College graduation rates often lag behind college attendance rates. One theory as to why students do not complete college is that they lack key information about how to be successful or fail to act on the information that they have. We present evidence from a randomized experiment which tests the effectiveness of individualized student coaching.…

This paper outlines current student-level indicators at the high school and middle school levels that predict college success. In this bulletin, indicators are divided into three categories: assessment scores (e.g., SAT® exam scores), transcript attributes (e.g., course rigor), and additional indicators (e.g., attendance) that impact achievement.

This applied dissertation was designed to provide a formal evaluation of the academic achievement of homeschooled students compared to traditionally schooled students attending a relatively young, Catholic university located in South Florida. As approximately 30% of the university's current student population has been homeschooled through high…

Online education has exploded in popularity. While there is ample research on predictors of traditional college student success, little research has been done on effective methods of predicting student success in online education. In this study, a number of demographic variables including GPA, ACT, gender, age and others were examined to determine…

Much has been written about the need for student involvement to build a sense of belonging on college campuses. However, when it comes to membership in Greek social organizations, such involvement has been largely cast as negative. Unlike many of the anecdotal articles critical of the influence joining a Greek social organization can have on…

In this study, we evaluated the differential effects on racial/ethnic, family income, and gender groups of using ACT® College Readiness Assessment Composite score and high school grade point average (HSGPA) for predicting long-term college success. Outcomes included annual progress towards a degree (based on cumulative credit-bearing hours…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of senior high school counselors' domain specializations--academic, advanced education, career, and personal/social--from two urban high schools, on alphabetically assigned graduating seniors' with low, mid-range, and high Grade Point Averages documented college and career readiness milestone…

One of the most pressing problems facing our nation is the large percentage of students who enroll in college but never complete a degree. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that only 57 percent of students who sought a bachelor's degree and enrolled in a four-year institution in the fall of 2002 completed that degree within six years. For…

The purpose of the study is to compare the student profile characteristics, which were categorized as demographic, prematriculation, and matriculation, between traditional residential and commuter students at a public, research, commuter university. Using status attainment as the theoretical framework, the researchers employed a discriminant…

A four-year college degree increases a student's employment prospects and earning potential. Given this importance, it is not surprising that 75 percent of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) high school students aspire to obtain at least a four-year college degree. Yet, prior research showed that few achieved this goal: a 2006 University of Chicago…

The Major Field Test in Business (MFT-B) is a widely used end-of-program assessment tool; however, several challenges arise when using the test in this capacity. Changing student demographics and the lack of a statistical framework are two of the most vexing issues confronting educators when using the MFT-B for programmatic assessment. The authors…

Exposure to organic chemistry concepts in the laboratory can positively affect student performance, learning new chemistry concepts and building motivation towards learning chemistry in the lecture. In this study, quantitative methods were employed to assess differences in student performance, learning, and motivation in an organic chemistry…

This paper describes research on the use of journals in a general education chemistry course for elementary education majors. In the journals, students describe their understanding of a topic, the development of that understanding, and how the topic connects to their lives. In the process, they are able to engage in reflection about several…

The increasing concentration of wealthy students at highly selective colleges is widely perceived, but few analyses examine the underlying dynamics of higher education stratification over time. To examine these dynamics, the authors build an analysis data set of four cohorts from 1972 to 2004. They find that low-income students have made…

Districts now have access to a wealth of new information that can help target students with appropriate supports and bring focus and coherence to college readiness efforts. However, the abundance of data has brought its own challenges. Schools and school systems are often overwhelmed with the amount of data available. The capacity of districts to…