Coaching For Student Retention And Success At The Postsecondary Level Emerging Research And Opportunities PDF Download

The advantages of postsecondary education are numerous and serve as a gateway to increased opportunity. Benefits include improved employment opportunities, lifetime earnings, job satisfaction, access to healthcare and preventative care, and overall better quality of life. In addition, valuable life skills development, including; building new social skills and relationships, developing critical thinking, personal development, how to overcome challenges, time management and organization, and deeper knowledge and understanding of the world. Enrollment rates in postsecondary education are predicted to continue to rise for students with and without disabilities. Students are often underprepared for the transition to college and the levels of self-regulation required to be self-directed learners. Executive function skills are the foundation for intentional planning and self-regulation necessary to adjust as needed to reach goals in all areas of life. Executive function skills are relied on heavily in novel situations such as the transition to college. Students with deficits in executive function lack the skills required for adjustment to college life. Development is based on experiences, highly variable, and often not fully developed until early adulthood. Coaching has shown promise as a means to help support these skills for increased persistence and degree obtainment. This dissertation aims to use three publishable articles to illustrate the potential coaching possesses in supporting all students with executive function deficits to increase their levels of success. The chapters include evidence of coaching as a solution, an in-depth literature review, a practitioner example, and a mixed- methods investigation. Overall, results demonstrate the need for executive function support for students with deficits and the potential value of coaching programs to answer this need.