Michelle

=__Global Issues in Student Retention__= 1. Primary Schooling 2. Distance education in student retention 3. Trends in tertiary education > 4. The U.S. vs. Other countries
 * United Nations Millennium Goal
 * Achieve universal primary education by 2015
 * "The current pace of progress is insufficient to meet the target by 2015."
 * "About 69 million school-age children were not going to school in 2008, down from 106 million children in 1999."
 * "In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30 percent of primary school students drop out before reaching a final grade."
 * More teachers and classrooms are needed
 * What is the UN doing?
 * "The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) supports countries in building quality primary education systems that reach all children, for instance through the Basic Education in Africa Programme, advocating for countries to adopt legal frameworks guaranteeing 8-10 years of uninterrupted basic education."
 * Source: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_FS_2_EN.pdf
 * Why is primary schooling important as part of Commit to Complete project?
 * In order to ensure that individuals can complete a college education, we must first ensure that children have access to primary schooling, and are able to achieve elementary education.
 * How will this impact contact with students in Africa
 * Student retention in higher education: what role for virtual learning environments?: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.sslopac.bergen.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=36838897&site=ehost-live
 * "The number of students pursuing tertiary education has skyrocketed over the past 37 years, growing five-fold from 28.6 million in 1970 to 152.5 million in 2007. This translates into an average annual increase of 4.6%, with the average number of tertiary students doubling every 15 years. But a closer look at the data reveals that the expansion has been particularly intense since 2000, with 51.7 million new tertiary students enrolled around the world in just seven years."
 * "This pattern is clearly seen in sub-Saharan Africa, which has experienced the highest average regional growth rate. For more than three decades, student numbers have risen by an average of 8.6% each year. Between 2000 and 2005, expansion peaked with an annual growth rate reaching 10%."
 * "Rapid growth has also been reported in East Asia and the Pacific, where the number of students has risen twelve-fold, from 3.9 million in 1970 to 46.7 million in 2007. Since 2000, the number has grown by an average of 10% each year, compared to 6% for the period between 1970 and 2000. After the year 2000, the region became the global leader in terms of student numbers, surpassing North America and Western Europe (see Time Series Data, Table 1). This is primarily due to China, where the student body has grown on average by almost 19% each year since 2000."
 * Student satisfaction and retention:are they connected?: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.sslopac.bergen.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=44205059&site=ehost-live
 * Global Education Digest (2009): Comparing Education Statistics Around the World
 * http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/ged09-en.pdf
 * Figure 1 (p. 11)
 * The Graduation Gap: []
 * Other Countries Catching up to U.S. in Education:[| http://0-search.ebscohost.com.sslopac.bergen.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=2655444&site=pov-live]
 * 
 * Rankings: U.S. ranks 12 out of 36
 * 1) Canada, 55.8 percent
 * 2) South Korea, 55.5 percent
 * 3) Russia, 55.5 percent
 * 4) Japan, 53.7 percent
 * 5) New Zealand, 47.3 percent
 * 6) Ireland, 43.9 percent
 * Reference: Montgomery, L., & Williams, S. (2010, August 9). Countries with the highest college graduation rates. //Christian Science Monitor//. p. N.PAG. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//.

=__General Research__= "__**...[W]e stop focusing on students once they have been accepted to college, rather than paying attention to whether or not they succeed once they get there**__" (Blackenship, 2010, p. 26).

First-generation college students struggle:
 * Don't have previous model of higher education in the family
 * Intimidating
 * Don't know what classes to take, what is considered heavy courseload, etc.
 * Difficult to adjust
 * Social alienation
 * "...[M]any first-generation college students drop out of college within their first 18 months of enrollment" (Blackenship, 2010, p. 27).

The Pell Institute's focus on specific areas in helping first-generation students succeed:
 * Academics: summer learning, peer counseling at school and remedial or "booster" classes tailored to a student's specific areas of weakness
 * Environment: creation of small orientation groups for first-year students, on-campus events and pre-college campus tours
 * Enhance parent involvement
 * Financial issues: learning to apply for loans to learning how to balance work hours with academic demands (Blackenship, 2010, p. 28).

"Besides failing to count students who take a long time to complete their degrees, the graduation rate is in other respects an incomplete measure of institutional quality. The data describe a minority of all enrolled students, counting only full-time, first-time students who enroll in the fall and complete degrees within "150 percent of normal time"--six years for students seeking bachelor's degrees. The graduation rate excludes students who transfer to other colleges and earn degrees there. It also omits students who transfer in and graduate. By one estimate, the rate ignores up to 50 percent of all enrolled students" (Brainard & Fuller, 2010).

"The median graduation rate among four-year colleges increased by approximately two percentage points, to about 53 percent, from 2003 to 2008. The rate dropped at nearly 500 four-year institutions during that period. Among colleges where graduation rates were below average in 2003, a similar pattern of slow growth and some declines also held." (Brainard & Fuller, 2010).

"Findings show that only about 40% of "underrepresented minority students" -- meaning African-American, Latino, and Native American students -- earn a bachelor's degree within six years of **college** enrollment. That compares with more than 60% of nonminority students" (Blankenship, 2010, p. 26-27).

"__**Researchers at Cornell University found that colleges that spent more on student services, such as tutoring, tended to report increased graduation rates, especially if they enrolled many poor students with low test scores.**__ **__Many colleges with low graduation__** **__rates also tend to be less-selective institutions, with more underprepared students and less financing__** than at flagship public universities and elite private colleges, says Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of Cornell University's Higher Education Research Institute. Yet states' financing formulas for those colleges don't take that into account, either" (Brainard & Fuller, 2010).

References: BLANKENSHIP, M. (2010). How Some Schools Increase Graduation Rates of Minority Students. //Education Digest//, 76(4), 26-29. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//.

BRAINARD, J., FULLER, A., Coaston, J., & Richards, A. (2010). Graduation Rates Fall at One-Third of 4-Year Colleges. (Cover story). //Chronicle of Higher Education//, 57(16), A1-A18. Retrieved from EBSCO//host//.

Six-Year Graduation Rates of Bachelor's Students (2009): State Rankings
Source: http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?submeasure=27&year=2009&level=nation&mode=graph&state=0

Source: http://www.american.com/archive/2010/april/how-bad-are-our-graduation-rates

Percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds with a bachelor's degree or higher, by race/ethnicity: March 1975-2010
Source: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/figures/figure-eda-2.asp

===Percentage of students seeking a certificate or associate's degree at 2-year institutions who completed a certificate or degree within 150 percent of the normal time required to do so, by control of institution and race/ethnicity: Cohort year 2005=== Source: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/figures/figure-pgr-2.asp