Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Secondary college students'

Supportive relationships between teachers and their students help create an environment for student success, but there remains a need for additional understanding about how to effectively promote positive teacher-student relationships in order to support stronger policy and practice in modern schools. In this qualitative analysis, I seek to deepen the research about supportive teacher-student relationships by analyzing how students, teachers, and principals described their experiences in early college high schools (ECHS) in North Carolina. Early college high schools represent a relatively new school model in which high school students earn college credits while working toward their high school diplomas. Quantitative analyses of the performance of ECHS students suggest students in early college high schools outperform their peers from comprehensive schools on a variety of measures. One important design element of these schools suggests that teachers must know students well to help them achieve academically and it is my assertion that supportive teacher-student relationships may contribute to ECHS students’ success.

For this study, I analyze qualitative data previously collected as part of a larger longitudinal study from students, teachers, and principals studying and working in 19 early college high schools in North Carolina. I employ Giddens’ theory of structuration as a lens for understanding the relationships between the agents (students, teachers, and principals) and the social structures that influence the experiences of those in the schools. I consider the leadership practices of the principals to promote supportive teacher-student relationships as well as teacher practices, and compared the adults’ claims to the students’ perceived experiences with their teachers. My findings reveal three elements in the social systems of the ECHS contribute to supportive teacher-student relationships which include the following: (1) the beliefs of teachers, students, and principals; (2) deliberate actions of principals and teachers; and (3) programs that create social spaces for such relationships to grow.

A significant issue facing high schools is preparing students for their transition to college. High school students who are the first in their family to attend college have more difficulties preparing for this transition. Studies have explored the transition experiences of first-generation college-going students participating in partnership programs, showing that not all program components strengthen the transition experience for this population (Domina & Ruzek, 2012; Jordan, 2006; Watt et al., 2008). Since participation in these programs may contribute to a successful transition experience, it is crucial to expand our understanding of how participation helps these students overcome the numerous challenges in the transition process (Barnett et al., 2012; Choy, 2001).

This qualitative study involving interviews of 20 first-generation students examined how a district-level high school to community college readiness partnership program facilitated a successful transition from high school to community college for first-generation college-going students. The study drew on a conceptual framework involving cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) beyond the “deficit” model (Ovink & Veazey, 2011), social capital (Coleman, 1988), and ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).

Participants described both partnership program components and individualized attention through human resource relationships as being pivotal contributors to their positive transition experience. Although participants stated that the partnership program addressed many barriers to support their successful transition to community college, their transition experience remained challenging at times. Participants shared that their parents’ inexperience with the college process gave them a feeling of “being on their own” during the transition from high school to community college. As a whole, however, participants stated that they had a successful high school to community college transition because the partnership program gave them the background knowledge they needed. In addition, participants shared that with guidance from the partnership program, they felt more prepared than they would have had they not participated in the partnership program.

Based on participants’ transition experiences, this study offers a deeper understanding of the aspects of the partnership program that support a successful transition experience, with implications for existing and future programs, as well as policy.

High schools in the United States are charged with preparing students for citizenship and the knowledge, skills and experiences for success in postsecondary education and work. This study examines the problem of how to prepare students for college and work in a rural deindustrialized working-class community where jobs and careers that allow for upward economic mobility are scarce.

This ethnographic case study sought to understand the influences and interplay of school-based and non-school-based factors that influenced students’ decisions as they graduated and made the transition to college and work. Participants were two generational groups of alumni from working class families in the same high school. The first group was comprised of those who graduated in the decade that followed the closure of the railroad in Livingston, Montana in 1985. The second group was comprised of those who graduated a generation later, 20-30 years after deindustrialization.

The study found that the economic restructuring that occurred a generation after the deindustrialization altered the factors that affected the transition from high school to college and work for children in working class families. Financial stress and financial instability weighed more heavily on the present generation. College was seen as an investment in the 1985-1995 generational group, whereas college is a gamble for the 2005-2015 group. The 2005-2015 working class group saw themselves as “too rich” for grants, but “too poor” to afford college. While parent expectations for educational attainment remain the same for all participants, the latter group has fewer community ties and a greater reliance on educators in the high school.

The study concludes with recommendations that include interventions in the areas of college and career counseling, an examination of rural college and career readiness, critical pedagogical and collective impact approaches. The study calls upon school leadership to articulate competing discourses that shape educational practice and policy, and to be informed by the awareness that students’ subjective experiences of their lives are embedded within economic, political and social structures, as they attempt to intervene in the lives of young adults who will enter a precarious labor market.

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine the relationship between dual enrollment (DE) participation and college persistence among 399 high-school students enrolled in the five campuses of a state college in southeastern Florida from Fall 2010 to Fall 2012 using archived student records. Multiple regression was used to examine the correlation between college persistence and DE credits earned, GPA earned in DE courses, and algebra grades and to determine which variable was the greatest predictor of college persistence. The results of the study indicated that there was a significant but small correlation between DE participation and college persistence. Using analysis of variance, the result showed that there was a significant difference between the college persistence of DE and non-DE students. DE students had a mean college persistence score higher than non-DE students. The results of the study using Pearson correlation also showed that there was no significant correlation between GPA earned in DE courses and college persistence. No significant correlation between algebra grades and college persistence was found. The most important result of this study indicated that there was a highly significant correlation between a student’s DE credits earned and his or her college persistence and the best predictor of college persistence was the DE credits earned. Based on these findings, more research is required to investigate how DE and non-DE students compare in terms of the relationship between the variables GPA, DE credits earned, algebra grades, and college persistence.

Despite the benefits of a college education and the resources allocated to college preparedness programs, Latino minorities, at 12.7% of college students, continue to be overwhelmingly underrepresented in institutions of higher educational (Zarate & Burciaga, 2010). The graduation gap between lower and higher income students as well as minority students is due in part to lack of academic preparation, underfunding and staffing, and affordability of resources and support (Tinto, 2008). There is a need to increase students attending universities. Individuals with an advanced degrees are more likely to enjoy a higher standard of living, donate time and or money to various organizations, and live healthier lifestyles. Moreover, graduates are also less likely to live in poverty, have children at a young age, and partake in illegal activities (Contreras, 2011).

Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify how sociocultural factors, peer affiliation, adult mentorship, and institutional barriers, affected the K-16 pathways of Latino individuals graduating from a STEM-based 6 ^th-12^th grade charter school. Results of this study show that home factors such as English language acquisition, level of education, and adult time spent with their children played a significant role in academic achievement. School-based factors, including: course offerings, strong mentorship, and choice of friends also significantly impacted student success and matriculation to college.

Results of this study will inform high school leadership teams on how to target and reshape their academic and college preparedness programs to better fit the needs of their Latino students. By addressing specific sociocultural characteristics as well as institutional deficiencies, we hope to increase the percentage of Latino students entering in and persisting through college.

While dual enrollment participation has substantially increased among Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian high school students, the rates of participation among African American students, especially male students, has decreased since 2006. As a result of low participation rate in dual enrollment and research studies, little is known about the dual enrollment experience among high-achieving African American males. The purpose of this qualitative study, using a transcendental phenomenology design, was to explore the dual enrollment experiences of 10 high-achieving African American males, between 18 to 22 years, who currently attend a community college that is part of the Texas State Community College Consortium (a pseudonym). Descriptive interviews with study participants and qualitative data analyses were conducted in accordance with transcendental phenomenology methodological Four themes emerged from the data. The first theme was academic rigor of college, noted by all 10 participants. The second theme, also noted by all 10 participants, was social support and encouragement, which had six sub-themes pertaining to support from family, fellow students, and high school and college faculty/administration. Data from the 10 participants revealed the third theme of college and academic readiness, which was delineated into three sub-themes related to college and academic readiness, responsibility, and planning skills. The fourth and last theme was college tuition/financial benefits of dual enrollment, remarked upon by three students. Results from this study, can be utilized to promote social change as it concerns African American male’s academic achievement and college persistence.

This qualitative case study utilized Swail's Integrated Model of Student Success to discover how the structures, practices, and discourses at an urban charter high school affected the college aspirations and decisions of students of color from low-income households who matriculated to four-year institutions immediately after high school. This discovery took place by exploring the influence of educational and familial resources and support on students' college choice process and how students experienced and used these resources and support to successfully navigate the transition to college. Data for this study included pre- and post-matriculation interviews with eight low-income students of color who graduated from an urban charter high school after four years of attendance and immediately enrolled in a four-year institution. Data also included interview transcripts from students' parents, six of their teachers, and their counselor and principal.

Findings from this study revealed that, for the most part, educational and familial resources and support were complementary and facilitated students' progression through the college choice continuum. The school's college-going culture reinforced students' predispositions toward postsecondary education. High quality instruction in rigorous college-preparatory classes and caring, supportive relationships with teachers and other school personnel helped students remain on track for four-year admissions. Students who were on track for four-year admissions were provided more extensive college planning resources that facilitated their college searches and choices. Parents encouraged their children to pursue postsecondary education at four-year institutions because of the financial benefits. The majority of parents were not high school graduates, but all were willing to provide whatever financial and emotional support they could to ensure that their children fulfilled their educational goals. These findings suggest the need for a national policy mandating a college preparatory curriculum for all students and for schools to provide college planning resources that complement those provided in the home so all students have an equal opportunity to reap the benefits of a four-year postsecondary education.