Community colleges play a vital role in providing access to higher educational opportunities for their communities. College completion rates for community colleges, however, have been historically low and few students graduate within a two-year timeframe. Disaggregating these data also reveals significant equity gaps in these outcomes for many…

The quality of the relationship between a university and its host community both reflects and helps determine the effectiveness of the work they jointly pursue. Through the single issue of partnering to reduce college student alcohol misuse, we examined the quality of town-gown relations using a well-established typology grounded in the marriage…

Social work students at a southeastern university piloted a community perception and attachment survey during a local Ciclovia event. Results indicated that a majority of participants held a generally positive view of the community (91%), while perceptions of specific aspects of the community and neighborhoods varied depending on individual items.…

Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) aspire to participate in a variety of activities after high school, such as attaining paid employment, enrolling in postsecondary education, being involved in their communities, living independently, and building friendships. However, complex and longstanding transition barriers require…

Service learning and community engagement (SLCE) have become near ubiquitous across United States (U.S.) higher education. While much research has demonstrated positive student learning outcomes of SLCE, there has been unequal consideration towards understanding the experiences of communities involved. Because community voices and perspectives…

The author's previous articles for "FORUM," some co-authored with Dr. Andrew Allen, propose a radical restructuring of English schooling to enable more effective engagement with the community and a reassessment of the purposes of schooling. What follow here are a few suggestions that individual schools and academy trusts might take up to…

In the summer of 2020, amidst state-mandated social distancing and protests for racial justice, youth participating in an ongoing YPAR initiative sought to design and facilitate a book club for the residents of their subsidized housing community to increase community awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. Through interviews, youth shared…

Although extracurricular activities are valuable for school communities, they present specific contextual challenges including (a) scheduling outside of school hours/locations, (b) attendees who may not be directly connected to the school community, (c) large groups together in unstructured spaces, (d) potential opportunities for increased access…

It is not known if Registration Time (early or late) or if Student Term (first-time or continuing) have a main or interaction effect on Student Belonging. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative study is to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in Student Belonging between Registration Time, Student Term and the…

This qualitative dissertation explores the use of an original table-top role-playing game as a framework for community-building among independent community educators who lack a central geographic nexus. The study utilized an action research approach, involving the creation and development of the game in collaboration with participants for a period…

Community colleges are important settings for the development of social capital as well as institutions of higher learning. The democratic mission, geographic dispersion, and close relationship with multiple stakeholders throughout their service regions allow community colleges to be well-suited to act as liaisons and social architects…

Post-diagnostic support for autistic adults in the United Kingdom is geographically inequitable and, in general, considered inadequate. This results in autistic adults facing unnecessary challenges and wide-ranging poor outcomes. A modified Delphi study sought to establish autistic adults' priorities for optimal provision of post-diagnostic…

The rapid growth in digital technologies continues to accelerate, bringing not only new opportunities, but also new challenges and needs to the field of education. As educational technologists design research to improve the implementation of learning technologies, they must adapt their research approaches to social and cultural contexts. In…

Community colleges are an important entry point and pathway for students to obtain a postsecondary degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. To broaden STEM participation and increase STEM persistence, it is important to support community college students' college-level course completion and academic performance. This…

The formulation of a sense of community (SOC) among students has received significant attention in the literature in recent years. However, digitally enhanced learning and COVID-19 have amplified the challenges vis-à-vis connecting students and making them feel involved and recognized in virtual learning ecologies for higher educational…