Date of Degree
2026
Degree Name
Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)
Department
Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE)
Director
Hutchings, Quortne
Committee Members
Mac, Jacqueline; Nyunt, Gudrun
Keywords
community college, supplemental instruction, student success, course retention, persistence, academic momentum, teaching and learning strategy, momentum theory, student academic support
Abstract
ABSTRACT
MEASURING ACADEMIC MOMENTUM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE
STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY
Cornelia Vanessa Slater, Ed.D.
Department of Counseling and Higher Education
Northern Illinois University, 2026
Quortne R. Hutchings, Director
Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for diverse populations of students where completion rates are an ongoing challenge. Supplemental Instruction have been used as an academic intervention to improve success largely in four-year institutions. This quantitative study, guided by Xueli Wang’s momentum theory analyzed two research questions: (1) how supplemental instruction (SI) participation is associated with student academic success, course retention and persistence in community colleges? and (2) To what extent does SI participation predict academic success, course retention and persistence among community college students when controlling for demographic, enrollment and academic discipline factors?
Four semesters of aggregated institutional student data from a southwestern United States community college were used. Descriptive statistics of the students participating in Supplemental Instruction showed that the demographic composition of the SI participants mirrored the students who did not participate. Inferential statistics using chi-squared test of association of SI participation with these outcomes. Binomial logistic regression equations were used to analyze the relationships of other predictors such as student demographics, enrollment status and academic disciplines. Several statistically significant findings were discovered: SI participation was associated positively with academic success and persistence and minimally to course retention. Demographic predictors were positively associated with outcomes for some racial and ethnic groups for students enrolled in specific disciplines and age range. This study contributed to the body of knowledge regarding this topic and provided actionable results for community colleges with similar make up. Further quantitative studies were recommended for community colleges with different demographics, location and sizes.
Keywords: community college, supplemental instruction, student success, course retention, persistence
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.
Recommended Citation
Slater, Cornelia, "Measuring Academic Momentum: A Quantitative Study of Supplemental Instruction as a Community College Student Support Strategy" (2026). Dissertations of Practice. 125.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/125
Included in
Community College Education Administration Commons, Community College Leadership Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons
