The Impact of Academic Momentum on Postsecondary Matriculation and Degree Attainment among Early College High School Students
type: CreativeWork
description: Background: The lack of college readiness among large numbers of recent high school graduates is one of the most significant challenges facing the American education system. College readiness is an issue of equity as numerous studies have found students of color and lower-income students are the most likely to be academically underprepared and, therefore, less likely to enroll in college and complete a degree (Haxton et al., 2016). Recently, states have introduced a range of policies and strategies aimed at boosting college readiness by strengthening collaborations between secondary and postsecondary education sectors. One popular strategy has been the introduction of Early College High Schools (ECHS), which allows historically underserved student groups to complete college-level coursework and improve their college readiness while still in high school. Purpose: This study examined the influence of academic momentum during high school on key measures of postsecondary success for ECHS students in a suburban school district in Texas. Academic momentum examines factors that contribute to the likelihood of college student success, including postsecondary degree completion (Wang, 2017). Methods: This quantitative study analyzed data from a Texas community college and school district partnership and included five recent ECHS graduating classes (n = 412). Student TSIA scores, college credits earned, associate’s degree completion, college GPA, postsecondary matriculation, and demographic characteristics were tracked, examining records starting with the entry of the first cohort through the first long semester after high school graduation for the last cohort. Data analysis for the first research question included descriptive statistics including calculation of means, standard deviations, proportional distributions, and frequencies to determine demographic and academic characteristics of students. Chi-square tests and a one-way analysis of variance were used to explain the di…
abstract: Background: The lack of college readiness among large numbers of recent high school graduates is one of the most significant challenges facing the American education system. College readiness is an issue of equity as numerous studies have found students of color and lower-income students are the most likely to be academically underprepared and, therefore, less likely to enroll in college and complete a degree (Haxton et al., 2016). Recently, states have introduced a range of policies and strategies aimed at boosting college readiness by strengthening collaborations between secondary and postsecondary education sectors. One popular strategy has been the introduction of Early College High Schools (ECHS), which allows historically underserved student groups to complete college-level coursework and improve their college readiness while still in high school. Purpose: This study examined the influence of academic momentum during high school on key measures of postsecondary success for ECHS students in a suburban school district in Texas. Academic momentum examines factors that contribute to the likelihood of college student success, including postsecondary degree completion (Wang, 2017). Methods: This quantitative study analyzed data from a Texas community college and school district partnership and included five recent ECHS graduating classes (n = 412). Student TSIA scores, college credits earned, associate’s degree completion, college GPA, postsecondary matriculation, and demographic characteristics were tracked, examining records starting with the entry of the first cohort through the first long semester after high school graduation for the last cohort. Data analysis for the first research question included descriptive statistics including calculation of means, standard deviations, proportional distributions, and frequencies to determine demographic and academic characteristics of students. Chi-square tests and a one-way analysis of variance were used to explain the di…
author: Moreno, Marissa Renee
language: eng
keywords: Early college high schools, College access
date published: 2019-05
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:32:58Z
provider: University of Houston
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Houston

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/10657/5774