The College of Education, Health and

Human Sciences

Announces the Final Examination of

William Melvin Johnson, Sr.    

for the degree of

Doctor of Education

June 30, 2014 at 9:00 AM

123 Ball Hall, University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

Biographical Sketch

Bachelor of Science, Music Education, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Masters of Music Education, Northern Illinois University

Advisory Committee

Larry McNeal, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Leadership, Committee Chair

Dr. Louis Franceschini, Ph.D., Research Associate II, Center for Research in Educational Policy

Dr. Reginald L. Green, Ed.D., Professor, Department of Leadership

Dr. William C. Hunter, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership

Major Field of Study

Leadership: Higher and Adult Education

Period of Preparation:  Summer 2011 – Summer 2014

Comprehensive Examination Passed: December, 2013

An Examination of Traditional and Non-Traditional African American Male Students’ Perceptions of the Community College Environment, their Quality of Effort, Gains, and Inclination to Persist.

                                                                       Abstract

African American males at community colleges are facing greater challenges regarding persistence in today’s higher education environment. Several studies address institutional retention efforts of African Americans at 4-year institutions; however, a significant gap exists of research concerning African American male students’ persistence efforts within the community colleges setting. This study assists policy makers, higher education administrators, institutional researchers, and program directors in regards to best practices of programs that promote student persistence at the community college level. Guided by C. Robert Pace’s “Quality of Student Effort” theory, this study was conducted to examine the differences among traditional and non-traditional African American male students’ perceptions of the community college environment, their quality of effort, gains, and inclination to persist. Several statistical procedures were conducted to analyze a national data aggregate of the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ) acquired from the Center for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Memphis. A secondary data analysis was conducted among 1,948 student respondents from 8 community colleges that responded to the electronic version of the questionnaire during the academic years 2010-2013.

To address the five research questions presented within this study, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to conduct multiple analyses that addressed four groups of dependent variables (perceptions of the college environment, student quality of effort, students’ perceived estimate of gains, and an index of students’ inclination to persist). The independent variables were traditional and non-traditional African American male community college students.

The results of the study indicate significant differences do exist in the responses of the community college sample. The most notable difference is the affinity of traditional aged students’ and their perceptions of the college environment. Differences among traditionally aged and non-traditionally aged African American male community college students were also observed regarding students’ perceived quality of effort, their estimates of gains and their inclination to persist at the community college level.