The Graduation Rate Myth and the Equity Gap

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-114
Author(s):  
Mark H. Stohs ◽  
Jerald G. Schutte
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Graduation Rates ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
First Year ◽  
Causal Connection ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Attrition Rates

We demonstrate that improving graduation rates does not cause more students to graduate or increase student success. The underlying presumptions are spurious and misleading, as no causal connection exists between graduation rates and the ultimate number of students who graduate from college. Indeed, increasing graduation rates generate unintended consequences that may increase the equity gap. We use California State University’s (CSU) practices as a case study of the national obsession with graduation rates and include a crucial focus on the differential and adverse impact of those practices. We recommend other goals as better measures of student success, such as increased completion rates and lower attrition rates during the first year of college, especially for first-generation and underrepresented students. Our aim is to encourage those in higher education to refocus their attention on the true aims of a college degree.

scholarly journals A Case Study on Experiential Learning in a First-Year General Education Course

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Weller ◽  
Julie Saam
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Student Success ◽  
General Education ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Collaborative ◽  
Indiana University ◽  
High Impact Practices

Experiential-learning provides opportunities for students that feature a variety of high-impact practices including first-year seminars, internships, community learning, collaborative projects, and capstone seminars. To offer these high-impact practices for students, faculty from across disciplines and majors must be willing to incorporate these opportunities within their courses and degrees. Indiana University Kokomo has offered two successful programs to support these high-impact practices. One program, the Kokomo Experience and You (KEY), supports faculty in the development and implementation of events and activities to support student learning. The other, the Student Success Academy Faculty Fellows Program, provided faculty members the opportunity to examine research and concepts so that they can better promote student success in their classrooms. Building on the success of these two programs, a third initiative, the Experiential Learning Academy (ELA), was launched in 2018, funded by a Reimagining the First Years mini-grant from AASCU.

scholarly journals College Ready at a Cost: Underrepresented Students Overwhelmed, Scared, Increasingly Stressed, and Coping

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 734-758
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Martinez ◽  
Katherine Lewis ◽  
Jocabed Marquez
Keyword(s):  
College Readiness ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
College Ready ◽  
College Going ◽  
College Going Culture ◽  
And Coping

As the push and expectation to attend college continues to increase, making the process of getting into college more competitive than ever before, there is a need to interrogate whether and how efforts to create a college-going culture and increase college readiness among students, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds, might have an adverse impact on students. This study illuminates 59 students’ voices who participated in a multisite descriptive case study examining the strong college-going culture and college readiness efforts at three racially and economically diverse urban public high schools in different regions of Texas. Although students revealed positive aspects of their schools’ efforts, this study focuses on some of the negative, unintended consequences related to how students felt and coped with being overwhelmed, scared, and increasingly stressed as a result of the narrow focus on college readiness. Such findings must be considered by scholars, policymakers, and practitioners alike.

scholarly journals Mentoring for Inclusion: The Impact of Mentoring on Undergraduate Researchers in the Sciences

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. ar36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Haeger ◽  
Carla Fresquez
Keyword(s):  
Graduation Rates ◽  
Student Development ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Student Grades ◽  
The Impact

Increasing inclusion of underrepresented minority and first-generation students in mentored research experiences both increases diversity in the life sciences research community and prepares students for successful careers in these fields. However, analyses of the impact of mentoring approaches on specific student gains are limited. This study addresses the impact of mentoring strategies within research experiences on broadening access to the life sciences by examining both how these experiences impacted student success and how the quality of mentorship affected the development of research and academic skills for a diverse population of students at a public, minority-serving institution. Institutional data on student grades and graduation rates (n = 348) along with postresearch experience surveys (n = 138) found that students mentored in research had significantly higher cumulative grade point averages and similar graduation rates as a matched set of peers. Examination of the relationships between student-reported gains and mentoring strategies demonstrated that socioemotional and culturally relevant mentoring impacted student development during mentored research experiences. Additionally, extended engagement in research yielded significantly higher development of research-related skills and level of independence in research. Recommendations are provided for using mentoring to support traditionally underrepresented students in the sciences.

scholarly journals Exploring boot camps for ‘gatekeeper’ service courses in mathematics

Pythagoras ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Boot Camp ◽  
Pass Rate ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Dropout ◽  
Boot Camps ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Engineering Mathematics

Pressure to increase the throughput of university students in ethical ways has been a catalyst for innovations to improve learning and student success. Student dropout occurs mostly in the first year of study and poor performance is a major contributor to dropout even if the underlying reason for the poor performance is not academic under-preparedness. This article discusses the design and implementation of a mathematics tutored reassessment programme (TRP or ‘boot camp’) to improve the pass rate of students writing supplementary examinations for first year engineering mathematics. Interviews with students and tutors suggest that the TRP cultivated positive affective changes in students. A notable result from this case study was that students who qualified for a reassessment with marks in the range 40%–44% (and who would not normally have been granted a supplementary examination) outperformed students qualifying with marks of 45%–49%, for whom attendance at the TRP was optional. Theoretical motivations for five principles guiding the design of the TRP are discussed.

scholarly journals Understanding the reacculturation experiences of first-generation, undecided students

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tracey A. Glaessgen
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Attrition Rate ◽  
First Year ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Undecided Students ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Recommendations For Practice ◽  
First Year Seminar

When students enter institutions of higher education, they are typically leaving behind one culture to join another. First-generation students have a higher attrition rate as do undecided students, but little research has been conducted on students who have both characteristics. The researcher applied Bruffee's reacculturation process to understand the challenges and experiences that first-generation, undecided students have as they transition to a new academic environment. This qualitative, exploratory case study included 35 students utilizing interviews, focus groups, observations, and writings to triangulate the data collected. Findings revealed heightened feelings of stress, desire to become comfortable on campus, reliance upon continuing-generation friends, helpfulness of specialized first-year seminar course, and an uncertainty towards advisors' roles. Based upon research findings and framework, recommendations for practice are shared.

scholarly journals Improving College Outcomes for First-Generation Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Underrepresented Students ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
College Outcomes ◽  
Policy Practice

In this article, the authors describe a multi-site case study of five 4-year postsecondary institutions in Missouri that used evidence-based strategies to support first-generation students in their efforts to persist in and complete college. In the case study, data from qualitative interviews of university administrators in academic and student support services, as well as focus groups of underrepresented students, were analyzed and coded using grounded theory. The resulting themes were compared to prior research on first-generation students, resulting in three broad areas of evidence-based practice with potential to increase college success for first-generation students. These institutional practices included providing (a) a caring and coordinated community of support, (b) early college experiences, and (c) tutoring and mentoring supports. The authors present examples of each practice, along with implications for advancing policy, practice, and scholarship around college persistence and completion for first-generation students.

scholarly journals First-Generation Students With Undecided Majors: A Qualitative Study of University Reacculturation

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-35
Author(s):  
Tracey A. Glaessgen ◽  
Cynthia J. MacGregor ◽  
Jeffrey H. D. Cornelius-White ◽  
Robert S. Hornberger ◽  
Denise M. Baumann
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Generation Students ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Undecided Students ◽  
Group Interactions ◽  
Written Responses ◽  
First Year Seminar

When they enter institutions of higher education, students typically leave behind one culture to join another. Despite the higher rates of attrition for first-generation students over continuing-generation students and undecided students over declared students, little research has been focused on undeclared first-generation students. To understand the challenges and experiences of first-generation undecided students transitioning to a new and unfamiliar academic environment, we applied a reacculturation process to this qualitative exploratory case study of 35 students. Data came from interviews, focus group interactions, observations, and written responses to open-ended questions, which were subsequently triangulated. Findings revealed heightened feelings of stress, desire to become comfortable on campus, reliance upon continuing-generation friends, helpfulness of a specialized first-year seminar course, and uncertainty about advisors' roles.

scholarly journals First-Year Teachers and Induction Support: Ups, Downs, and In-Betweens

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Fry
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Teachers ◽  
Attrition Rates ◽  
Primary Form

Novice teachers often struggle during the transition from being students of teaching to teachers of students. Consequently, high attrition rates characterize the first 3 years of teaching, underscoring a need to provide better support for beginning teachers. This investigation sought to answer the following question: How are 1s t-year teachers supported during induction and how do they respond to this support? Four 1st-year elementary teachers participated in a year-long case-study investigation. Primary form of data collection was monthly semi-structured phone interviews. Participants faced similar challenges, while adjusting to their new profession, but received varied, often inadequate, forms of support during their 1st year. The results suggest that rather than identifying the prevalence of induction support, future research should endeavor to assess program quality and guide educators in the provision of valuable induction for new teachers.

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