters
Florida State University (FSU) has a long-standing commitment to promoting success for all students. FSU’s strategies for student success and equity have resulted in increased and more equitable graduation rates and record fall-to-fall retention rates. This article provides an inventory of student success and equity initiatives at FSU. The inventory covers FSU’s holistic practices designed to support students of all backgrounds, including targeted practices for students from historically underrepresented groups. The article also highlights and describes in detail salient student success programs and practices at FSU. This article aims to serve as a guide for those in higher education who seek to understand and learn from FSU’s systematic efforts to promote and sustain student success and narrow success gaps. It also offers a profile of how to effectively implement a comprehensive and interconnected network of student success initiatives that respond to the critical needs of students and deliver impactful results.
{"title":"Where Students Thrive: A Florida State University Blueprint for Building Student Success","authors":"Pei Hu, Joe O'Shea, Allison Peters","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss133939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss133939","url":null,"abstract":"Florida State University (FSU) has a long-standing commitment to promoting success for all students. FSU’s strategies for student success and equity have resulted in increased and more equitable graduation rates and record fall-to-fall retention rates. This article provides an inventory of student success and equity initiatives at FSU. The inventory covers FSU’s holistic practices designed to support students of all backgrounds, including targeted practices for students from historically underrepresented groups. The article also highlights and describes in detail salient student success programs and practices at FSU. This article aims to serve as a guide for those in higher education who seek to understand and learn from FSU’s systematic efforts to promote and sustain student success and narrow success gaps. It also offers a profile of how to effectively implement a comprehensive and interconnected network of student success initiatives that respond to the critical needs of students and deliver impactful results.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136210877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss133359
Amy Li, Patricia Katri
College promise programs, or place-based scholarships, are aimed at helping students attend and afford higher education. The American Dream Scholarship (ADS), offered by Miami Dade College (MDC), is a promise program that covers tuition and fees for the first 60 credits of an associate degree for students residing in and graduating from high school in Miami-Dade County. In this study, we relied on Bourdieu’s (1986) sociological framework to conceptualize the impact of the ADS on MDC’s student body. We posed the research question of whether the scholarship had any effect on total first-time, full-time college enrollment at MDC. Utilizing data primarily from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we used two comparison groups of colleges that were untreated by any county-level promise program: 26 colleges in the Florida College System and 37 public institutions nationally with the same Carnegie Classification as MDC. We applied difference-in-differences analyses and event studies to explore our research question. Results suggest that compared to untreated institutions in the Florida College System and institutions with the same Carnegie Classification, MDC enrolled 18.5% and 32% more first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, respectively, after ADS’s inception. This enrollment increase demonstrates that ADS positively contributed to MDC’s programmatic goals to increase student enrollments.
{"title":"Promise Program Effects at a Large, Urban Institution: A Study of Miami Dade College’s American Dream Scholarship","authors":"Amy Li, Patricia Katri","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss133359","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss133359","url":null,"abstract":"College promise programs, or place-based scholarships, are aimed at helping students attend and afford higher education. The American Dream Scholarship (ADS), offered by Miami Dade College (MDC), is a promise program that covers tuition and fees for the first 60 credits of an associate degree for students residing in and graduating from high school in Miami-Dade County. In this study, we relied on Bourdieu’s (1986) sociological framework to conceptualize the impact of the ADS on MDC’s student body. We posed the research question of whether the scholarship had any effect on total first-time, full-time college enrollment at MDC. Utilizing data primarily from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, we used two comparison groups of colleges that were untreated by any county-level promise program: 26 colleges in the Florida College System and 37 public institutions nationally with the same Carnegie Classification as MDC. We applied difference-in-differences analyses and event studies to explore our research question. Results suggest that compared to untreated institutions in the Florida College System and institutions with the same Carnegie Classification, MDC enrolled 18.5% and 32% more first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, respectively, after ADS’s inception. This enrollment increase demonstrates that ADS positively contributed to MDC’s programmatic goals to increase student enrollments.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136211239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss132666
Morgan Strimel, Grace Francis, Jodi Duke
In higher education settings, the central function of a disability resource professional (DRP) is determining accommodations in collaboration with disabled college students, making their role in the outcomes of students with disabilities paramount. Despite this importance, research on the process of determining accommodations is minimal, and professional guidance on the matter can be interpreted in varied ways, leading DRPs to rely on their professional judgment to reach final decisions. What subtly informs this professional judgment, particularly concerning DRPs’ positionalities and student identities, is largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of U.S. DRPs related to their accommodation decision-making processes, experiences, and perceptions. Based on the results of this exploratory national survey of DRPs, accommodation decision-making processes described by participants can be divided into four components: (a) forming initial opinions, (b) engaging with students, (c) consulting with others, and (d) making final decisions. Notably, participants’ perceptions of positionality and identities in the accommodations process situated those of students to be more heavily considered than their own. Following a presentation of findings, the authors conclude with implications for the field and recommendations for future research.
{"title":"Higher Education Accommodation Decision-Making and Positionality: A Survey of Disability Resource Professionals","authors":"Morgan Strimel, Grace Francis, Jodi Duke","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss132666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132666","url":null,"abstract":"In higher education settings, the central function of a disability resource professional (DRP) is determining accommodations in collaboration with disabled college students, making their role in the outcomes of students with disabilities paramount. Despite this importance, research on the process of determining accommodations is minimal, and professional guidance on the matter can be interpreted in varied ways, leading DRPs to rely on their professional judgment to reach final decisions. What subtly informs this professional judgment, particularly concerning DRPs’ positionalities and student identities, is largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of U.S. DRPs related to their accommodation decision-making processes, experiences, and perceptions. Based on the results of this exploratory national survey of DRPs, accommodation decision-making processes described by participants can be divided into four components: (a) forming initial opinions, (b) engaging with students, (c) consulting with others, and (d) making final decisions. Notably, participants’ perceptions of positionality and identities in the accommodations process situated those of students to be more heavily considered than their own. Following a presentation of findings, the authors conclude with implications for the field and recommendations for future research.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136210738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss132759
Michael Weiss, Marie-Andrée Somers, Colin Hill
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are an increasingly common research design for evaluating the effectiveness of community college (CC) interventions. However, when planning an RCT evaluation of a CC intervention, there is limited empirical information about what sized effects an intervention might reasonably achieve, which can lead to under- or over-powered studies. Relatedly, when interpreting results from an evaluation of a CC intervention, there is limited empirical information to contextualize the magnitude of an effect estimate relative to what sized effects have been observed in past evaluations. We provide empirical benchmarks to help with the planning and interpretation of community college evaluations. To do so, we present findings across well-executed RCTs of 39 CC interventions that are part of a unique dataset known as The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trials (THE-RCT). The analyses include 21,163–65,604 students (depending on outcome and semester) enrolled in 44 institutions. Outcomes include enrollment, credits earned, and credential attainment. Effect size distributions are presented by outcome and semester. For example, across the interventions examined, the mean effect on cumulative credits earned after three semesters is 1.14 credits. Effects around 0.16 credits are at the 25th percentile of the distribution. Effects around 1.69 credits are at the 75th percentile of the distribution. This work begins to provide empirical benchmarks for planning and interpreting effects of CC evaluations. A public database with effect sizes is available to researchers (https://www.mdrc.org/the-rct-empirical-benchmarks).
{"title":"Empirical Benchmarks for Planning and Interpreting Causal Effects of Community College Interventions","authors":"Michael Weiss, Marie-Andrée Somers, Colin Hill","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss132759","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132759","url":null,"abstract":"Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are an increasingly common research design for evaluating the effectiveness of community college (CC) interventions. However, when planning an RCT evaluation of a CC intervention, there is limited empirical information about what sized effects an intervention might reasonably achieve, which can lead to under- or over-powered studies. Relatedly, when interpreting results from an evaluation of a CC intervention, there is limited empirical information to contextualize the magnitude of an effect estimate relative to what sized effects have been observed in past evaluations. We provide empirical benchmarks to help with the planning and interpretation of community college evaluations. To do so, we present findings across well-executed RCTs of 39 CC interventions that are part of a unique dataset known as The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trials (THE-RCT). The analyses include 21,163–65,604 students (depending on outcome and semester) enrolled in 44 institutions. Outcomes include enrollment, credits earned, and credential attainment. Effect size distributions are presented by outcome and semester. For example, across the interventions examined, the mean effect on cumulative credits earned after three semesters is 1.14 credits. Effects around 0.16 credits are at the 25th percentile of the distribution. Effects around 1.69 credits are at the 75th percentile of the distribution. This work begins to provide empirical benchmarks for planning and interpreting effects of CC evaluations. A public database with effect sizes is available to researchers (https://www.mdrc.org/the-rct-empirical-benchmarks).","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136210458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-11DOI: 10.33009/fsop_jpss134404
Stevie Lawrence
This essay examines the importance of student success in higher education, particularly for underserved and disadvantaged student populations. This essay provides a review of contemporary trends in national postsecondary completion and strategies to enhance student success outcomes which will provide thriving economies and a talented workforce. Further, this work emphasizes the significance of approaching student success in a systematic way which engages campus leaders, state and federal policymakers, and workforce agencies.
{"title":"Creating Systematic Structures to Support Student Success in Higher Education","authors":"Stevie Lawrence","doi":"10.33009/fsop_jpss134404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss134404","url":null,"abstract":"This essay examines the importance of student success in higher education, particularly for underserved and disadvantaged student populations. This essay provides a review of contemporary trends in national postsecondary completion and strategies to enhance student success outcomes which will provide thriving economies and a talented workforce. Further, this work emphasizes the significance of approaching student success in a systematic way which engages campus leaders, state and federal policymakers, and workforce agencies.","PeriodicalId":477179,"journal":{"name":"Journal of postsecondary student success","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136210873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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