Student retention: Moving from numbers to action (original) (raw)
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Student Retention: Moving from Numbers to Action. AIR 1992 Annual Forum Paper
1992
This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment; the internal environment; and key events (defining the problem, listening to student voices, and expanding data gathering and implementation of pilot projects). Described are the actions of a Retention Committee which used qualitative and quantitative methods to identify problems that create barriers to student success or contribute to student departure. A cross7cultural model, involving faculty, administrators, policy makers, and students, was found to be useful. A committee chairperson was chosen who could easily move back and forth among the subcultures with their different values, modes of behavior, incentive systems, and ways of communicating. Preliminary findings indicate that problems of student success in beginning math classes are more complex than was first imagined, that few faculty members who are viewed as the best teachers actually teach freshmen, and that advising and campus activities are major student concerns. The elements of a model for transferring information from the research realm into the policy arena are described. The paper concludes v.ith a discussion of the implications of the case study for the field of institutional research. (Contains 16 references.) (GLR)
2009
about campus / january–february 2009 G iven tightening fiscal constraints, growing pressure from public policymakers to improve student persistence and graduation rates, and the ever-present imperative to cultivate institutional quality and prestige, the conversation about student persistence is shifting from the abstract and theoretical to the concrete and actionable. of greatest concern is the human toll that attrition takes on those who leave college without achieving their goals. students who do not persist, especially if they leave for reasons an institution can control, are cheated of important opportunities to learn in college and to reap the benefits of that learning after graduation. Despite increasing college enrollments and the pressure to improve student achievement, completion rates have remained fairly constant over the past thirty years, according to the national center for education statistics. recognizing the importance and complexity of issues associated with stud...
A Different Viewpoint on Student Retention
Higher Learning Research Communications, 2014
Although student retention, persistence, and graduation is a high priority for institutions and policymakers, graduation rates are not improving. Nowadays, more students from first-generation and low-income backgrounds have access to traditional higher education. However, an educational system that fails to prepare many students for higher education and the growing costs of attending college are making it more and more difficult for many students to persist and graduate. Ultimately, we might need to decide, on a policy basis, who we want to go to college, who we want to succeed, and who will pay for it.
Glady Besona, 2021
RETENTION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BLACK AND WHITE FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN A MID-SIZE UNIVERSITY IN THE SOUTHERN U.S., 2000 - 2010 by Glady T. Besona A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Keiser University June 2021 RETENTION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BLACK AND WHITE FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN A MID-SIZE UNIVERSITY IN THE SOUTHERN U.S., 2000 - 2010 © Glady Besona 2021 All Rights Reserved RETENTION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BLACK AND WHITE FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN A MID-SIZE UNIVERSITY IN THE SOUTHERN U.S., 2000 - 2010 by Glady T. Besona June 2021 Abstract This study presents a comparative investigation of the differences in retention and academic performance of Black and White Female undergraduates in a mid-sized university in the southern U.S. The study became a significant concern in higher education because average Black students' retention and performance rates were often lower than their White counterparts (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). The guiding concept in this study's theoretical framework is Tinto's 1975 theory of integration. This theory and other literature related to this study establish that factors like pre-entry college attributes such as family background, academic, race, gender, and prior schooling will determine a learner's academic and social determination, higher retention, and performance. The explanatory sequential mixed-method research design, in which quantitative data from the institution was collected and analyzed, arrived at no significant difference in Black and White female undergraduate students' retention and performance rate. The quantitative analysis results were used to inform the qualitative questionnaire and interview conducted to understand why there were no statistically significant differences in retention and performance between the two groups under study. Though the study arrived at no meaningful relationship between retention and no significant difference in performance, information gathered from questionnaires and interviews shows other factors like student status are believed to influence retention and impact performance, as discussed by participants in the qualitative side of this study. For example, to inform the quantitative results, some of the interviewed participants believed that single parent, family income, proximity to campus, availability of scholarships and grants, and family support also play a critical role in the retention and performance of students in higher education. In conclusion, the study reveals that cultural pedagogy provides students with a solid knowledge base and empowers them to be good advocates. This acknowledgment can also assist instructors in their classroom in developing positive relationships with their students and help administrators develop intervention strategies.
CHANGING PERSPECTIVES ON STUDENT RETENTION: A Role for Institutional Research
Research in Higher Education - RES HIGH EDUC, 1998
This paper proposes a role for institutional research in changing institutional attitudes about the priority placed on student retention efforts. Problems associated with changing perspectives are described using Kuber-Ross's work On Death and Dying. Potential barriers associated with changing the status of student retention efforts within the institution are identified relative to her stages of grief-denial, hostility, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Tactics useful in addressing and moving through each stage are described. Results from several studies on student retention provide information that has been used to promote and change attitudes toward student retention efforts at all levels at Virginia Tech.
Ellis, K. It Takes a Campus: 15 Initiatives to Improve Retention
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 2020
into the history of retention practices at the institution, providing readers a timeline from 2008, when first-year retention at the University of Mississippi was 78.3% to 2015 when the first-year retention rate at the school was 86.5%. Early on, it becomes abundantly clear that the book focuses exclusively on freshmen retention, and the University of Mississippi's best practices on improving the retention of its first-year students. While firstyear retention is very important to overall persistence at any institution, the title of the book is somewhat misleading in that there is no indication of the freshmen focus from the cover or title. Misleading title aside, readers will find a workbook style format with reflection questions at the end of each chapter that allow the reader to review their own institution's efforts toward improving first-year retention, using each chapter's focus on retention efforts at the University of Mississippi as a template. The book includes interviews with individuals intimately involved in first-year retention efforts at the institution to provide an insider's perspective on each initiative. The interviews provide invaluable information on how administrators and "on the ground" professionals feel about first-year retention practices. After the Introduction, which provides the reader an overview of the book's focus, Dr. Ellis begins outlining the 15 first-year retention initiatives with a chapter dedicated to each one. Initiative 1 talks about the history of first-year retention at the University of Mississippi by detailing the creation of the Retention Task Force, when the institution's first-year retention hovered in
Journal of College Student Retention_ Research, Theory & Practice-2015-Kerby-1521025115578229.pdf
Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 2015
Theoretical models designed to predict whether students will persist or not have been valuable tools for retention efforts relative to the creation of services in academic and student affairs. Some of the early models attempted to explain and measure factors in the college dropout process. For example, in his seminal work, Tinto defined retention as a longitudinal process incorporating both the academic potential of the student and institutional social systems, thus creating a directional model based on continual variance in social commitments that influence academic performance. Others expanded the earlier theoretical models to test the predictive capabilities of these models using logistical regression and structural equation modeling to project college retention rates. As public sectors push for performance-based accountability in federal and state agencies, higher education funding becomes directly linked to academic performance. Critics of performance-based accountability in higher education contend that these funding structures undermine the mission of the university system and negatively impact retention in higher education. As Astin suggested, the structure of the American college system is a great deal more complex than the elementary concept of supply side economics. Additionally, due to globalization and aggressive progress in information technology, a shift from laborintensive, information-age economies to a knowledge-based economy has created