The Impact Of Early Alert Programs On Grades, Course Completion, And Persistence At A Mid-Atlantic Urban Community College

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Date

2015

Department

Community College Leadership Program

Program

Doctor of Education

Citation of Original Publication

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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.

Abstract

New national priorities precipitated by the Completion Agenda are raising the bar for community colleges to help increase America's graduation rates. Higher education policymakers and practitioners are urging colleges to use early alert programs to improve student grades, course completion, and student persistence rates. With the goal of improving student success, more than 50% of community colleges use early alert programs as an intervention strategy to help improve student success. These programs are helping to inform higher education policies and institutional practices; however, there is limited data driven research to gauge their effectiveness. This study employed a Pre and Post Test research design to explore the relationships among an early alert program, student grades, course completion, and persistence of students enrolled in face-to-face, developmental English courses at a Mid-Atlantic urban community college. The findings revealed there was a statistically significant difference in grades. However, there were no statistically significant differences in course completion or persistence rates for students in the study. The results suggest the need for additional research to examine the impact that the educational environment plays in implementing early alert interventions to help improve student success.