Complexity theory suggests that educational research should consider students' community contexts, because individual students' outcomes are interrelated with community characteristics. While some prior literature finds that higher education enrollment choices are influenced by geography, scholars have largely overlooked the importance of…

Background: Determining the root causes of persistent underrepresentation of different subpopulations in engineering remains a continued challenge. Because place-based variation of resource distribution is not random and because school and community contexts influence high school outcomes, considering variation across those contexts should be…

It is generally assumed that young people with lower socioeconomic status (SES) face restricted access to higher education institutions, and particularly to those which are considered to be more prestigious. Differences in student placement in higher education institutions by place of residence are usually explained by their SES. We argue that…

Although some studies have explored the influence of academic achievement on rural students' college access and success, little research has analyzed the relationship between students of different types of rural communities and their persistence in postsecondary education. This study examined the likelihood of college-going students from three…

Applied community learning experiences for university students are promising endeavors in downtown urban environments. Past research is applied to help better comprehend a community engagement initiative conducted in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. The initiative aimed to illuminate the socio-cultural diversity of the downtown area utilizing…

New Zealand has a persistent problem of inequitable educational outcomes between different student groups, which has led to New Zealand being designated a high achievement-low equity country. A key policy lever in the quest to lift educational achievement for priority learners, identified by the Ministry of Education as Maori, Pasifika, students…

Using PISA 2000 data, this article examines cross-national variation in rural mathematics achievement among 15-year olds in 24 industrialized nations. Rural mathematics scores were significantly lower than scores in urban and medium-size communities in 14 of 24 countries. However, patterns were complex. Most commonly, a linear relationship…

Colleges and state higher education agencies too often lack accurate information about the socioeconomic status (SES) of their students. This paper describes the methodology that Community College Research Center (CCRC) researchers used to estimate the SES of individual students in the Washington State community and technical college system using…