10.25549/USCTHESES-M296
Duke, Shalamon A. (author)
Academic advising, engagment with faculty, course load, course type, and course completion rates for urban community college students with learning disabilties
University of Southern California Digital Library (USC.DL)
2015
Dissertation
Education (degree program)
Doctor of Education (degree)
Rossier School of Education (school)
2015
en
Published literature suggests that students with learning disabilities have difficulty completing academic programs in higher education (Mull, Stilington, and Alper, 2001). Furthermore, the literature contends that the successful academic integration of these students will increase their rates of persistence in postsecondary education. This study utilizes academic advising as discussed by Crookston, O'Banion, and Lowenstein and retention as discussed by Tinto, Spady, and Bean. Additionally, this study hypothesizes that student success is correlated with a student's course load and the types of courses taken. Institutional efforts, such as academic advising, lead to the overall integration of students with disabilities and course-taking patterns. The purpose of this study is to analyze how persistence is correlated with academic advising, course load and the types of courses students with learning disabilities enroll. The analysis will use the data obtained from the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (TRUCCS) database. This study also offers some recommendations and intervention strategies for administrators, counseling and instructional faculty, and staff who assist students with learning disabilities in the community college setting.