Minority student retention: The Prince George's community college program

1991 ◽  
Vol 1991 (74) ◽  
pp. 57-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. James
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Minority Student

A Person-Centered Investigation of Achievement Motivation Goals and Correlates of Community College Student Achievement and Persistence

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlton J. Fong ◽  
Taylor W. Acee ◽  
Claire Ellen Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Achievement Motivation ◽  
Community College Student ◽  
Students At Risk ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Academic Difficulty ◽  
Approach Goals ◽  
Person Centered Approach

Given low rates of student retention in community colleges, there has been growing interest in understanding characteristics that put students at-risk and that serve to buffer against academic difficulty. In particular, research on student success has focused on demographic predictors that are difficult to change, whereas motivational variables—that are malleable—require greater attention. In addition, studies have utilized variable-centered approaches, but in the present study, we use a person-centered approach to identify distinct motivational profiles informed by goal-orientation theory. With a large sample of community college students, we identified five clusters and found that high levels of mastery approach goals and moderate levels of performance-approach goal orientation were the ideal combination of academic motives for grade point average and persistence.

Understanding Student Retention through a Look at Student Goals, Intentions, and Behavior

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy L. Polinsky
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Graduation Rates ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Shed Light

Historically, retention, persistence, and graduation rates have been used as indicators of a college's success. While these measures may shed light on what is happening among an institution's students, they are not always as meaningful as they appear. This community college believed that these performance indicators were not accurately reflecting the success of its students. As an offshoot of the college's Retention Committee, the Student Intention Survey was created and administered to the college's credit students as a means to identify student goals, accomplishment of these goals, and how they relate to retention. The results of this study helped explain student retention in terms of student goals and intentions, and identified factors related to positive and negative attrition.

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