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Descriptors:
Academic Persistence; Student Financial Aid; Community Colleges; Two Year College Students; College Freshmen; Part Time Students; Graduation; School Holding Power; Higher Education; Financial Aid Applicants; Need Analysis (Student Financial Aid); Paying for College; Predictor Variables; Demography; Cultural Capital; Social Capital; Multivariate Analysis; Regression (Statistics)

Abstract:
In 2007-2008, approximately 42% of community college students who were eligible to receive Pell grant funding did not file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Student Study, this study examined the relationship between FAFSA filing status and persistence from the fall to spring semesters among first-year community college students. Results indicate that when controlling for other relevant predictors of persistence, filing a FAFSA was associated with higher odds of within-year persistence among all students and was particularly strong for the restricted sample of students enrolled part time. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the national completion agenda and recent calls to improve the utilization of financial aid among community college students. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Academic Achievement; Individual Characteristics; Language Skills; Class Size; College Freshmen; Remedial Instruction; Influences; Mathematics Skills; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Teacher Characteristics; Age Differences; College Faculty

Abstract:
In this paper, we analyze class size effects on college students exploiting data from a project offering special remedial courses in mathematics and language skills to freshmen enrolled at an Italian medium-sized public university. To estimate the effects of class size, we exploit the fact that students and teachers are virtually randomly assigned to teaching classes of different sizes. From our analysis, it emerges that controlling for a number of individual characteristics, larger classes determine a significant and sizeable negative effect on student performance in mathematics. Importantly, this negative effect is significantly larger for low-ability students and negligible for high-ability ones. On the other hand, class size effects do not appear to be relevant for student achievement in language skills. (Contains 2 figures, 5 tables, and 3 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Adolescents; Focus Groups; Student Attitudes; Teacher Student Relationship; Urban Schools; Educational Environment; Student Needs; Self Determination; Interpersonal Communication; College Freshmen; After School Programs; Community Programs; Youth Programs; Secondary Schools; Barriers

Abstract:
In urban secondary schools where underpreparation and dropping out are real world concerns, students understand that their relationships with teachers affect their learning. Using descriptive coding and thematic analysis of focus group data, we explore adolescents' perceptions of the "bridges" that foster and the "barriers" that inhibit supportive relationships with teachers, and the boundary expectations that function as both. The characteristics of supportive student-teacher relationships identified by youth participants suggest a number of teacher practices capable of meeting adolescents' developmental needs and, as such, are likely to positively influence adolescents' developmental and academic trajectories. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Foreign Countries; Goal Orientation; Self Control; Cognitive Processes; Academic Achievement; College Freshmen; Engineering Education; Structural Equation Models; Longitudinal Studies

Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate the direction of the effect between goal orientation, self-regulation and deep processing strategies in order to understand the impact of these three constructs on students' achievement. The participants were 110 freshmen from the engineering faculty at the Universite catholique de Louvain in Belgium, who were followed during the first three years of their university studies. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The main finding was that mastery goal orientation increased students' subsequent deep processing which in turn enhanced subsequent self-regulation. Deep processing and self-regulation also appeared to be mutually influential from year 2 to year 3. The implications of our results for the understanding of the interplay between cognitive and motivational processes in higher education are discussed. (Contains 5 tables and 4 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Validity; Comparative Analysis; Internet; Student Placement; Program Evaluation; Writing Evaluation; Scoring; Essays; Research Universities; College Freshmen; Models; Measurement; Essay Tests; Computer Assisted Testing; Computer Software Evaluation

Abstract:
In this paper, I describe the design and evaluation of automated essay scoring (AES) models for an institution's writing placement program. Information was gathered on admitted student writing performance at a science and technology research university in the northeastern United States. Under timed conditions, first-year students (N = 879) were assigned to write essays on two persuasive prompts within the "Criterion"[R] Online Writing Evaluation Service at the beginning of the semester. AES models were built and evaluated for a total of four prompts. AES models meeting recommended performance criteria were then compared to standardized admissions measures and locally developed writing measures. Results suggest that there is evidence to support the use of "Criterion" as part of the placement process at the institution. (Contains 12 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Writing Evaluation; Scoring; Writing Instruction; Essays; Essay Tests; Computer Assisted Testing; Statistical Analysis; At Risk Students; College Freshmen; Ethnic Groups; Computer Software Evaluation; Automation; Research Universities; Student Placement

Abstract:
This study investigated the use of automated essay scoring (AES) to identify at-risk students enrolled in a first-year university writing course. An application of AES, the "Criterion"[R] Online Writing Evaluation Service was evaluated through a methodology focusing on construct modelling, response processes, disaggregation, extrapolation, generalization, and consequence. Based on the results of our two-year study with students (N = 1,482) at a public technological research university in the United States, we found that "Criterion" offered a defined writing construct congruent with established models, achieved acceptance among students and instructors, showed no statistically significant differences between ethnicity groups of sufficient sample size, correlated at acceptable levels with other writing measures, performed in a stable fashion, and enabled instructors to identify at-risk students to increase their course success. (Contains 5 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Learning Motivation; Evidence; Drinking; School Policy; College Freshmen; Peer Influence; Student Motivation; Friendship; Academic Achievement; Correlation; College Students; Hypothesis Testing; Path Analysis; Attachment Behavior; Student School Relationship; Gender Differences

Abstract:
Previous studies suggest that social relations can increase one's motivation to learn in school. However, other evidence showed that having more friends may also distract from one's academic involvement. To understand the mechanisms behind this apparent contradiction, this study identified and tested the effects of a potentially important positive and negative mediator between social relations and academic motivation. A total of 226 university students were used to test the hypothesized path model. Results showed that the impact of social relations on students' academic motivation was negatively mediated by alcohol use, but positively mediated by their place attachment to the university, although the model fit differed for women and men. Implications for social relations, school policy and freshman orientation programs are discussed. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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School Schedules; Educational Innovation; Colleges; Online Courses; Transfer Students; College Freshmen; Study Abroad; Educational Finance; College Admission; Internship Programs

Abstract:
Some students at University of Florida can take classes only during the spring and summer semesters for as long as they are enrolled. Each year they will get a four-month break--the fall semester--when they can take online courses, study abroad, or do internships. Some may opt to work. Despite their schedules, the students are full-fledged undergraduates--not second-class citizens--a point the university has emphasized on and off the campus. At a time when colleges are rethinking their offerings, Florida's move represents a reinvention of the academic calendar. The idea was inspired by growing demand and a dwindling supply of seats. A few years ago, deep cuts in state appropriations prompted the university's leaders to shrink undergraduate enrollment. Although they were wary of limiting access further, they knew the campus was at capacity--at least during the fall. Florida, like many other institutions, has long offered spots to "January admits," first-year applicants who must wait for a semester before enrolling. Over the past several years, the university has quadrupled the number of freshmen admitted in the spring, when it also welcomes about 1,000 transfer students. Officials decided that the spring-and-summer option must come with an enticement, something distinctive. So they developed the Innovation Academy, a mandatory series of courses, including a senior-year capstone project, for all spring-and-summer students. Each student takes six courses--on creativity and entrepreneurship, for instance--as part of a minor in "innovation." The program offers seminars, guest lectures, and service-learning opportunities, all to encourage students to develop solutions to problems in their chosen fields. Participating students also get hands-on experience at the university's new business incubator. Florida plans eventually to enroll 2,000 students on the spring-and-summer schedule. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Financial Aid; Income; College Freshmen; Paying for College; Public Colleges; Selective Admission; Private Colleges; Costs

Abstract:
We examine college affordability under the existing pricing and financial aid system that awards both non need-based and need-based aid. Using data of freshmen attending a large number of selective private and public colleges in the USA, we find that the prices students actually pay for college have increased over time. Need-based grant aid has not kept pace with the substantial increases in non need-based aid. Most importantly, although low-income students received more subsidies than higher-income students, the existing financial aid system does not provide enough affordability to needy students. Nonetheless, the deficiency cannot be attributed to the increases in non need-based aid. (Contains 5 tables, 4 figures and 21 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; College Admission; Admissions Officers; College Freshmen; Expertise; Admission Criteria; Standardized Tests; Scores; Grade Point Average; Academic Persistence; Measures (Individuals); Learning Processes; College Entrance Examinations; Essays; Self Evaluation (Individuals)

Abstract:
The handyman has a tool for everything, but the admissions dean is not so lucky: He must make do with just a few. Every year, presidents and professors expect freshmen who are curious, determined, and hungry for challenges. The traditional metrics of merit, however, can't reveal such qualities. Standardized-test scores may or may not predict a given student's long-term potential. Grade-point averages present only a partial view of an applicant's talents and work habits. And so, some admissions officers say, it's time for a new set of tools. Over the last decade, a handful of colleges have designed "noncognitive" assessments to measure attributes--like leadership and the ability to meet goals--that content-based tests do not. Succeeding in college often requires initiative and persistence, or what some researchers call "grit." Noncognitive measures are an attempt to gauge such qualities. If the SAT asks what a student has learned, these assessments try to get at how she learned it. Long an afterthought in academe, alternative indicators of student potential have captured the interest of instructors, testing companies, and enrollment chiefs. As science unspools the secrets of how one learns, it inspires new approaches to assessment. The way most colleges have long evaluated applicants reflects beliefs about what counts most. If those beliefs evolve, it follows, so, too, should the admissions process. Imagining a new system, however, is easier than building one. What should the 21st-century college consider? How much can noncognitive assessments--typically in the form of self-evaluations and short essays--really tell a college? And are they reliable? Admissions officials plan to weigh those questions this week at a national conference sponsored by the University of Southern California's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice. The conference, "Attributes That Matter: Beyond the Usual in College Admission and Success," will include experts in noncognitive aspects of learning, which represent the next frontier in holistic admissions. Jerome A. Lucido, the center's executive director, predicts that new measures of student potential will eventually become fixtures in higher education, allowing admissions officers to conduct more-robust reviews of applicants, while giving colleges valuable data on those who enroll. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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