Predictors of academic success for first generation language minority community college students
Author(s):
Shields, Cynthia Rose
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ed.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of California, Davis, 1997.
Pages:
264
Language:
English
Abstract:
The purpose of this research was to identify predictors of academic success related to the first-year community college students at Merced Community College, Merced, California, and to determine the effects of a precollege enrichment program (Early Start Program) on students' subsequent first year of community college classes. A series of in-depth interviews were conducted, employing an extensive set of questions developed by the author for use with nine minority (eight Hispanic and one Hmong) students who enrolled in the Early Start Program (ESP) precollege enrichment course, during June 1996. In addition, other data collection consisted of students' high school course and grade information, college classroom observations, Merced College placement test scores in English, writing and math, a college experience survey, and an assessment of each ESP student's academic language skills. A comparison group of first-year students was randomly selected from a pool of students who matched the Early Start Program students, and was compared to the ESP student group on background variables and indicators of academic success. The results indicate that the Early Start Program provided students with several advantages over students who did not enroll in this program, but that the program did not address all the academic needs of this student group, nor did it result in a higher level of academic success.