College of Education
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations..
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Item An Analysis of Institutional Characteristics that Contribute to Extended Time to Doctoral Degree(2013) Frasier, Helen Schurke; O'Meara, KerryAnn; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Title of dissertation: AN ANALYSIS OF INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO EXTENDED TIME TO DOCTORAL DEGREE Helen Schurke Frasier, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation directed by: Professor KerryAnn O'Meara Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education Many factors--individual, departmental and institutional--have been associated with longer time to degree and progress toward degree completion. Lengthy time to degree affects the availability of resources, advising, persistence, and degree completion. This research identified institutional characteristics that impacted extended time to degree, relative to discipline, in doctoral programs. The data were drawn from three years of Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) data--2004, 2005, and 2006--and the National Research Council's (NRC) 2010 A Data-based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States. The sample included 18,545 student records representing 58 different fields. Extended time to doctoral degree was defined as completion equal to or greater than one standard deviation beyond the Mean, relative to discipline. The study employed descriptive statistics, Hierarchical linear models, and Analysis of Variance models to test nested student and field data against targeted independent variables in each of nine categories: socio-demographic factors, student qualities and time to degree factors, discipline and institution factors, financial support factors, support and training factors, process and procedure factors, program environment factors, research environment factors, and selectivity factors. Key findings include writing the dissertation as a critical point for reform in doctoral programs to reduce time to degree for early, average and extended completers. Relationships between diverse students, diverse faculty, and the research environment impact time to degree differently for early, average, and extended completers, which requires additional research. Child dependents increased time to degree for all completers, and primary source of support had mixed effects for early, average, and extended completers. Five recommendations for institutional interventions and additional research were developed based on the study findings: develop programs to support timely (dissertation) writing, conduct additional research on diversity and extended time to degree, develop programs for graduate student parents, reorganize doctoral student financial support mechanisms, and establish program-level review of time to degree. The recommendations are aimed at improving the culture and climate of doctoral education for all graduate students.Item A DIFFERENT WORLD: AFRICAN AMERICAN, FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE WOMEN AT A SELECTIVE UNIVERSITY(2013) Johnson, Jennifer Michelle; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the academic and social experiences of African American, first generation college students attending a selective university. Following interpretive case study methodology, the major research questions guiding this study were: How do African American, first generation college students describe their academic and social experiences attending a selective institution of higher education? And How do African American, first generation college students mitigate barriers to college persistence? Through demographic questionnaire responses and individual semi-structured interviews with five African American women attending the University of Pennsylvania, participants identified the ways that their collegiate experiences were shaped by their social identities, precollege academic and social experiences, and interactions with members of their campus and home communities. Findings indicated that African American, first generation college women graduate from high school with a strong academic sense of self, developed after years of parental encouragement for academic achievement and positive precollege experiences with teachers and counselors. This academic sense of self contributed to students' ability to adapt to the academic competiveness and classroom expectations of their given major upon matriculation. With time and self-reflection, students began to engage in academic behaviors linked with success. Socially, early experiences of isolation or alienation primarily occurred during students' first semester, but were mitigated through interactions with peers or engagement in campus organizations and activities. Students identified availability of financial resources, their strong support networks, and their intrinsic motivation and academic self-efficacy as factors that contributed to their college persistence within the setting of a selective university. Finally, students specifically described how five salient aspects of their identity - their race, class, academic sense of self, gender, and spirituality, influenced not only the ways they individually engaged with the college environment, but also their perceptions of various members of the campus community. The findings of this study contributes to the complexity of understanding how African American, first generation college women experience a selective campus environment. Implications for campus policies and practices, as well as recommendations for future research are presented.Item Exploring the Relationship Between Personal Motivation, Persistence, and Resilience and Their Effects on Academic Achievement Among Different Groups of African-American Males in High Schools(2005-05-05) Salley, Linda Delois; Weible, Thomas D; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated the extent to which differences in motivation, persistence, and resilience exist among academically achieving African-American males enrolled in high school in a mid-Atlantic suburban public school system. The research questions sought to identify quantitative and qualitative variables that might contribute to academic success. The two groups of participants in this study were tenth and eleventh grade African-American males enrolled in the general curriculum or in honors and/or advanced placement classes. All participants were maintaining a 2.5 grade point average and all high schools in the district were represented in the study. The Achievement Motivation Profile instrument was administered to 140 academically achieving African-American males. Ten percent of the sample population responded to twelve interview questions. The study tested three research hypotheses: (1) there are no statistically significant differences in the mean levels of motivation between two groups of African-American males with different academic achievement records; (2) there are no statistically significant differences in the mean levels of persistence between two groups of African-American males with different academic achievement records; (3) There are no statistically significant differences in the mean levels of resilience between two groups of African-American males with different academic achievement records. T-tests and analysis of variance were used to make comparisons between the two groups. Findings from the current study revealed no statistically significant differences in means in motivation, persistence and resilience. Four themes emerged from the interviews of African-American males enrolled in honors or advanced placement high school classes. These themes were: (1) determined and persistent parental engagement; (2) setting limits and discipline; (3) child-focused love, support, communication and modeling; and (4) community connectedness and resources. Suggestions are made to replicate the study in an urban setting, again using African-American male honors and general curriculum students; to replicate the study in a rural area where three groups of African-American male students are identified: honors, general, and a group who are performing poorly in the general curriculum.; and to replicate the study using African-American females as the subjects in a similar environment. Additionally, it is important to continue searching the literature for an instrument more sensitive to differences between levels of motivation, persistence and resilience than the Achievement Motivation Profile.