Differences In Student Engagement Between Latinos And Other Students At A Mid-Atlantic Community College

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate levels of engagement as measured by the CCSSE among Latino students attending Washington National Community College (WNCC), a community college on the east coast of the United States. For this longitudinal study, the researcher compared CCSSE data collected in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 from Latino students and the general population of WNCC. The dependent variables were student engagement and grade point average. The independent variable was select demographic variables and Latino versus Other. Nora's (2002) Nora's Student Engagement Model framed this research and provides the theoretical framework that is needed for this study focused on the engagement of the Latino student experience. All students surveyed for the CCSSE for years 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 at a community college in a mid-Atlantic state were used in this study. There was a total of 1,534, 1,199, 1,151, and 906 students who participated in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, respectively. Only the scores for two of the five CCSSE benchmarks, Support for Learners and Student and Faculty Interaction, were used for this study. The researcher wanted to discover if there is a relationship between student engagement and Latino students using Nora's model, specifically academic and social experiences. Four research questions were developed. Descriptive statistics were used to classify and summarize student characteristics and assist the researcher in discovering trends in the data. Inferential statistics were used to analyze the four research questions. The inferential statistics employed were one and three-way analyses of variances (ANOVA) and multinomial logistic regression. In an effort to clarify terms, for the purposes of the research questions, the student records were identified by Latino students and all other students. This study contributes to the limited body of literature that examines student engagement and Latino students on the community college level. Recommendations for professional practice and further research are provided.