Student Success at Postsecondary: An Exploration of Characteristics and Integration of Students with Learning Disabilities and their Peers

• Author / Creator

  Goegan, Lauren Denise

• Each year, millions of students begin their postsecondary education. These students come to postsecondary campuses with diverse backgrounds, interests in what to study, motivations for attending a postsecondary institution, expectations for what to anticipate for their first year and so forth. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (2019) highlights that these college bound students are more diverse than ever. Indeed, one group of students increasing in numbers on campus is individuals with a Learning Disability (LD). Yet despite increasing numbers on campus, students with LD remain less likely to complete their postsecondary education than their peers. A lack of postsecondary degree can further exacerbate already lower rates of employment and negative outcome associated with having a LD when compared to the general population (PACFOLD, 2007). Therefore, it is important to determine how best to support all students, but especially students with LD, in reaching their academic pursuits. In this dissertation, I describe two studies that sought to better understand the factors that support student academic success. The results stand to provide more information to researchers and postsecondary institutions to better assist students as well as to improve theoretical applications and research for both groups of students.
  Study One. In the first study, I examined predictors of academic success utilizing the Inputs-Environment-Outcomes model of Astin (I-E-O model; 1993) by running a structural equation model (SEM). I obtained secondary data from the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) that annually surveys freshman students in the Fall and Spring semesters of their first-year of postsecondary education thereby producing a one-year longitudinal design. I accessed data from 5,002 typically-developing students who completed the survey in Fall 2014 and Winter 2015. Based on the available data, I identified two input student characteristics: self-perceptions of academic ability and drive to achieve. I used items measuring academic and social student integration as the indicators of environment. For outcomes I included three measures of academic success (a) grade point average (GPA), (b) acquisition of skills and competencies, and (c) satisfaction. I investigated the connections between these components of the model using a cross-validation design on random half-samples which demonstrated a good fit χ² p < .001, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .04, Standard RMR = .04. Perceived academic ability had a positive direct effect on GPA and acquisition of skills and competencies but not satisfaction. Drive to achieve had no direct relationships with these outcomes. Academic integration positively predicted all three outcomes, while social integration was not associated with grades. In the discussion I highlight potential academic and social supports that postsecondary institution can offer students to increase their academic success.
  Study Two. In the second study, I drew a different sample from the same HERI database (i.e., data collected in Fall 2014 and Winter 2015) and examined the I-E-O model using SEM and a multi-group comparison component to examine students with LD and their non-LD peers. I extracted responses from 398 students (199 students with LD, and 199 non-LD students) and used the same I-E-O items as Study One in the data analysis. I investigated the connections between the models and compared those connections for students with LD and non-LD students. Similar connections between the components of the I-E-O model were obtained for all students; however, two associations were stronger for those with LD than the non-LD students. The connection between social integration and the outcome variables acquisition of skills and competencies and satisfaction were stronger for those with LD. The final model demonstrated good fit χ² p = .08, CFI = .96, RMSEA = .04. In the discussion I highlight possible supports that postsecondary institutions can offer specific to those students with LD.
  Conclusion. Overall, my dissertation provides evidence to support the use of the I-E-O model when examining first-year students at postsecondary institutions. I also highlight important results from both studies and how those results can inform the creation or adaptation of various services offered by postsecondary institutions to support these students. Finally, I consider applications for research and theory, highlighting considerations for ways to increase the rigor of research with LD populations and the frequency of students with LD having opportunities to participate in research.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • learning disabilities
  • academic success
  • postsecondary
  • integration

• Graduation date

  Fall 2020

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-1cy9-w466

• License

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