Moving the Needle for Ever-ELs?: Advanced Math Course Taking and College Enrollment.

STEM preparation-especially high school math course-taking-is a key predictor of college entrance. Previous research suggests that high school English learners (ELs) not only take fewer advanced math courses but also enroll in college at much lower rates than non-ELs-a group that includes former ELs. In the present study, we alter the analytic lens to examine whether ever-EL status, i.e., ever being identified for and receiving EL services, moderates the relationship between advanced math and college enrollment. Essentially, do ever-EL students experience the same boost to college enrollment from advanced math as their peers? We employ multilevel models to analyze statewide, longitudinal, administrative K-12 and higher education data to examine how ever-EL status and advanced math-and the interaction between the two-predict high school graduation, college application and enrollment, and level of college attended. Results show that both measures are associated with a greater likelihood of graduating from high school, applying to a four-year college, and enrolling in any college. We also find that ever-EL status moderates the relationship between advanced math and college enrollment, with important implications for students' access to four-year colleges. Ultimately, ever-EL students experience different returns on advanced math relative to never-ELs.

Predictors and Consequences of Math Course Repetition: The Role of Horizontal and Vertical Repetition in Success Among Community College Transfer Students.

Delays in meeting math requirements can impede the progress among community college students who aspire to earn a baccalaureate degree. To investigate this issue, we used state administrative data from Texas to examine the prevalence and predictors of math course repetition and how math course repetition predicts transfer students' outcomes. More than a third of community college transfer students take additional introductory mathematics coursework despite having fulfilled the requirement-a phenomenon we referred to as "horizontal repetition"-and one sixth of community college students take redundant coursework within a given mathematics course sequence, referred to as "vertical repetition." Using regression models controlling for student backgrounds, academic experiences, and institutional fixed effects, we found that horizontal repetition was linked to lower GPA and, among degree recipients, increased time to degree and excess credits. Vertical repetition was negatively associated with GPA and degree completion and positively linked to increased time to degree and excess credits. Location of course repetition shaped student outcomes, where math course repetitions occurring at the university appear to drive many of the negative associations between both horizontal and vertical repetition and student outcomes. As community colleges and universities across the country consider the efficacy of course sequences and transfer pathways, our research offers insights into patterns and implications of course repetition in core math courses.

The Age of Satisficing? Juggling Work, Education, and Competing Priorities during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to shape individuals' decisions about employment and postsecondary education. The authors leverage data from a longitudinal qualitative study of educational trajectories to examine how individuals responded to the shifting landscape of work and education. In the final wave of interviews with 56 individuals who started their postsecondary education at a community college 6 years ago, the authors found that most respondents described engaging in satisficing behaviors, making trade-offs to maintain their prepandemic trajectories where possible. More than a quarter of individuals, primarily those with access to fewer resources, described trajectories fraught with insecurity; they struggled to juggle competing obligations, especially in the face of an unpredictable labor market. A small portion of participants described making optimizing decisions, which were sometimes risky, to prioritize their aspirations. These descriptive patterns may partially explain mechanisms shaping recent shifts in employment and postsecondary education, including lower labor-market engagement and declines in college enrollment.

Bridges or Barriers? How Interactions between Individuals and Institutions Condition Community College Transfer.

Institutional practices and conditions at community colleges can improve rates of transfer, as can access to transfer student capital. However, we know little about how institutions attempt to build students' transfer capital, or about students' experiences within community colleges as they accumulate transfer capital. In this paper, we examine how students' institutional experiences, particularly their engagement with student supports at community colleges and transfer destinations, influence their understanding of, and ability to navigate, the transfer process. We view the accumulation of transfer student capital as an interactionist model between the students and their institution, where students' transfer knowledge and success is conditioned by an interaction between their background and institutional conditions. We draw on longitudinal qualitative interview data with transfer-intending community college students over the course of 3 years to understand how students access, receive, and accumulate transfer capital as they work toward their educational goals. By leveraging student experiences, our study can inform community colleges and transfer destinations about practices and policies interpreted as most effective from the perspective of students. Our work also connects to broader conversations about how institutions reproduce, ameliorate, or exacerbate inequalities based on student background.

How Political and Ecological Contexts Shape Community College Transfer.

Broad higher education contexts shape how community college students and postsecondary personnel approach transfer from community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions. We leverage the concept of strategic action fields, an organizational theory illuminating processes that play out as actors determine "who gets what" in an existing power structure, to understand the role of political-ecological contexts in "vertical" transfer. Drawing on interviews with administrators, transfer services personnel, and transfer-intending students at two Texas community college districts and with administrators, admissions staff, and transfer personnel at public universities throughout the state, we examine how institutional actors and students create, maintain, and respond to rules and norms in the community college transfer field. Our results suggest university administrators, faculty, and staff hold dominant positions in the field, setting the rules and norms for credit transfer and applicability. Students, who hold the least privilege, must invest time and energy to gather information about transfer pathways and policies as their primary means of meeting their educational aspirations. The complex structure of information-wherein each institution provides its own transfer resources, with little collaboration and minimal alignment-systematically disadvantages community college students. Although some community college personnel voice frustration that the field disadvantages transfer-intending community college students, they maintain the social order by continuing to implement and reinforce the rules and norms set by universities.

The Importance of Institutional Data Reporting Quality for Understanding Dev-Ed Math Enrollment and Outcomes.

Student placement test records, course enrollments, and other student-level data collected by community colleges are vital for evaluating the outcomes of students in developmental education (dev-ed) courses. Researchers and policymakers rely on this information to examine the impact of existing programs and assess ongoing reforms to dev-ed-the accuracy of state administrative data is critical to those tasks. In this study, we examine math placement records in a statewide administrative data set to understand how test records provided by colleges in the state aligned with student course enrollment patterns. We highlight systematic data reporting problems, where many students lacked test scores and test exemption records necessary for policymakers and researchers to determine if they enrolled in the appropriate coursework for their needs. We also found that a non-negligible proportion of students enrolled in dev-ed math-10%-did not require remediation due to exemption status or passing placement test scores. We conclude with a discussion of the pressing need for accuracy in data reporting, as up-to-date, high quality student-level data are essential to evaluate ongoing reforms to developmental education.

The Consequences of Performance Standards in Need-Based Aid: Evidence from Community Colleges.

Even need-based financial aid programs typically require recipients to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. Using regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference designs, we examine the consequences of failing SAP for community college entrants in one state. We find heterogeneous academic effects in the short term, but, after six years, negative effects on academic and labor market outcomes dominate. Declines in credits attempted are two to three times as large as declines in credits earned, suggesting that SAP may increase aid efficiency. But students themselves are worse off, and the policy exacerbates inequality by pushing out low-income students faster than their higher-income peers.

Major Movement: Examining Meta-Major Switching at Community Colleges.

Evidence of inefficient course-taking patterns at community colleges has spurred policy conversations about how to ensure effective course sequences. Structural reforms, like guided pathways, seek to reduce major switching as a means to streamline student course taking and eliminate unnecessary credits. By placing students into broad fields of study-called meta-majors-and encouraging persistence within that general field (where coursework narrows toward a specific program over time), community colleges may help students progress toward their desired degree. But how often do students leave that meta-major, and what predicts meta-major switching? We use national data to examine meta-major switching at community colleges. Our findings suggest that almost 40 percent of students switch between meta-majors (eight broad major fields, plus undecided) between their first and third years of college. We describe the varied destinations and predictors across origin meta-majors and consider implications for colleges as they seek to assess ongoing reforms.

Short- and Long-Term Impacts of Engagement Experiences with Faculty and Peers at Community Colleges.

This study uses nationally representative longitudinal data and propensity score modeling to evaluate the effects of first-year engagement experiences at community college-including social and academic contact with faculty and participation in study groups and clubs-on achievement, persistence, degree attainment, and vertical transfer. Speaking with faculty about academic matters improved short- and long-term outcomes, while engaging in study groups and clubs improved early outcomes, with less sizeable long-term impacts. The findings highlight the need for continued inquiry into community college engagement using longitudinal data with detailed engagement and outcome measures to determine best practices.

Educational Attainment and Nonwage Labor Market Returns in the United States.

Although decades of research highlight the impact of schooling on earnings, less evidence exists regarding other employment outcomes. Nonwage labor market returns to education are important in the United States, where health insurance and retirement income are typically tied to employment. Using longitudinal, nationally representative data, we examine the role of educational attainment in predicting nonwage employment outcomes and control for a host of individual and institutional measures. Even after controlling for individual and institutional characteristics, results indicate that educational attainment predicts employment and markers of "good" jobs, like access to employer-provided health and dental insurances, retirement plans, and paid leave. Furthermore, by delineating between various subbaccalaureate levels of college attainment, our results illustrate the complex variation in returns to college for those who did not complete a 4-year degree.

Understanding Variation in Estimates of Diversionary Effects of Community College Entrance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Decades of research have estimated the effect of entering a community college on bachelor's degree attainment. In this study, we examined the influence of methodological choices, including sample restrictions and identification strategies, on estimated effects from studies published between 1970 and 2017. After systematically reviewing the literature, we leveraged meta-analysis to assess average estimates and examine the role of moderators. In our preferred model, entering a community college was associated with a 23-percentage-point decrease in the probability of baccalaureate attainment, on average, compared with entering a four-year college. The size of effects appeared to grow over the past three decades, though this coincides with substantial shifts in the college-going population. Methodological choices, particularly how researchers define the treatment group, explain some variation in estimates across studies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for future inquiry and for policy.

Crossing the Shapeless River on a Government Craft: How Military-Affiliated Students Navigate Community College Transfer.

Many community college entrants, attracted by these institutions' variety of academic offerings and low cost, intend to earn a baccalaureate degree but never transfer to a four-year institution. A growing number of researchers seek to understand transfer patterns and behavior, but they often overlook some student groups, including those who receive military benefits. Military-affiliated students may fail to transfer at the same rate as their peers, or their unique supports may help them navigate the transfer process more successfully. In this paper, we draw from three years of longitudinal qualitative interviews to investigate the transfer journey of 16 veterans and active duty soldiers in Central Texas, as well as the experiences of nonveteran students who have access to family members' veterans' benefits. We focus on the institutional factors and the individual characteristics that contribute to transfer. Our findings suggest that receiving military benefits increases students' interactions with college staff, limits financial pressures, and encourages students to pursue behaviors that may contribute to a successful transfer process. We conclude with suggestions for practice and future research.

The Relationship Between Accelerated Dev-Ed Coursework and Early College Milestones: Examining College Momentum in a Reformed Mathematics Pathway.

More than half of community college students fail to meet college-readiness standards in math. Developmental education (dev-ed) aims to help students acquire the knowledge and skills to succeed in college-level math but is plagued with low rates of advancement. We examined the impact of a model that accelerates developmental math coursework so that students can complete dev-ed and college math courses in their programs of study within 1 year. Using data from Texas and a propensity score matching approach, we tested the impact of the model on several college milestones. Results suggest that students in the accelerated model were more likely to persist and accumulate college-level credits during the 1st year than those in traditional dev-ed math. After 3 years, there was a strong positive relationship between participation in the accelerated model and important college milestones, like college math course completion and total accumulated college-level credits.

Heterogeneous Effects in Education: The Promise and Challenge of Incorporating Intersectionality Into Quantitative Methodological Approaches.

To date, the theory of intersectionality has largely guided qualitative efforts in social science and education research. Translating the construct to new methodological approaches is inherently complex and challenging, but offers the possibility of breaking down silos that keep education researchers with similar interests-but different methodological approaches-from sharing knowledge. Quantitative approaches that emphasize the varied impacts of individual identities on educational outcomes move beyond singular dimensions capturing individual characteristics, drawing a parallel to intersectionality. Scholars interested in heterogeneous effects recognize the shortcomings of focusing on the effect of a single social identity. This integrative review explores techniques used in quantitative research to examine heterogeneous effects across individual background, drawing on methodological literature from the social sciences and education. I examine the goals and challenges of the quantitative techniques and explore how they relate to intersectionality. I conclude by discussing what education researchers can learn from other applied fields that are working to develop a crosswalk across the two disparate, but interconnected, literatures.