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Remedial courses have been part of the college landscape in the United States since at least the 1800s when nearly 250,000 students were placed into remedial courses. Traditionally, students who enrolled in remedial courses were placed into that course solely based on one test score. Students who enrolled in traditional remedial courses were more likely to not graduate than their peers placed into college-level English and Mathematics courses. This research aims to understand the rural Virginia community college English and mathematics professors' perceptions of implementing and using multiple measures to place students into first-year English and mathematics courses. The data for this study was collected from questionnaires sent electronically to professors from two rural community colleges in Virginia. There were 13 participants in this study. All the professors agreed that using noncognitive variables to place students would be helpful, especially grit, maturity, socio-economic factors, growth mindset, perseverance, work ethic, and letters of recommendation from high school teachers. All of the professors reported using GPA and test scores to place students into their first-year courses, a change from strictly test scores before implementation. Most participants found that using multiple measures to place students had increased the percentage of students who completed college-level courses. These findings indicate a need to implement noncognitive factors when placing students to ensure students complete college. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In this dissertation, I examine various factors shaping students' trajectories and opportunities later in life. In Chapter 1, I explore the role of grade retention policies. Grade retention as a remedial policy is controversial because the benefits of extra instruction time may not outweigh its costs. Previous research has primarily examined retention for specific grades. By exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in retention generated by a nationwide promotion policy in Chile, I demonstrate that retention timing is critical in determining its effect on academic performance and access to higher education. Being held back only reduces the probability of future grade retention for young primary students. Additionally, older primary students are less likely to return to school the following academic year or graduate from high school. High school grade-retained students are the most affected, with a 10-20 percentage point reduction in their likelihood of high school graduation, and many switch to adult education in response to retention. Interestingly, even though high school students who are held back are just as likely to take the college admission test, they show a positive 0.1 SD increase in Spanish and math performance. Then, in Chapter 2, I focus on the impact of massive and sudden school closures following the 2011 nationwide student strike in Chile on teenage pregnancy. We observe an average increase of 2.7% in teenage pregnancies in response to temporary high school shutdowns, equal to 1.9 additional pregnancies per lost school day. The effect diminishes after three quarters since the strike's onset. The effects are predominantly driven by first-time mothers aligned with high-school absenteeism periods and are unrelated to the typical seasonality of teenage fertility or pregnancies in other age groups. Additionally, we document that the strike had a more prominent disruptive role by affecting students' educational trajectories, evidenced by a persistent increase in dropout rates and a reduction in college admission test take-up for both female and male students. Lastly, in Chapter 3, I explore inequalities in performance associated with the school type students attend, particularly the contribution of teachers to student performance in Chile's college admission test (PSU). Our analysis is based on a unique teacher-student matched dataset and decomposition methods. The findings suggest that teachers' performance on the PSU and the characteristics of their educational degrees are significant predictors of students' success. When controlling for students' and predetermined school characteristics, the gap between voucher and public schools is reduced. Productivity differences emerge as key factors driving the disparities across school types. The analysis underscores the crucial role of teacher-student interactions in shaping student outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The Post-Traditional Remedial Learner in higher education is a student constituency that has historically been "Hidden in Plain Sight" and strikingly absent from substantive discussions that foreground their lived experiences, relevance, and success in post-secondary education. Though physically present on campus and numerically significant within the academy, they are not recognized as an influential and consequential student demographic. The juxtaposition of their presence, specifically within the community college setting, and absence in the literature calls our attention to one of higher education's most perplexing omissions. This study's purpose is to explore the lived experiences of Post-Traditional Remedial Learners (PTRLs) in a specific developmental education program within a community college setting and discover which factors promote and impact their success. Also critical to this study is exploring the situational, dispositional, and institutional barriers PTRLs face as they attempt to complete developmental education milestones. This study employs a triangulated approach to qualitative investigation, centering the voices and lived experiences of 12 Post-Traditional Remedial Learners between the ages of 25 and 75, nine community college academic personnel, and document analysis through the review of documentary evidence that serves to supplement and corroborate the interview and focus group data. This multi-perspective approach was utilized to gain a deeper understanding and to be provided with thick descriptions that would help to explicate the phenomenon further and increase the credibility and validity of the findings. Ultimately, the study serves as both a resource and infrastructure upon which further work may be developed with opportunities to provoke a profound interest in this student populous and heightened levels of understanding, integration, and support for their collegial success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

A significant number of students enter community colleges with developmental education (DE) needs in reading, writing, and mathematics. Many of these students are typically referred to more than one level of DE courses before they can enroll in a college-level course. This has led to lower than desired success rate of DE students over the years. As administrators look for ways to improve DE student outcomes, many institutions have now adopted the corequisite model on account of results of several quantitative studies, which reveal high success rates of DE students enrolled in corequisite courses. With the corequisite model being widely accepted across different states, it is important to understand how the model promotes the academic success of students, specifically from the students' perspectives. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the experiences of (DE) students enrolled in a corequisite course at an urban community college in New York State. The study also examined the factors that facilitated or impeded their academic success in the corequisite course. For this study, academic success is defined by a student who successfully completes the DE course with a grade of P and successfully pass the gateway course with a grade of A, B, C, or D, and enroll in the subsequent semester. Participants included a purposeful sample of eight students who completed a math or English corequisite course in fall 2021 and re-enrolled in spring 2022, as well as two faculty members who have taught DE courses for more than ten years. The researcher conducted virtual semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interview, and reviewed relevant documents. The data analysis employed inductive coding which provided themes and sub-themes interpreted through the theoretical lens of Student Integration, (Tinto,1993) and Student Involvement (Astin, 1999). The findings from this study contribute to the expansion of the literature reviewed and have significant implications for DE policy and practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

There is a shortage of speech pathologists in the United States. Speech pathology training programs are highly selective degree programs, defined as pre-professional programs that have high grade point average criteria for entrance and continuance throughout the program (Halasz & Bloom, 2019). Effective remediation plans could provide students who are struggling with the skills to demonstrate clinical competencies, thus contributing to the number of speech pathologists in the profession. Very little has been written about remediation in the speech pathology literature; therefore, a broader review of other healthcare fields was undertaken. The literature review showed that remediation is a relatively new topic in many healthcare fields. This study posed two research questions: what features and characteristics are present in remediation plans in clinical training programs in speech pathology, and how do training programs measure the effectiveness of their remediation? This qualitative research study explored the policies and procedures of remediation plans in 10 speech pathology training programs by using a constructivist grounded (CG) approach (Charmaz, 2014). A CG approach allowed for the natural engagement of dialogue with study participants, that originated from semi-structured interview questions. Participants generously offered details about the remediation plans and effectiveness measures at various universities. This study concluded with recommendations for remediations in speech pathology training programs. The participants recommended that students be made aware of remediation policies through several different venues or events (syllabi, orientation, etc.) and through several different media (internet, live in class, in writing, announcements). The participants also recommended that remediation timelines and assignments be individualized. This recommendation is consistent with that found in nursing literature for remediation (Lynn & Twigg (2010). Lastly, participants recommended that students in remediation receive regular feedback, consistent with supervision literature in speech pathology (Brasseur et al., 2005; Dowling, 2001) and physical therapy (Bearman et al., 2013). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

While many community college (CC) students come to higher education with specific career or life goals, these aspirations may be forced to change if students are not able to get past the gatekeeper of remedial mathematics coursework. Racially minoritized students are disproportionately tracked into non-credit-bearing remedial (NCBR) mathematics classes upon entering college, and often become trapped in a financial and emotional cycle of take-fail-repeat, with student debt linked back to remedial coursework totaling over $1.3 billion per year across the 50 states and D.C. (Jimenez, Sargrad, Morales, & Thompson, 2016). In spite of this, mathematics as a field of study has been positioned as more important than ever before for a diverse pool of learners, all while inequitable access to quality mathematics-learning experiences prevails. This study draws upon the theoretical frame of narrative mathematics identity (Langer-Osuna & Esmonde, 2017; Larnell, 2016), taking a humanizing approach to the exploration of CC students who are currently enrolled in NCBR mathematics coursework. Using narrative inquiry as a tool to learn about students' identities as mathematics learners and doers, this study gathers narratives of an intimate group of CC students, uncovering how they came to know themselves as learners and doers of mathematics. Their self-narratives provide insight into how experiences and actions related to school mathematics over the life course may shape what students see as possible for themselves, and how remedial mathematics as it exists today serves as a filter, removing certain students from post-secondary educational opportunities. Findings of this study provide invaluable information for mathematics educators (including curriculum designers, policy makers, instructors, and student support staff), not only about how we can support the development of positive mathematics identities during community college, but also how certain mathematics experiences may serve to dehumanize students. Additionally, this study can help us think about how students' past experiences learning and doing mathematics have served to dehumanize them, and what post-secondary institutions, particularly community colleges, can do to support students in accomplishing the goals they set out for themselves by supporting them in the successful completion of required mathematics coursework. Outcomes of this project help us to gain an awareness of both the patterns and unique qualities that are present within students' lived experiences around mathematics starting in elementary school; to use this awareness to continue exploring and centering student voice as a means to creating knowledge regarding how schools can champion their mathematics students in accomplishing the goals they set out for themselves; and to use this awareness to continue experimenting with and developing appropriate mathematics pathways and support structures so that mathematics coursework acts as a humanizing mechanism in students' lives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The overarching goal of this quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences in the Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP 2025) achievement scores of Algebra I students before and after attending summer remediation. The sample size consisted of 581 freshman students from the 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022 school years. LEAP 2025 achievement data were obtained from three rural high schools in Louisiana. Data were analyzed to determine if there was a significant difference in the scores after remediation. Analyses were also conducted to investigate if there were significant differences in the growth scores according to student race and gender. Results confirmed statistically significant differences in scores after remediation as well as differences in the scores when accounting for race and gender. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative-phenomenological study captured parts of the lived experiences of veterans who chose to stop or end their degree or training program which took place after military service. The researcher focused on this specific population as it was observed that no one had taken the time to hear the stories of those veterans who were ultimately unsuccessful in their chosen degree or training program. Other researchers have looked into success factors of active student-veterans as well as successful alumni. Additionally, there was also data regarding student-veterans who stopped, but eventually made it back to the classroom. It was here where the researcher saw the gap and wanted to give a voice to those who had yet to return--those who are MIE, Missing in Education. This research aimed to better understand the veterans' barriers to success, the veterans' perception of veterans' support programs, what veterans propose could have kept them enrolled, and how their decision to stop or end their program has affected them. This study utilized a semi-structured interview design to extract the subjective lived experiences of 10 veteran-participants. The researcher chose Schlossberg's Transition Theory (1981) as the theoretical framework for this study as he saw the topic of transitions to be most applicable for veterans returning to the classroom and civilian life in general. The findings of this study uncovered a myriad of obstacles faced by veterans when returning to the classroom. Veterans struggled for numerous personal reasons; including but not limited to, feeling out of place, family problems, addiction, and homelessness. Veterans also struggled due to feeling undersupported by the institution they were attending. There was an undertone of participants being misinformed regarding the specifics of their particular VA education benefit which supported many of their sentiments for needing a veteran-specific counselor/liaison. This also put into question the effectiveness of separations classes when exiting the military. The struggles these veterans faced in conjunction with feeling undersupported caused them to become MIE. The consequences of stopping/ending their degree or training left veterans feeling defeated, incompetent, and left behind. Feelings that surely compounded emotions about their time in the military. The voices of these veterans showed there is a need to re-examine certain elements of VA education benefits as well as the requirements placed on institutions that are eligible to receive VA education funds. This study uncovered the need for mandated veterans' counselors as well as academic tracking systems. Additionally, this study pointed to possible policy related to housing allowance and remedial courses to be reconsidered. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Student's low reading and writing proficiency in higher education has been the subject of a large body of research (e.g., Bahr, 2011; Bailey, 2010; Carlino, 2005, 2010, 2012; Flink, 2017; Jaggars, 2014 Pacello, 2014; Perin, 2011; Perin et al., 2013). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how students in a first-year developmental Spanish course at the Dominican community college think of the connection between their reading and writing abilities and their performance in both their current and future undergraduate courses. The study also explored how these students view the importance of the developmental course and how they understand issues that may impact their ability to read and write. Undergraduate education and developmental courses have been widely studied; however, students' knowledge about their own reading and writing skills is still an under-researched area (Lembke, 2021; Perin, 2013). In addition, in spite of an extensive review of the literature, I did not find studies that focused specifically on community college remedial education in the DR, nor any that focused on DR students' understanding of their literacy skills, or how they perceive the issues that may impact their ability to read and write. Results of this study are significant for educators because it provides first-hand information about how students view the relevance of reading and writing proficiencies for their academic and personal achievements. These findings are important for students who probably have not think about the connection between their reading and writing abilities and their performance in career subjects. This study is relevant for academic leaders to, because it provides data to support their decisions for improving retention and graduation rates and to avoid desertion by development of students' reading and writing proficiency. Student's low reading and writing proficiency in higher education has been the subject of a large body of research (e.g., Bahr, 2011; Bailey, 2010; Carlino, 2005, 2010, 2012; Flink, 2017; Jaggars, 2014 Pacello, 2014; Perin, 2011; Perin et al., 2013). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how students in a first-year developmental Spanish course at the Dominican community college think of the connection between their reading and writing abilities and their performance in both their current and future undergraduate courses. The study also explored how these students view the importance of the developmental course and how they understand issues that may impact their ability to read and write. Undergraduate education and developmental courses have been widely studied; however, students' knowledge about their reading and writing skills is still an under-researched area (Lembke, 2021; Perin, 2013). In addition, in spite of an extensive review of the literature, I did not find studies that focused specifically on community college remedial education in the DR, nor any that focused on DR students' understanding of their literacy skills, or how they perceive the issues that may impact their ability to read and write.The results of this study are significant for educators because they provide first-hand information about how students view the relevance of reading and writing proficiencies for their academic and personal achievements. These findings are important for students who probably have not thought about the connection between their reading and writing abilities and their performance in career subjects. This study is relevant for academic leaders because it provides data to support their decisions for improving retention and graduation rates, and lowering the attrition rate through the development of students' reading and writing proficiency.The study was carried out at the first and only community college in the Dominican Republic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 students enrolled in a developmental reading and writing Spanish course. Metacognitive theories served as a frame for the study. The two metacognitive components most related to this study are a) metacognitive awareness and knowledge about oneself as a learner. The basic interpretive approach is used to explore how participants in the study --make meaning of their own lives and experiences? (Merriam, 2009, p. 23). Data analysis used Marshall and Rossman's (2016) seven phase analytic procedures (a) organizing data, (b) immersion in the data, (c) coding the data, (d) generating possible themes, (e) offering interpretations through analytic memos, (f) searching for alternative understandings, and (g) writing the report or other format for presenting the studio.Findings in this study suggest that students enrolled in a developmental reading and writing Spanish course do not recognize the relevance of their reading and writing proficiency to succeed in future career subjects. However, these students do connect their reading and writing abilities with achieving their career aspirations and life goals, contrary to previous literature.This study also found that these students consider themselves --good readers? which means that they do not recognize their need for improving their reading ability. In addition, contrary to previous research, most participants in this study recognized their difficulties in writing and some grammar topics. Finally, the study revealed that although most of the students in this developmental course at the Dominican community college recognize having some writing and grammar difficulties, they value the instruction and support received from their professors, and the interaction with their classmates as motivators for their growth in the developmental course. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Postsecondary institutions are redesigning the ways in which they offer remedial courses to support students' progress and eventual success in college more effectively A corequisite approach places students assessed as marginally remedial directly into college-level courses but provides them with additional academic support. The rationale is that without the delay of having to take prerequisite remedial courses, students are more likely to build and sustain academic momentum, accumulate college credits more quickly without sacrificing learning quality and are therefore more likely to graduate in a shorter time frame. Relying on a state corequisite pilot program and state-level standardized test cutoff scores, the study uses student-level data and the Difference-in-Difference with moderator method to compare short-term college outcomes between corequisite students and traditional remedial students as well as college-level students. Findings indicate that corequisite math students at four-year institutions seemed to have benefited the most from the redesigned approach as they consistently outperformed their traditional remedial peers post-policy and reduced outcome gaps with college-level students or even outperformed them on some measures related to academic standing, college credit accumulation and first-year persistence. Corequisite English students seemed to have only gained some advantages over increased GPA with effects of much less magnitude and consistency. Corequisite students of both subjects at two-year institutions seemed to have garnered little to no progress overtime with their corequisite experience. In addition, both White and minority corequisite math students at four-year institutions performed equally well with minority students being able to reduce gaps on some outcome measures. The similarly distributed benefit of the corequisite program among four-year math students wasn't observed among four-year English students nor among students of both subjects at two-year institutions. At two-year institutions, the advantage of participating in the corequisite program seemed to have mainly been absorbed by White students who showed stronger performance over time. Gender outcome gap continued to exist among all samples with female students still being the high achievers except for the subject of math at four-year institutions where male corequisite math students seemed to have greatly reduced the outcome gap in terms of college credits accumulation. While the gender outcome gap reduction isn't as frequently seen as the racial outcome gap reduction, it is still a welcome sign. Findings from the study on the main effect and subgroup analysis by race align with existing evidence. Findings on subgroup analysis by gender adds to the current pool of evidence. The study constructs two control groups for the corequisite students to have extended evaluation of the validity of the treatment effect estimates. Post-estimation analysis unpacks the mechanism that drives observed treatment effects. Significant and positive treatment effects are only counted as findings if they are validated via post-estimation analysis and are consistent across both sets of comparisons. Inclusion of two analytical pathways of intent-to-treat and average-treatment-of-the-treated presents potential effect of the corequisite policy overall and the effect on the treated per se. Results support the on-going remediation reform effort at both the institutional and state level to expand the corequisite pool of students beyond just the marginally remedial so that more students may progress to the finish line faster. The study, however, cautions against more dramatic reform practices, such as eliminating remedial courses completely or implementing a new holistic assessment metric. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]