Leadership theories and their application to various leadership positions is a heavily researched field. Specific research has been conducted examining leadership theories of both middle level and senior level leaders individually (Amey et al., 2020; Eddy and Mitchell, 2017; Hernandez and Hernandez, 2014. However, an examination of leadership…

Upward transfer is the process by which students begin their higher education at a Community College or other two-year institution and then transfer to a four-year institution to complete their bachelor degree. Community Colleges enroll 45% of all undergraduates in the United States, or approximately 7.7 million students (AACC, 2015). From their…

This memo estimates the main economic benefits of tuition-free college in Illinois. These economic benefits are compared with the costs of making tuition free. In addition, the authors consider possible fiscal benefits of tuition-free college and whether these fiscal benefits for Illinois will offset the fiscal costs of making tuition free. This…

Federal, state, and local initiatives have encouraged education and training providers to build stackable credentials, a series of postsecondary credentials that can be earned over time and that build on each other to prepare individuals for different needs for knowledge and skills throughout a career. By offering flexible pathways that allow…

College graduates are expected to acquire certain skill sets that are necessary and sought after by potential employers, as many industries in the United States continue to grow a global footprint. Employers also value good communication skills, and communication classes are a staple of most general education curricula, including those taught on…

Online community college instructors' failure to effectively utilize asynchronous discussion boards negatively impacts student course outcomes. However, it is unclear exactly what practices instructors use in their discussion boards. The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study was to investigate community college instructors' practices…

Objective/Research Question: This paper reports on data collected in a multi-year National Science Foundation grant project involving a professional development (PD) model built to support community college faculty as change agents (CAs). The research question was: How do disciplinary communities of practice (CoP) emerge among community college…

The adoption of online learning approach in education is becoming more popular around the world to overcome the time and spatial barriers of traditional face-to-face learning. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the normality of learning and avoiding face-to-face activities is one tactic to minimise the spread of…

This mix methods study was completed at a medium sized, rural, public two-year community college located in a southeastern state. The purpose of the research was to determine whether the administration of a workforce development program by a community college leads to better student success. Specifically, the community college wanted to analyze…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of professional development modeled upon social learning theory on community college teacher efficacy. A pre-experimental, one-group pre- and post-test research design using the Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale was used to measure the effectiveness of a faculty development treatment on teacher…

In this study, cybersecurity faculty and academic advisors from community colleges and 4-year universities in the southeast region of the United States completed a survey assessing attitudes about and support for articulation agreements and related transfer policies. Hypothesizing that professional structures shape attitudes and experiences, the…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness for L2 English learners of a new direct approach to segmental pronunciation instruction that combined articulatory instruction with abdominal enhancement techniques. The participants were Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, where the school curriculum relies chiefly on indirect…

In response to strikingly low completion rates in public 2-year colleges, including for students who are well-prepared academically, most community colleges across the country offer student success courses as one approach to improving outcomes for students. Some colleges have begun to revise these courses in response to research indicating that…

Discussions of workforce development emphasize stackable training, and assume linear advancement and alignment, through college and career paths. Stackable credentials have become a best practice for community colleges across the United States as they struggle to advance the college completion agenda and ensure that students graduate with the…

This dissertation consists of three independent chapters in applied microeconomics. In the first chapter, I study the causal effect impact of early life circumstances on adult psychological well-being using the property reform in China as a positive and policy driven change in economic resources in early life. Exploiting the staggered adoption of…