Janetta Gilliam, PhD Proposal Defense, Dissertation Chair, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis

8/14/2019 Janetta Gilliam, PhD Proposal Defense, Dissertation Chair, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/janetta-gilliam-phd-proposal-defense-dissertation-chair-dr-william-allan 1/39

September 8, 2008

Dissertation Proposal Presentation



The Effects of Student Engagement andOther Factors on the Retention of African AmericanFreshman Students Attending a Public Historically

Black College and University in Texas

Presented by

Janetta C.Gilliam

Prairie View A & M University



Dr. William A. Kritsonis - Dissertation Chair Dr. David Herrington

Dr. Lucian Yates, III

Dr. Camille Gibson

DISSERTATION COMMITTEE

MEMBERS



INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I



Introduction

Student retention is defined as the ability

of an institution of higher education to keepstudents enrolled and then graduate

those students. It is a complex process

shaped by various forces, factors andrelationships” (Tinto, 1993).



Introduction

Many of the forces, factors and relationships have been studied extensively, however,there is a paucity of empirical research targeting retention at Historically Black Collegesand Universities. The vast majority of research on freshmen retention have beenconducted at Predominately White Institutions (Swail, 2003).

Recent trends indicate an increase in the number of African American students attendingcollege, the troubling reality is that this population over all others exhibits the highestpropensity to leave college without a degree in hand (Hefner, 2004).

There are 103 institutions classified as HBCUs, represents 3% of all institutions of higher education in the United States, enrolling 15% of all black college students producingabout one third of all black college graduates (Frederick D. Patterson Institute, 2003)



Background of the Problem

Since the early 1970s, declining rates of student retention hasbeen increasingly recognized by colleges and universities as acritical issue since the 1970s (Strommer, 1993).

41 out of every 100 entering freshman departs higher educationwithout obtaining a college degree ( Tinto, 1993).

Most freshman students leave within two (2) semesters of study(Harper, 2006).



Statement of the Problem

• Student retention, especially in the first and second years of

study, has become a challenging problem for higher education

community and a major concern for all postsecondary

institutions.

• Student persistence is one of the most studied phenomena in

higher education and continue to be a primary concern for

colleges and universities (Flowers, 2004 & Swail, 2004).



Statement of the Problem (con’t)

Retention of minority students is one the most challenging

problems in higher education.

National average retention rate of African American students-45% and White students- 57% (Rowser, 2001)

Institutions of higher education state funding is tied to their

graduation and retention rates.

Retention theories and studies lack the understanding of the

various factors that may contribute to the retention specifically

African American freshman students attending HBCUs.

Limited research on factors that influence minority students’

overall persistence.



Research Questions

RQ 1 Is there a relationship between background

characteristics

( high school GPA and gender) and retention of African

American freshman students attending a public HBCU in

Texas?

RQ 2 Is there a relationship between academic and social

integration and retention of African American freshmanstudents attending a public HBCU in Texas?

RQ 3 Is there a relationship between student-faculty interaction

and retention of African American freshman students

attending a public HBCU in Texas?



Research Questions

RQ 4. Is there a relationship between student’s financial solvency

(ability to pay) and the retention of African American

freshman students attending a public HBCU in Texas?

RQ 5 Is there a relationship between student engagementand the retention of African American freshmanstudents attending a public HBCU in Texas ?



Null Hypotheses

Ho1 There is no relationship between student’s background characteristics (high

school GPA and gender) and the retention of African American freshman students

attending a public HBCU in Texas.

Ho2 There is no relationship between academic and social integration and retention

of African American freshman students attending a public HBCU in Texas.

Ho3 There is no relationship between student-faculty interaction and retention

of African American freshman students attending a public HBCU in Texas.



Null Hypotheses (con’t)

Ho4

There is no relationship between students’ financial

solvency and retention of African American freshman

students attending a public HBCU in Texas.

Ho5

There is no relationship between student engagement and

the retention of African American freshman students

attending a public HBCU in Texas.



Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study will be to

examine factors that may contribute tothe retention of African American

freshman students attending a public

HBCU in Texas.



Significance of the Study

The study specifically targets an HBCU under -investigated

dimension of student retention.

The identification of at- risk factors that affect African Americanfreshman students attending HBCUs and other educational

institutions serving a minority student population. The results of the study will provide new knowledge for

developing retention initiatives to address the early departure of African American freshmen with “at risk” characteristics.

Implications from data findings may be useful to universityadministrators to assess and evaluate their current programseffectiveness



Conceptual/Theoretical Framework

• Tinto’s Institutional Student Departure Model*

• Bean’s Student Attrition Theory

• Astin’s Student Involvement Theory*

* Theoretical framework selected for this study



Tinto’s Model of Institutional Departure

Early and influential model of studentengagement. Students’ decisions to remain or depart from an

institution come as a result of a series of interchanges (integration) between the student

and members of the college environment.



FamilyBackground

Intentions

Prior Schooling

Skills & Abilities

Goal &Institutional

Commitment

Peer Group

Interactions

Extracurricular Activities

Faculty /Staff Interactions

AcademicPerformance

AcademicIntegration

Social

Integration

Intentions

Goal &

InstitutionalCommitment

Departure

Decision

Social System

Academic System

Pre -Entry Attributes

Goals /Commitments InstitutionalExperinces

Integration OutcomeGoals /Commitments

Tinto (1993 ) Theoryof Institutional Departure

Theory of Institutional Departure



Astin’s Input-Environmental- Outcome

Model

Theory of student involvement postulates that

student interactions with both academic andsocial aspects of campus life affects retention.

The inputs shape the outcomes.

Rooted in a longitudinal study of college student

retention.



Astin’s I-E-O Model

Inputs Environment Outcomes



Review of the Literature

Chapter II



Previous Studies on Minority Student

Retention

Hutto and Fenwick (2003)

“Staying in College: Student Service and Retention at HBCUs”.

McDaniel and Graham (2001)

“Student Retention in a Historically Black Institution”.

Allen (1999)

“Desire to Finish College”.

Gloria, Kirpuis, Hamilton and Willson (1999)

“African American students’ persistence at a predominately white university”.



Hypotheses DependentVariables

IndependentVariables

Statistical Test

Ho1 Retention Backgroundcharacteristics

(High school GPAand gender)

T-test for independentmean

Ho2 Retention Academic and SocialIntegration

Multiple Regression

Ho3 Retention Student-FacultyInteraction

ANOVA

Ho4 Retention Financial Solvency(ability to pay)

Chi-square

Ho5 Retention Student Engagement Multiple Regression



Tinto’s Conceptual Model

Framework

Student’s pre-entry attributes.

Goals and commitment

Experience at the institution.

External commitments while atthe institution.

Academic and SocialIntegration

Student’s individualaspirations.

Academics and facultyand peer interactions.



John Bean’s Attrition Theory

Domains Characteristics of Domains

DomainMeasurements

Academic Pre-enrollment: GradesAcademic integration

College grades

Social/Psychological Faculty contact,AlienationSocial life

Institutional fit

Environmental Finance, opportunity totransfer Outside friends,and Academicexperiences

InstitutionalCommitment



Chapter III

Research Methods



Research Design

The research study will utilize a quantitative

research approach.Correlation research design will be used to

examine the relationships among the

variables.

The study will utilize descriptive researchmethods.



Research Design

Quantitative research will generate numerical

data to represent the variables. Statistical methods will be used to analyze

the data.

Statistical inference procedures will be used

to generalize findings from the sample.



Sample Population

146 African American freshman students

attending a public HBCU in Texas were

randomly selected. The 2007 National Survey

of Student Engagement, a web-based survey

instrument was administrated at the end of

their first year semester(Spring,2007).



Instrumentation

National Survey of Student Engagement

The 2006 National Survey of StudentEngagement (NSSE) is a 28 item instrument

that assess the experiences of college

students through questions related to

participation in programs, activities andeducationally practices.



Instrumentation

NSSE is a self-report survey

NSSE has 3 major componentsCollege activities

Educational and personal growth

Opinions about your school

Reliability and ValidityNSSE is recognized and has been tested as a

survey instrument with strong psychometricproperties (Pike, 2006)



Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics and analyses will be conducted to testthe variables in each of the research questions.

The measure of central tendency will be tabulated tosummarize the entire set of the respondents’ scores in thefrequency distribution. Respondent’s scores will be addedand divided by the number of scores (n=146).

Respondents’ data will be entered in SPSS 13.0 version for analysis to determine the statistical significance, tested at the

value of p<.05. The means will compute the average of all respondents’

scores.

Standard deviation will be used to measure the spread of the

scores.



Descriptive Statistics

Range will measure the difference between the highest and lowest

respondents’ scores

Frequency distribution will be used to rank order the respondents’ scores from

high to low. Respondents’ scale scores will rank order from high to low. A frequency

polygon will display the frequency distribution. This is a graphic way to

summarize the quantitative data for each of the variables.

The graphic distribution of scores will demonstrate the skewness of the data.



Correlational Statistics

Student background characteristics (high school GPA and

gender) will be collected via NSSE.

Student background characteristics values will be listed in aspreadsheet in SPSS 13.0.

The arithmetic mean of each respondent’s rating scale will be listedin a column in SPSS.

Correlation statistical analysis will be used to determine therelationship between variables.

Pearson r coefficient will calculated to determine whether asignificant relationship exists between each variable

on the NSSE.



Inferential Statistics

Inferential statistics will be the statistical procedure used in the data

analysis of the research. This will enable one to draw conclusions

regarding the impact of retention.

T-test for independent means will be applied to determine whether there

is a significant difference in the responses by gender on NSSE.

The rating scale scores by gender will be listed into two separate

columns for analysis in SPSS 13.0.

Correlation statistical analysis will be used to determine the relationship

between variables. Pearson r coefficient will calculated to determine whether a significant

relationship exists between each variable

on the NSSE.



Conclusion

An extensive amount of research has been conducted lessonstudent retention; however, relatively few studies have beenconducted using minority student population at HBCUs (Schwartz

and Washington, 2002) The study will fulfill the gap in research to date by examining factors

that may contribute to the retention of African American freshmanstudents attending a public HBCU.

Understanding factors associated with student retention can assisthigher education institutions like HBCUs in making the appropriatedecisions in developing effective programs and retention strategiesto increase retention of their African American freshman students.



References

Flowers, L. A. (2004). Retaining African American students in higher education: An

integrative review. Journal of College Student Retention, 6(2), 23-35.

Harper, S. R. (2006). Black male students at public flagship universities in the U. S.

Status, : Status, trends,

and implications for policy and practice. Washington,

DC: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

Hefner, D. (2004, June). Where the boys aren’t: The decline of Black males in

colleges and universities has sociologists and educators concerned about the future of

the African American community. Black Issues in Higher Education, 21, 70-77.



Hefner, D. (2004, June). Where the boys aren’t: The decline of

Black males in colleges and universities has sociologists and

educators concerned about the future of the African Americancommunity. Black Issues in Higher Education, 21, 70-77.

Pike, G. R. (2006). The convergent and discriminant validity of

NSSE scalelet scores. Journal of College Student

Development, 47(5), 550-563.

Rowser, J. F. (2001). Are African American students’ perceptionsof their needs an implication for retention ? Journal of Black

Studies, 27, 718-726.

References



References

Strommer, D. (1993). Portal of entry: university at colleges and

undergraduate division. Columbia, S. C. : National Resource

Center for the Freshman Year Experience.Swail, W. S. (2003). Retaining Minority Students in

Higher Education: A Framework for Success. San Francisco:

CA

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: rethinking the causes and

curses of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press.

Documents

Janetta Gilliam, PhD Proposal Defense, Dissertation Chair, Dr. William Allan Kritsonis