Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Higher & Adult Education

Committee Chair

Edith Gnanadass

Committee Chair

Brendaly Drayton

Committee Member

Andre Johnson

Committee Member

Colton Cockrum

Committee Member

Eric Bailey

Committee Member

Tonyalle Rush

Abstract

There has been an overrepresentation of African American students enrolled in developmental education programs at community colleges for many years. As a result, African American students often drop these courses, leave college, and do not persist to degree attainment. There is limited research on African American students’ voices in developmental education, and no attention to the overrepresentation of Black students in the program, which reveals a gap in the current literature. Drawing on Critical Race Theory in Education (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1998), the purpose of this qualitative study is to describe the lived experiences of African American adult students enrolled in a developmental education program at a community college. This study was conducted at a higher education institution in the Mid-South region of the United States. There are two primary research questions guiding this inquiry: 1. What are the lived experiences of African American adult students while enrolled in the developmental education program at a community college? a. What successes and obstacles do African American adult students in community college face while in developmental education programs? 2. How has participation in the developmental education program impacted their self-efficacy in terms of program completion? To understand their rich counterstories, I conducted semi-structured interviews with ten African American adult students. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), the findings identified four themes: participants’ lack of college preparation; factors that contributed to the completion of the developmental education program; challenges and obstacles experienced by participants; and factors that influenced their self-efficacy and motivation while in the developmental education program. The findings from the research participants' narratives shed light on the following: • Findings revealed that the makeup of the developmental education classes was majority African American, with more women than men. • Most participants felt that high school did not prepare them for college • Some participants felt they could have succeeded in college-level courses without taking these noncredit courses. • These research participants had high self-efficacy and were motivated to complete their developmental education courses and did not drop out of college despite challenges and obstacles. It is recommended that institutions explore alternative assessment methods that go beyond standardized tests and focus on Black students’ strengths and skills, using the multiple measure process. Other recommendations include that policymakers create competitive school funding initiatives to transform high schools into middle colleges or give this project to a non-profit organization. This investment enhances the quality of education and ensures that Black adult students and parents have access to a more tailored and relevant educational path, ultimately promoting better academic and career outcomes.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

PDF

Notes

Open access.

Download

Share

COinS