Date of Award

8-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Legacy Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair/Advisor

Williams, Frankie K

Committee Member

Williams, Frankie K

Committee Member

Cawthon, Tony

Committee Member

Flowers, Lamont

Committee Member

Grimes, Lawrence

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of academic integration and social integration on the persistence of students enrolled in developmental courses at a two-year community college. First, the study covered an examination of the levels of academic integration and social integration of students participating in developmental studies. Second, the study included an examination of the relationships between academic integration and persistence, and social integration and persistence. The first research question explored the levels of academic integration of students enrolled in developmental courses at a two-year college. The second research question explored the levels of social integration of students enrolled in developmental courses at the two-year college. The third research question explored whether relationships existed between the levels of academic integration and persistence of students enrolled in developmental courses at the two-year college. The fourth and final research question explored whether relationships existed between the levels of social integration and persistence of students enrolled in developmental courses at the two-year college. The methodology selected for this study was the research survey design and included data collection using demographic data, a measure of persistence, and a 34-item survey that measured academic integration and social integration. The setting of this study was a community college in the Southeastern United States that offered developmental studies coursework in English, mathematics, and reading. The findings from the study indicated that academic integration and social integration scales had average mean scores slightly above 4 on the Likert scale of 5-1. There were no significant relationships observed between academic integration and persistence. There was a low degree of correlation between one of the subscales of social integration (interactions with faculty) and persistence.

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