This study will examine whether the promising early results of a large-scale career pathway program in California were sustained. Specifically, the study will use quasi-experimental methods to measure the causal impact of providing Career and Technical Education (CTE) programing via articulated career pathways to facilitate the transition from high school to college. 

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Sade Bonilla

Funder: Faculty Research Grant/Healey Endowment Grant

The research team will conduct an evaluation of Tennessee Pathways (along with earlier career pathway programs), a state initiative to align K-12 education, postsecondary education, and employers so that high school students have a clear pathway to move into the workforce.

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Sade Bonilla 

Collaborators: Jonathon Attridge, Jerre Maynor, Kevin Schaaf, Celeste Carruthers, Chaney Mosley, Elizabeth Dyer, Thomas Dee

Funder: Institute of Education Sciences 

The purpose of this project is to estimate the effect of developmental education on the college persistence of students with learning and attention disabilities. These students are often not prepared well by their secondary education experiences and may benefit more than other students from the goals of developmental education, which are to bolster students’ foundational skills in order to reduce dropout and increase success. However, developmental education could be more detrimental to this group given the lack of attention to individual need and personalized delivery in developmental education. This study utilizes data from the High School Longitudinal Study and a doubly robust research design, combining coarsened exact matching with regression techniques, to estimate causal effects. It considers two-year and four-year institutions as unique given heterogeneity in their prevalence of students with learning and attention disabilities, treating institution type as a moderating factor. By examining whether developmental education in college helps to break a cycle of disadvantage, or in fact contributes to it, findings from this study will influence ongoing developmental education reforms, as well as the practices of disability services offices and counselors in college, all aimed at improving the college success for this growing yet underserved population of students.

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Ryan Wells 

Funder: Spencer Foundation

An extensive body of research, largely from the field of social psychology, has provided leading evidence on the promise of interventions that seek to increase students’ engagement and performance through the promotion of positive academic identities and belongingness in schools. However, as yet, we know comparatively little about how to incorporate these scientific insights into the diverse, everyday professional practices of schools. One prominent counter-example is the grade-9 ethnic-studies curriculum developed in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). A recent study by Dee and Penner (2017) conducted in partnership with SFUSD examined the causal effects of this curriculum by leveraging the discontinuous assignment rule used to encourage students to take this social-studies class. They found that taking this course led to dramatic increases in several proximate grade-9 outcomes (i.e., attendance, GPA, and credits earned). The one-year results of the SFUSD study have influenced both the adoption of similar curriculum elsewhere and contributed to emerging discussions about incorporating social-psychological insights into everyday educational practice. However, we do not yet know whether the promising short-term effects of taking this curriculum were sustained beyond one year.  In this study, in partnership with SFUSD, we will examine the effects of grade-9 ethnic-studies curriculum on key outcomes: high-school persistence, graduation, and college matriculation.

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Sade Bonilla

Collaborators: Thomas S. Dee (Stanford University), Emily K. Penner (University of California Irvine)

Funder: Mindset Scholars Network

Currently in its data collection phase, the LGBTQIA+ in STEM study seeks to understand how college students who have at least minoritized gender or sexual identity and who are majoring in a STEM field make meaning of their experiences. More specifically, this study utilizes both qualitative interviews and focus groups to learn about the successes, challenges, supports, and barriers encountered by LGBTQIA+ students in STEM fields.

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Ezekiel Kimball

Collaborators: Annemarie Vaccaro (University of Rhode Island) and Ryan Miller (University of North Carolina Charlotte)

Funder: NASPA Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education

Now entering its dissemination phase, the Disability & Purpose project examined how students with disabilities selected majors and developed career aspirations while in college. Publications from this project have focused on: 1) the influence of disability status on identity development; 2) purpose development while in college; 3) activism and advocacy; 4) the sexual and gender  identity development; 5) the influence of social class on identity development; and 6) coping and resilience strategies. Forthcoming work from this project examines topics such as: 1) disability-based microaggressions; 2) the STEM career pathways of students with disabilities; and 3) the intersections of ableism, misogyny, and other forms of gender-based oppression.

Center for Student Success Research Lead: Ezekiel Kimball

Collaborators: Annemarie Vaccaro (University of Rhode Island), Barbara Newman (University of Rhode Island), Adam Moore (University of Rhode Island), and Peter Troiano (Central Connecticut State University)

Funder: NASPA Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education