Date of Award
Spring 5-2012
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Educational Administration
Department
Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations
Major Professor
Dr. Marietta Del Favero (deceased)
Second Advisor
Dr. Tammie Causey-Konate
Third Advisor
Dr. April Bedford
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Leonard Williams
Fifth Advisor
Dr. Richard B. Speaker
Abstract
Developmental education students make up almost half of the community college population in the United States (Bettinger & Long, 2005). Approximately 42% of first-time freshmen at community colleges must enroll in at least one developmental education course in English, reading and/or math (NCES, 2010). Many developmental education students are unsuccessful in passing a developmental education course in their first and second attempts and retake the course sometimes five times before passing. There is substantial research on persistence among college students, but the research fails to link persistence to developmental education repeaters. My study sought to explore community college developmental education repeaters’ experiences with and stories about repetition in a reading course. My study was framed around developmental education and its students, course repeaters, and persistence.
I used qualitative research methods with a narrative research design. Two methods of data collection included multiple one-on-one interviews and document collection. Four participants were selected from one community college in the New Orleans area, two who repeated and completed developmental reading upon their third attempt and two who were in the process of completing developmental reading a third time. Data analysis revealed six themes. The information gleaned from the inquiry may inform community college faculty practice with regard to not only reducing and preventing course repetition but also increasing persistence and retention of developmental education students.
Recommended Citation
O'Dell, Jade J., "Developmental Education Repeaters: Stories About Repetition" (2012). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1470.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1470
Included in
Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons, Community College Education Administration Commons, Community College Leadership Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.