1 Kelsey Heiple Educational Research Dr. Anne Marshall July 12, 2012 Article Search Summary he article !

"ound, entitled Graduation Rates of Students in Technical Programs at an Urban Community College #y Au#ra J. $antt, ta%es a closer loo% at "actors associated &ith three'year (raduation rates o" students enrolled at a community colle(e in e)as. More speci"ically, the author see%s to identi"y demo(raphic, academic, and nonacademic "actors associated &ith these (raduation rates. Each o" these independent *aria#les had multiple characteristics+ some o" them &ere demo(raphic "actors such as a(e and ethnicity, academic "actors such as de(ree plan status, ma,or, and prior colle(e e)perience, and nonacademic "actors includin( student or(ani-ation in*ol*ement and current employment "ield. !nstrumentation &as created #y $antt, &hich allo&ed collection o" data re(ardin( students. e)periences. hese sur*eys &ere sent out to 1/1

technical students &ho had declared a ma,or and "iled a de(ree audit in the "all o" 2000 at the community colle(e. he author uses a descripti*e approach to the 1uantitati*e research study to "ind the percent o" students &ithin each characteristic that either did or did not (raduate in three years or less. She then utili-es correlational measurements to determine the relationship #et&een each o" the "actors and (raduation and the statistical si(ni"icance o" each. 2pon doin( so, she "inds that, &ith re(ards to demo(raphic "actors, a(e and non' (raduation rate had a modest relationship and &as statistically si(ni"icant. he other

2 demo(raphic "actors reported in the "indin(s, includin( (ender, marital status, educational #ac%(round, num#er o" dependent children, and (ross annual income, all sho&ed no relationship or only a sli(ht relationship althou(h none &ere statistically si(ni"icant. here seemed to #e a sli(ht positi*e relationship #et&een (raduation and

multiple academic "actors althou(h completion o" a de(ree plan, declaration o" a ma,or, and horticulture ma,ors sho&ed statistical si(ni"icance. 3inally, &hile many nonacademic *aria#les sho&ed sli(ht to moderate positi*e correlation, none sho&ed statistical si(ni"icance. his report &as located usin( $eor(ia Southern 2ni*ersity.s online li#rary resources. 2sin( $A4!4E5, ! accessed E6S75host Data#ases, &hich &ere then searched usin( parameters such as peer re*ie&ed scholarly pu#lications only and "ull te)t articles as &ell as 8community colle(es9 as a %ey&ord.