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Support for single parents in college: a gap analysis

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Support for single parents in college: a gap analysis

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Content Running head: SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 1

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS IN COLLEGE: A GAP ANALYSIS
by
Angela Medina-Rhodes

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2018

Copyright 2018 Angela Medina-Rhodes

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As I begin the attempt to acknowledge and express my gratitude to the most amazing
people in my life, know that the true level of gratefulness for every soul in my life is impossible
to measure as it reaches beyond mere words and invalidates any scale.
First, all thanks belong to God. I am abundantly blessed and all of the love within me
comes directly from the Creator whose energy moves, loves, and inspires me. All that I am and
ever hope to be is a result of the Spirit’s continuous presence in my life. Thank you, Great Spirit.
Dr. Melora Sundt, my dissertation chair, deserves my deepest and most sincere gratitude.
Despite a new position and cross-country move, she welcomed me and provided superior
guidance, logic, and expertise which touched every part of this research. Dr. Sundt’s kind nature
calmed me and her standard of excellence fashioned this dissertation. I am grateful for her
motivation and pushing me above and beyond my own expectations. She is a true teacher.
Many thanks to Dr. Maria Ott, who was a radiating inspiration to work with. She always
provided comments that were kindly supportive and guided me in the right direction to discover
issues I had not thought of. I will rely on her forward-thought and sweet nature as I continue this
research endeavor.
Thank you to the first person on my committee, before I knew I needed a committee, Dr.
Melanie Brady. Our meeting was kismet as her Educational Psychology expertise was invaluable
to this research. Dr. Brady provided insight into the lives of single parent students that shaped the
lens of this dissertation. I feel lucky to have Dr. Brady in my life and on my committee.
I am so thankful to have been chosen to be part of Cohort 3, such a united and supportive
group of professionals. It was an amazing experience to go beyond being classmates and
colleagues and into the realm of friendship and confidants.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 3

Millions of thanks go out to Laura Verdugo, my partner in service for 15 years, for
without her backing this research would not be possible. Her example of love and dedication to
service for students is one I plan to emulate. Thank you to Heba Griffiths for trusting me with the
program and students. Her capacity for student service is immense and under her leadership
students have the ability to grow even more. Thank you, both, for being committed to student
success.
Thank you to my mother, Mary Medina, whose thoughtful, selfless, and supportive
actions taught me irreplaceable lessons about growing up with a loving and positive mindset. For
my Percy, Mr. and Meeso, thank you for being proud of me and for the constant encouragement.
I am so grateful for your presence in my life. To Moppa & Uncle Mike, Uncle Danny & Aunt
Virginia, Vincent & Carmen, Jeanine & Kenney, Beth, Sarah, John Paul & Rocio, Eddie &
Ashley, George & Evelyn, Ricky & Brittney and ALL of my family and friends, THANK YOU
for your love and support. I will always be appreciative of the “You’re going to be the first
doctor in the family” reminders. That sentence kept me moving forward and motivated to
succeed as I felt a great sense of responsibility to not let our family down. Your questions about
my progress assured me that I was not alone on this journey. You all provided me with words of
encouragement and much needed cheerleading during those days of being overwhelmed,
exhausted, and burned out. I am very grateful for each of you, named and not.
My deepest gratitude belongs to my angel of a Research Assistant, Miss Molly Kitty,
who has returned to the Creator for her next assignment. Through this dissertation, and for
eighteen years before, she showed up to work each and every day to morally support me while
researching until she could no longer. Her loving presence, graceful demeanor, sweet soul, and
gentle purr are terribly missed.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 4

My most precious blessings are my children, Amelia, Alexander, Aldrin, and Alice.
Thank you, my beautiful angels, for accepting your lullabies from afar and loving your often
tired and grumpy mommy. When I was at a low level of motivation, your sweet smiles lifted me.
Your silly, nonsensical knock-knock jokes often made my day. A precious nuzzle from my Me-
Mi-Uh, snuggie buggy time with my Xander Blue Bird, a giant bear hug and kiss from my Roo-
Roo, or gentle kisses on my nose, forehead, and cheeks from my Ali Cat made my soul overflow
with gratefulness and love. You, my little loves, are my motivation to be the best person that I
can possibly be as your angelic, absorptive eyes and hearts are always watching and I strive to
leave you a legacy of love, peace, grace, and service to others. You constantly remind me of my
priorities and I couldn’t love you more, my sweet babies. I am so grateful that you chose me to
be your mommy.
I am especially blessed and thankful for my partner, Vincent Rhodes. Without your
support and encouragement, I would not have had the capacity to start or complete this research.
Thank you for the numerous and immense sacrifices you have made during the span of this
program. Thank you for catching the balls as they fell from the air as I tried to juggle the
demands of being a good mother, working full time and being a positive role model for my
students, and earning this degree. Thank you for laughing and crying with me. Thank you for
letting me vent...and listening. Thank you for not minding how many pairs of shoes I buy. Thank
you, Vince, for being you and allowing me to be me. Thank you, my love and my partner. We
will continue to work together to lift and support one another throughout this life and beyond.
You are brilliant and now it is my turn to support you. I can’t wait to see how you change the
world!

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 5

DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to Allison, Chiquita, Crystal, Delia, Emilio, and Robert.
Thank you for sharing your lives with me. I am privileged to convey your voices through this
research literature in hopes that your need for support will be addressed.
Also, this dissertation is dedicated to all single student parents who strive tirelessly,
despite infinite challenges, to work toward a degree while raising a family and working in order
to provide exceptional opportunities for their families. Their determination, courage, and strength
are extraordinarily inspirational and they deserve to be recognized for their perseverance.
This degree is dedicated to Helen Amaya, an amazing single mother who was tragically
killed in a car accident shortly before she graduated. I pledged to earn a doctorate degree and
“finish” my education because she could not finish hers. It is with honor and reverence that I
now fulfill that promise.
To my family, thank you for helping me, with assurance and inspiration, through the
process of researching, writing, and rewriting. My gratitude and love for each of you is
unimaginable and my gratefulness is limitless.
~Angela

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2
DEDICATION 5
LIST OF TABLES 11
LIST OF FIGURES 13
ABSTRACT 14
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 15
Introduction of the Problem of Practice 15
Organizational Context and Mission 16
Related Literature 17
Change in College Student Makeup 17
Increase in Parent Enrollment in College 18
Increase in Single Parents 18
Increase in Single Parents’ Enrollment in College 19
Government Programs to Support Single Parents in College 20
Impact of Not Meeting the Goal 21
Single Parent Students: More Likely to Live in Poverty,
Perpetuate the cycle of not going to College 21
Impact on the College: Loss of Diversity 22
Impact on the Community: Loss of Well-Qualified Workforce,
Increase in Public Assistance 23
Impact on Children of Single Parent Students: Limited Access
to Sports and Arts 23
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 7

Importance of the Evaluation 24
Impact on Single Parent Students: Education Expectations,
Higher Wage after Graduation; Increased Self-esteem 24
Impact on the College: Increased Enrollment in Online Programs 25
Impact on the Community: Higher Qualified, Educated Workforce 25
Impact on the Children of Single Parent Students: Role Model of
Education 26
Description of Stakeholder Groups 26
Stakeholder Group for the Study 27
Organizational Performance Status 28
Purpose of the Project and Questions 29
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 29
Organization of the Research 30
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 31
Introduction 31
The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Framework 31
Knowledge and Skills 32
Assumed Knowledge Influences 33
Motivation 52
Assumed Motivational Influences 56
Organizational Influences 73
Stakeholder Specific Influences 75
Conclusion 83
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 8

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 84
Purpose of the Project and Questions 84
Conceptual and Methodological Framework 84
Assessment of Performance Influences 88
Knowledge Assessment 88
Motivation Assessment 92
Organization Assessment 97
Participating Stakeholders 100
Data Collection 100
Survey 100
Interview 102
Data Analysis 106
Trustworthiness of Data 107
Role of Investigator 108
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS 110
Participating Stakeholders 110
Survey Participants 110
Interview 112
Validation 116
Knowledge Results 116
Motivation Results 135
Organization Results 158

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 9

CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS AND INTEGRATED
IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION PLAN 174
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences 174
Knowledge Recommendations 174
Motivation Recommendations 184
Organization Recommendations 196
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan 199
Implementation and Evaluation Framework 199
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators 201
Level 3: Behavior 202
Level 2: Learning 206
Level 1: Reaction 214
Evaluation Tools 215
Data Analysis and Reporting 219
Summary 221
Limitations 223
Delimitations 225
Future Studies 227
Conclusion 228
APPENDICES 230
APPENDIX A: Support for Single Parent Program Survey 231
APPENDIX B: Administration of Surveys 235
APPENDIX C: Receipt of Surveys 237
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APPENDIX D: SSP Student Interview Protocol 238
REFERENCES 243

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: SSP Mission and Stakeholder Goals 28
Table 2: Assumed Knowledge Influences 49
Table 3: Assumed Motivational Influences 70
Table 4: Assumed Organizational Influences 82
Table 5: Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed
Knowledge Influencers 90
Table 6: Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed
Motivational Influencers 93
Table 7: Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed
Organizational Influencers 98
Table 8: Validated Influences Summary 168
Table 9: Validated Knowledge Influences and Recommendations 175
Table 10: Summary of Validated Motivation Influences and Recommendations 185
Table 11: Summary of Validated Organization Influences and Recommendations 197
Table 12: Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes 201
Table 13: Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for SSP
Student-Parents 203
Table 14: Required Drivers to Support SSP Student-Parents’ Critical Behaviors 204
Table 15: Learning Goals for SSP students 206
Table 16: Components of Learning for the Program 212
Table 17: Components to Measure Reactions to the Program 214
Table 18: Feedback Item Breakdown by Levels: During and immediately
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following the program implementation 216
Table 19: Feedback on Levels 1-4 Delayed 6 Weeks after the Five-Day Retreat 218
Table 20: Level 4 Goal Dashboard 221
Table 21: Three Key Questions 222

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: SSP Conceptual Framework 86
Figure 2: Age of Survey Participants 111
Figure 3: Age of Youngest Child 112
Figure 4: Question 10 from Single Parent Student Survey 226
Figure 5: Question 12 from Single Parent Student Survey 227
Figure 6: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs (1990s Eight-stage Model) 229

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 14

ABSTRACT
Mixed methods were used to investigate the needs of single parent students in a
community college setting in California. The students in this study were part of a program that
supported single parents who received government benefits, worked at least twenty hours each
week, were enrolled full-time, and had at least one child under the age of fourteen. Thirty-eight
students were surveyed, half of the population in the program, and six were interviewed in an
effort to gain additional, in-depth insight from survey data. Given the small sample size,
discoveries should be limited to this population at the current time and additional research is
recommended. While there are always other indications for individual students, the factors at
play as a stakeholder group for these population are the following. Specific findings indicate that
single parent students need mental health care support and services as this affects every single
aspect of their lives. Access and provision of these services must be the top priority. Next, due to
the lack of college predecessors, the students must have active instruction and meaningful
mentors to model ways to manage responsibilities. A former student who has already succeeded,
a member of their community, a person of their culture, race, or religion is necessary to show
them the way to succeed as these students need to learn strategies to attempt a balance between
student, family, and work demands. Last, students must have access to affordable and reliable
child care in order to attend classes and focus at school and at home. Additional single parent
student needs are discussed as are solutions and an implementation plan in order to improve the
grade point average and, as a result, improve the graduation rate of single parent students.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 15

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
Single parents were the largest growing family category in the United States (Pew, 2015).
The number of two-parent homes continued to dwindle. According to Pew (2015), 73% of all
children lived in a two-parent home in 1960, but that decreased to 61% in 1980 and dropped
again to 46% in 2014. In 2009, single parents represented 15% of the US college population, yet
little attention was paid, either in the research or in campus-based services, to the needs of that
growing population (NCES, 2011-2012). Given the recent increase in single parents (Pew, 2015),
it was logical that institutions increased their understanding of the educational, emotional, and
economic struggles of this underserved population.
Gault, Reichlin, Reynolds, and Froehner of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
(2014) found that 26% of all undergraduates had at least one child and of these, 71% were
women. Single mothers in every region of the United States had the highest financial unmet
need, which made earning a college degree problematic (Pew Research Center, 2015).
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2010), only 27% of single student
parents earned an associate’s degree within six years of enrollment. Accordingly, this paper
addressed the problem of retention of single parent students in higher education. In 2002, Choy
demonstrated that single parent community college students were 53% more likely to leave
college without earning an associate’s degree. The evidence highlighted the obligation that
colleges had to understand the factors that caused these outcomes for single parent students
(Taniguchi & Kaufman, 2005).
Through organizations on college campuses, and support from external stakeholders such
as the US Department of Education (scholarships) and state offices, single parents in higher
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 16

education received minimal support. One such organization was the Support for Single Parents
program at Inland College, the site for this study. Support for Single Parents (SSP) and Inland
College (IC) were pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of the school and the study’s
participants.
Organizational Context and Mission
The SSP program was offered through IC, which was a community college located in
California that served an expansive metropolitan area. The source of information was the
college’s website, which was not be provided to protect anonymity. IC enrolled approximately
20,000 students each semester. The median age of an IC student was 24. The student body
reflected the residents of the surrounding communities and was approximately 83.1% Hispanic,
7.2% White Non-Hispanic, 5.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 2.2% other, 1.5% Black, and 0.3%
American Indian/Alaskan Native.
The SSP program was created to support welfare-dependent, single parent students who
were academically unprepared for higher education in order to provide an equal opportunity for
all and to support their aspirations of earning a college degree. It was sponsored by the State of
California Department of Social Services, the State Employment Development Department, and
the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges. Their mission was to work in
partnership with students and the campus community to enable students to fulfill their highest
educational potential. SSP sought to be a comprehensive program that was committed to
providing compassionate, innovative, above and beyond services to students who faced
economic and educational challenges. At the time of the report, the program served 82 single
mothers and 3 single fathers. The age range of students was from 18-66. The SSP program
employed 1 Director, 6 full-time staff, 4 part-time student workers, 4 full-time counselors, and 3
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 17

part-time counselors
1
to serve the needs of the SSP students. The goal of SSP was to increase the
number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or receive a certificate by 10% by May 2019.
Related Literature
Change in College Student Makeup
Over the years, there was a marked change in the characteristics of college students. The
stereotypical college student of the past enrolled full-time at a university directly after high
school graduation, was financially dependent on their parents, and lived in the college dormitory
(Deil-Amen, 2011). In recent years, the average college student was composed quite differently
than the stereotype. Instead of enrolling full-time right after high school graduation at 17 or 18
years of age, 38% of college students were older than 24 years of age and 53% were enrolled on
a part-time status (NCES, 2010, Table 240). The stereotypical college student was financially
dependent on their parents, but 47% of the current college students were financially independent
and 25% had at least one person for whom they were financially responsible (NCES, 2010, Table
240). The stereotypical college student lived in the dorm on their university’s campus; however,
as current college students began their first semester only 13% lived on campus, 51% commuted,
and 36% lived with a member of their family (NCES, 2010, Table 240). Another change that
took place was the percentage of students enrolled in community colleges nationally (44%)
exceeded the percentage of students enrolled in public and private four-year institutions (43%)
(NCES, 2009, Table 74). The large-scale change in the student blueprint called for a change in
the services provided to meet student needs.

1
This information is correct for fall 2017.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 18

Increase in Parent Enrollment in College
One of the modifications in student characteristics was the number of college students
who had dependents. Community colleges offered commuter students a local education at a
lower cost than undergraduate four-year universities, which was a more realistic option for
students with children (Cox, 2009). Two-year colleges allowed student-parents the flexibility to
earn a degree as they continued to fulfill their parental responsibilities. Accordingly, multiple
studies hypothesized that almost half of the nation’s college students attended two-year colleges
(Cox, 2009; Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, & Person, 2006). In 2011, The Institute for Women’s
Policy Research commissioned Gault, Reichlin, Reynolds, and Froehner to investigate college
student parents. Their findings produced Fact Sheet #C424 (2014) that showed 26% or 4.8
million college students had at least one dependent child that they were responsible for. The
increase in parent enrollment in college was likely due to the increase in single parents in the
United States, discussed next.
Increase in Single Parents
In 2015, the Pew Research Center published a comprehensive study on “The American
Family” in which they compared family makeup beginning in 1960 and ending in 2014. This
research revealed that the rate of children living with one parent was at its highest point in
history. Pew (2015) found that in 1960, just 9% of children lived with only one parent, and in
2014 it was 26%. One possible explanation they provided for the sharp difference in statistics
was an increase in divorce rate coupled with the rise in social acceptability and eventual
normalization of separation and divorce (Pew, 2015). As adults grew comfortable with divorce,
they were also comfortable with remarriage. Given this societal change in 1960, 73% of children
lived with two parents in their first marriage, and in 2014 it was 46% (Pew, 2015). Pew (2015)
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 19

asserted that in 2014, children may have lived with a parent in their second or subsequent
marriage or with their step-family. Another change was the social acceptance of an unmarried
woman having a child. In the 1960’s it was completely unacceptable and shameful for an
unmarried woman to have a child, and only 5% of all births were to unmarried women (Pew,
2015). However, the rules of society shifted, and in 2014 it was more acceptable, and 40% of all
births were to unmarried women (Pew, 2015).
Increase in Single P ar e n ts’ Enrollment in College
The Pew Research Center (2015) established that new mothers who were not married
were remarkably more likely to be less educated. In 2014, 11% of unmarried women who gave
birth had a college degree, 43% had some college credit but did not earn a degree, and 46% had
no college credit at all. Pew (2015) further examined the data regarding the 46% of unmarried
mothers who had no college credit at all and found that only slightly more than half, 54%, of
those new mothers who were unmarried had earned a high school diploma at the time they gave
birth. Given the lack of education in unmarried mothers, the increase in single parent enrollment
in college should come as no surprise.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2014) determined that there were 1.9 million
single parents in college. They estimated that 26% of all undergraduate students had at least one
child to care for and of those single parents, 71% were female (Gault, Reichlin, Reynolds, &
Froehner, 2014). Single parents viewed education as a way to provide a healthy life and be able
to support their children, but the academic, economic, and mental challenges proved to be
depleting. In Adair’s (2001) research focused on single mothers who received government aid
trying to pursue a college degree but dropped out, 73% reported their failure to manage all of the
responsibility of trying to handle school, work, and family at the same time. Other reasons for
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 20

college dropout were centered on child care, specifically having a difficult time finding and
keeping reliable childcare or not having enough money to pay for child care (Adair, 2001). The
single mothers in Adair’s (2001) study also reported feeling misunderstood, undervalued,
unacknowledged, unaccepted, and academically unsupported in the classroom. Because of these
struggles, many programs were started that were specifically aimed at providing assistance to
single parents who returned to college in an effort to subdue the drop rate of this vulnerable
population.
Government Programs to Support Single Parents in College
In addition to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Access Program), WIC (Women, Infant,
and Children Nutrition Service), TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families), and Medi-Cal
(California’s Public Health Program), there were also government programs that could provide
specific aid to single, low-income, head-of-household parents who attended college in pursuit of
a degree or certificate.
The College Access for All (CAFA) program was established by the California
Community Colleges in the 1960’s to ensure that all students, regardless of any perceived
disadvantages, had equal access to college. Community colleges were tasked to provide students
who may have been thwarted by financial, social, or communicative issues exceptional services
that gave them an equal chance at college success as those who did not have those handicaps.
Because all of the students in the SSP program receive government funding, they all qualified for
the CAFA program.
The Personal & Academic Support Services (PASS) was another program that helped
many low-income single parents through college. PASS catered its educational advisement, field
trip, and tutoring services to low-income, first generation, and disabled students in an effort to
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 21

keep students enrolled and graduate (TRIO). Many single parent students at Inland College fit
into the first two categories and received benefits even though the program was not specifically
created to serve single parents.
CareerEd was a state-funded program specifically for low-income parents. To stay
eligible for this program, students were required to work twenty hours each week in order to
receive career training, workshops on employment skills, educational advisement, and Monetary
Operation for Vocational and Career Education (MOVE) benefits. The CareerEd office
supervised MOVE, a program that provided funding for transportation to and from school and
child care while in class.
SSP was a well-rounded state sponsored program geared specifically to support low-
income, head-of-household, single parent students with at least one dependent child through
college. Program services included academic advising, personal and professional workshops,
family bonding events, specialized tutoring, and technology for checkout. One such program was
established at IC, the site for the study.
Impact of Not Meeting the Goal
Single Parent Students: More Likely to Live in Poverty, Perpetuate the Cycle of not going
to College
If SSP students were not able to graduate, transfer to a university, or receive a certificate,
they were more likely to live in poverty. According to the Pew Research Center (2015), 19% of
people who were single parents said that their basic expenses were not covered by the money
they made. If those single parents did not have a degree or certificate, that percentage was even
higher.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 22

In addition, their lifetime earnings were significantly lower. According to Carnevale,
Rose, and Cheah (2011), a student who did not earn a high school diploma earned less than $1
million over their lifetime whereas a person who earned a bachelor’s degree earned over $2
million in their lifetime, and a person with a doctorate or professional degree earned over $3
million in their lifetime. Clearly, the lifetime earnings increased significantly as the level of
education increased. A single parent student lost much more than money by not going to college;
they also lost the opportunity to show their children a model of a strong student, the next impact
to be discussed.
When a single parent began college and then did not transfer, receive a certificate, or
graduate, they sent a very clear signal to their child that college was not important. That act set
the precedent for the child’s mindset and behavior toward college. If the child saw that the parent
did not place value and significance on education, the child followed the parent’s lead, and was
not inclined to attend or be successful in college. This act sustained the cycle of undervaluing
higher education.
Impact on the College: Loss of Diversity
In addition, if SSP students did not attend school, the college lost valuable diversity.
Low-income single parents brought a unique perspective to their courses that their classmates
and professors missed (Hurtado & Guillermo-Wann, 2013). Their life experience was unlike that
of traditional students, and was valuable to include in class discussions and debates. Closing the
education attainment gap could not be managed without including students and graduates who
reflected the diversity of the country (Hurtado & Guillermo-Wann, 2013). When single parent
students were 53% more likely to leave college without a degree than their traditional
counterparts (Choy, 2002), there was a lopsided opportunity for success as those with a degree
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 23

were most likely to be successful (Carnevale, Rose, & Cheah, 2011). According to Hurtado and
Guillermo-Wann (2013), race, class, gender, age, and student parents continued to be topics that
traditional students felt they were excluded from talking about. Given that the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research (2014) found that one in four of all undergraduates have at least one
child, it seemed appropriate that “student parents” should be removed from Hurtado and
Guillermo-Wann’s (2013) list of taboo topics.
Impact on the Community: Loss of Well-Qualified Workforce, Increase in Public
Assistance
One of the many benefits of supporting SSP students through school was building a
qualified workforce. However, if SSP students did not graduate, they were not well-qualified and
would most likely end up working at a low-wage, low-benefit, blue-collar job, and they were
unable to afford to care for themselves and their children (Carnevale, Rose, & Cheah, 2011).
Because single parents who did not attend or graduate from college had difficulty providing for
their family, the result was an increase in public assistance (Price & Steffy, 2003).
Impact on Children of Single Parent Students: Limited Access to Sports and Arts
A parent’s level of education was a determining factor in the level of activity of the child.
The Pew Research Center (2015) found that 83% of parents with a bachelor’s degree reported
their child’s participation in athletics while only 63% of parents with a high school diploma
reported participation. Similarly, they found that 66% of parents with a bachelor’s degree
reported their child’s participation in the arts (dance, music, art) while only 42% of parents with
a high school diploma reported participation.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 24

Importance of the Evaluation
It was critical to evaluate SSP’s performance in relation to their performance goal of
ensuring that 100% of SSP students graduate, transfer, or receive a certificate for a variety of
reasons, including those mentioned above. Despite their growing numbers, Taniguchi and
Kaufman (2005) posited that the single parent population was neglected in the research as it
pertained to degree attainment. If this population was not evaluated, addressed, and supported,
retention rates of single parent students will continue to be substandard, and future single parent
students will not strive for a college degree because the likelihood of graduation will remain
unattainable. However, if single student parents were able to reach their educational goals, they
were more likely to transmit the value of education to their children (Pew, 2015).
Impact on Single Parent Students: Education Expectations, Higher Wage after
Graduation; Increased Self-esteem
One result of single parent students meeting the goal of graduation was that they were
able to model the cycle of education and passed the behavior to their children. The Pew Research
Center found that 60% of parents who earned a bachelor’s degree were more likely to be
disappointed if their child received average grades in school whereas 48% of parents with a high
school diploma or less education would be disappointed (2015). When single parents earned a
degree, they were more likely to pass their high expectations for educational attainment to their
children.
Another result of single parents who earned a degree was that they stopped using welfare
benefits after graduation. Price and Steffy (2003) found that 100% of former government aid
recipients who earned four-year degrees stopped receiving welfare benefits, while 81% who
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 25

earned two-year degrees stopped receiving government benefits. Since positions that required a
degree paid higher wages, single parents no longer needed welfare benefits.
Finally, the fact that they persisted and did not give up, even in the most difficult times,
and earned their degree raised their self-esteem and self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Pajares (2006)
showed that students who faced challenges but persisted and graduated had high levels of self-
efficacy. When students gained confidence in their ability to push through the hardship they
encountered, they were more likely to continue their education and received higher-level degrees
(Bong, 2001).
Impact on the College: Increased Enrollment in Online Programs
Increased enrollment was one benefit that the colleges were rewarded with when single
parents met their goal of graduation (Muller, 2008). One pressing issue for single parent college
students was the need to juggle many responsibilities at once. In an attempt to meet this need,
colleges offered online courses as well as certificate and degree programs to meet the demand.
Because students could complete their work for these courses at any time of the day or night,
more students had access to education which could increase enrollment for colleges (Muller,
2008).
Impact on the Community: Higher Qualified, Educated Workforce
One goal of a community college was to educate the surrounding community because
when the students graduated, they sought employment within their own community. An educated
workforce was more likely to be more productive as well as creative, thereby increasing profit
and revenue (Buys & Bursnall, 2007). A well-educated population was employed from their hire
dates at higher salaries and, as a result, they paid more in taxes than a less educated population
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 26

(Buys & Bursnall, 2007). Therefore, the community that educated its population was one that
received a payoff (Buys & Bursnall, 2007).
Impact on the Children of Single Parent Students: Role Model of Education
The children of the single parent students gained a role model of strength, stamina, and
grit. The children experienced the struggles of their parents, and knew what it looked like to
study and work hard in college (Wagstaff & McLuckey, 2017). The children of the single parent
students did not take their own education for granted as they knew how much their parents
worked to earn their own college education. As witnesses to their parents’ education, the children
were authentically encouraged and highly motivated to perpetuate the cycle of education
(Wagstaff & McLuckey, 2017).
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Students who received services, employees who provided the services, and counselors
who guided students were the main stakeholder groups within the SSP program. Eligibility for
the SSP program required that a single parent (a) cared for at least one dependent child under the
age of 14, (b) received government cash aid or Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF), (c)
was listed as the head-of-household when they filed their income taxes, and (d) was above the
age of 18 (SSP program).
Employees of the SSP program provided support to student parents. Organizational
support for students was evident as employees patiently made and reminded students about
educational counseling appointments. Employees provided practical assistance when they gave
students food vouchers for the campus café, gas cards, textbook vouchers for registered courses,
school supplies, laptops for checkout, and monetary awards for attending workshops. Employees
also provided emotional support when they organized monthly, mandatory, workshops on topics
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 27

pertinent to the population such as domestic violence awareness, available shelters and food
banks, suicide prevention, sexual education, parenting advice, budget management, and self-care
among other topics as the students showed need.
SSP counselors met with each student in the program three times per semester. In order to
retain membership and continue receipt of benefits from the SSP program, the three counselor
contacts were mandatory. During the meetings, counselors talked with students about their
progress in courses and, if necessary, made specific educational and/or personal plans to improve
student performance. They also assisted with instructor support in courses. Counselors also
created, reviewed, and updated all students’ educational plans to be sure they met their
educational goal, whether that was graduation, transfer, or earning a certificate.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
Even though an analysis of all stakeholder groups would provide invaluable data, the
focus of this study was on SSP students. The evaluation of knowledge, motivation and
organizational factors that influenced the students was essential to discern in order to reach the
organization’s global goal of increasing the number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or
receive a certificate by 10% by May 2019. Through recognition and understanding of the single
parent student population’s needs, SSP could adapt its strategies to provide useful, supportive,
and beneficial services to help students succeed and reach their educational goals.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 28

Table 1
SSP Mission and Stakeholder Goals
Organizational Mission

Support for Single Parents’ (SSP) mission is to work in partnership with students
and the campus community to enable students to fulfill their highest educational
potential.
Organizational Global Goal

By May 2019, the number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or receive a
certificate will increase by 10%.
S takehol d e r s’ Performance Goals
SSP Director
By August 2017, the SSP
Director will hold 100% of
the SSP Counselors
accountable to meeting
their goals of the strategic
plan.
SSP Counselors
By September 2017,
100% of SSP Counselors
will meet with 100% of
SSP students to ensure
they have an education
plan.
SSP Students
By May 2018, 100% of
SSP students will execute
100% of the strategies
needed to maintain at least
a 3.0 overall GPA.

Organizational Performance Status
In order to meet the stakeholder goal of 100% of SSP students executing 100% of the
strategies necessary to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018, it was necessary to
understand the specific challenges these students faced and how SSP could help alleviate them,
as well as evaluate the programs and services that were already working to help students meet
their educational goals. The stakeholder goal was created in partnership by the Director, SSP
Specialist, and the SSP Advisory Board. No data had ever been collected regarding how many
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 29

students utilized the various support services, so 100% of SSP student participation was ideal.
However, given that the lives of SSP students was difficult and they faced daily obstacles, 50%
participation was realistic. It was for this reason that Clark and Estes’ (2008) evaluation model of
the gap analysis was employed. This research was critical because if SSP students did not
succeed in reaching their educational goal, the program could lose state funding, which would
deplete the SSP program altogether.
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to evaluate the degree to which SSP achieving its goal of
increasing the number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or receive a certificate by 10% by
May 2019. The analysis focused on knowledge, motivation and organizational elements related
to the students’ achieving their performance goal. While a complete evaluation project would
have focused on all stakeholders, for practical purposes the stakeholders that were focused on in
this analysis were SSP students as they provided the most useful information regarding the
program’s global goal. Accordingly, the questions that guided this study were the following:
1. To what extent are SSP students meeting their goal of executing 100% of the strategies
they need to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational elements related to their
achieving this goal?
3. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework was implemented as the conceptual
framework as it was the way to determine performance gaps between the actual performance
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 30

level of SSP students, and the preferred performance level within the organization. This project
employed a mixed methods approach to data gathering and analysis. The stakeholder’s current
performance was assessed with a survey, interviews, literature review, and content analysis.
Research-based solutions were recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner.
Organization of the Research
Five chapters were used to organize this research. This first chapter provided the reader
with the key concepts and background information commonly found in a discussion about single
parent students in college. The organization’s mission, goals and stakeholders, as well as the
framework for the project, were introduced. Chapter Two provided a review of current literature
surrounding the scope of the study. The topics of procedural and metacognitive knowledge,
motivation influences such as self-efficacy and goal orientation, as well as the cultural models
and settings of the organization were addressed. Chapter Three detailed the assumed knowledge,
motivation, and organizational elements as well as methodology of data collection and analysis.
Chapter Four revealed the findings for each assumed influence, and provided information
regarding the survey respondents and the interview participants. Chapter Five explained the
research-based recommendations that may improve the ability of the SSP program to reach its
global performance goal.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 31

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
The focus of this chapter was the identification of assumed causes that deterred the success
of single parents in college. The chapter was organized with a brief explanation of the Clark and
Estes’ gap analysis conceptual framework (2008) that was used to frame and organize this
research, specifically the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences on single
parents’ ability to be successful in college. Then, the literature review examined the knowledge
and skills, motivation, and organizational factors that supported the college success of single
parent students in the SSP (Support for Single Parents) program.
The Clark and Estes (2008) Gap Analysis Framework
Clark and Estes (2008) sought to identify gaps between the actual performance and the
desired performance for organizational and stakeholder goals through a methodical, analytical
framework. They theorized that a gap in one or more of the areas of a stakeholder’s knowledge
and skills, motivation, and organizational factors could account for the difference between the
expected performance and the actual performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). Clark and Estes (2008)
explained that testing if people knew how to answer the “how, when, what, why, where, and
who” (p. 44) questions regarding their performance goal, then they demonstrated their
knowledge and skills.
The evidence of knowledge and skills was often quite obvious, but evidence of
motivation was more difficult to determine (Clark & Estes, 2008). Motivation, as Bandura
(1994) explained, involved three decisions. The first required a conscious choice, to meet a goal,
to be made. The second decision was the choice to continue, and not give up, until the goal was
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 32

met. The third choice was the decision to exert the necessary mental effort to actually meet the
goal.
As Clark and Estes determined, evidence of decision making and the resulting behavior
was more complex, even more so than identifying organizational factors (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Processes, procedures, resources, and facilities were all examples of organizational factors that
could possibly keep the stakeholder from performing at their best (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Although these three categories had unique qualities, they worked interactively and all were vital
to the optimum performance of a stakeholder (Clark & Estes, 2008). The researchers theorized
that once the divergence in performance was identified and examined, the process of
performance improvement could begin (Clark & Estes, 2008).
In the following literature review, the knowledge and skills, motivation, and
organizational influences of SSP students were analyzed by systematically applying Clark and
Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework. Each of these three categories were considered separately
in an effort to analyze any gaps in the stakeholders’ desired performance goal of 100% of SSP
students will execute 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by
May 2018.
Knowledge and Skills
This section of the literature review focused on knowledge-related influences that were
pertinent to the achievement of the stakeholder goal (By May 2018, 100% of SSP students will
execute 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA.) as well as the
organizational global goal (By May 2019, the number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or
receive a certificate will increase by 10%.). Clark and Estes (2008) noted the importance of
knowledge and skills in regard to proceeding with educational goals and the ability to defeat
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 33

future problems by knowing how to creatively overcome any challenge that arose. The
researchers proposed that enhanced knowledge would improve the quality of tasks that students
undertook and the quality of their output. It was especially important to examine the knowledge
and skills in regard to problem solving because, as McLaughlin and Randolph (2012) explained,
single mother students from low socioeconomic families were three times more likely to
withdraw from courses and stop attending college altogether than low-income female students
without children. Also, more and more unmarried parents were attending college, but not
completing school (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010), so it was essential to ascertain the
knowledge and skills in problem solving necessary to keep single parents enrolled in college and
successful in their courses. Four knowledge types, discussed next, were identified as part of
Krathwohl’s (2002) updated version of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Factual knowledge. The first knowledge type Krathwohl (2002) explained was factual.
People exhibited this type of knowledge when they were familiar with the basic elements of a
topic (Krathwohl, 2002). People were able to display their knowledge of definitions, and
terminology, including specific details and elements of a given topic. Factual knowledge
included the essential components that a person must know to recognize an area of study or solve
problems within that discipline (Krathwohl, 2002).
Factual knowledge influences. The following were the assumed factual knowledge
influences of SSP students. It was important to take note of the assumed factual knowledge
influences in an attempt to better understand how to improve single parent students’ GPA.
SSP students need to know their educational goals. As one of the goals of the California
Community Colleges was to provide services that met the needs of all their students, one
recommendation from the Student Success Task Force (2012) was to help all students to
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 34

recognize their own educational and career goals. Some experts held that when a student was
unaware of their own academic goal, it could be a deficiency which was remedied only by clear
goal setting (Boylan, 2002; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Therefore, knowledge of their
educational goals was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students need to know the in st it u t ion ’s academic expectations of them. Given that
the change from high school to college was a steep transition in responsibility, students should
know precisely what was expected of them in order to succeed. SSP students not only had to
juggle their children and home life, but they were also expected to acclimate to the expanded
rigor and high expectations of college academics, as well as new social responsibilities
(Holmstrom, Karp, & Gray, 2002). Kern, Fagley, and Miller, (1998) showed that when a student
was unable to meet the expectations of academic and social obligation, the result was low
academic motivation and failure to achieve. Therefore, knowledge of their academic
expectations was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students need to know where to find assistance. Students who knew where to find
assistance were more likely to persist and succeed academically (Daddona & Cooper, 2002).
The most common way that traditional students learned where campus services were located was
through an orientation. Indeed, many studies demonstrated that students who attended freshman
orientation knew where to find campus services (Burgette & Magun-Jackson, 2009; Daddona &
Cooper, 2002; Fidler & Godwin, 1994; Porter & Swing, 2006). Burgette and Magun-Jackson’s
(2009) four-year longitudinal study noted that the impact of attendance at a college orientation
was substantial. With orientation attendance, students were able to locate services necessary for
college success which resulted in the sustained persistence of those students (Burgette & Magun-
Jackson, 2009). College achievement, as evidenced by a student’s GPA, was also related to the
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 35

ability to find and use campus services (Daddona & Cooper, 2002). When students knew where
to locate the library, counseling services, academic advising, financial aid, the health office,
student activities, tutoring centers, and other places that provided support, students felt integrated
with their campus and were more likely to ask for help (Porter & Swing, 2006). Therefore,
knowing where to find assistance was an assumed asset to SSP students.
Conceptual knowledge. According to Krathwohl (2002), the second type of knowledge
was conceptual. The researcher explained that this knowledge was evident when people were
able to add the basic elements from the factual knowledge together and form a larger,
functioning, model. So, to use their conceptual knowledge, a person recognized the structure of a
small unit as it functioned within a larger entity, as well as exhibited knowledge of theories and
models. A person was also be able to use classifications and categories to determine a unit’s
function within the larger entity.
Conceptual knowledge influences. The following was the assumed conceptual
knowledge influence of SSP students.
SSP students understand that accessing educational services can help strengthen
academic skills in order to achieve educational success. The importance of educational services
such as professional tutoring, peer tutoring, group instruction, and supplemental instruction
among other means were found to be beneficial, especially for underprepared students (Fayowski
& MacMillan, 2008). When students had the opportunity to take part in educational services at
the start of their college career, they were able to make significant academic advancement even
though they tested into remedial courses (Rabitoy, Hoffman, & Person, 2012). For students who
required foundational knowledge of a subject, time spent in Supplemental Instruction resulted in
considerable academic growth (Lazari & Simons, 2003; Ogden, Thompson, Russell, & Simons,
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 36

2003; Ramirez, 1997; Rath, Peterfreund, Xenos, Bayliss, & Carnal, 2007). Rabitoy, Hoffman,
and Person (2015) confirmed, through their recent research on low-income community college
students, that various educational services, despite the lack of student academic preparation,
positively influenced the final course grade and the cumulative GPA. Therefore, understanding
that accessing educational services was a means to achieve educational success was an assumed
asset of SSP students.
Procedural knowledge. The third type of knowledge was procedural (Krathwohl, 2002).
Proof of procedural knowledge was clear when a person understood how to do something
(Krathwohl, 2002). They knew the steps to take, were familiar with the protocol, and used the
necessary techniques. To exhibit procedural knowledge, a person was able to access and use help
for an academic subject they struggled with.
Procedural knowledge influences. The following were the assumed procedural
knowledge influences of SSP students.
SSP students need to know how to set goals. Goal setting was shown as a successful tool
that promoted students’ academic progress and boosted their academic performance (Bruhn,
McDaniel, Fernando, & Troughton, 2016; Rowe, Mazzotti, Ingram, & Lee, 2017). Duckworth
(2015) found that increased self-efficacy, motivation, and academic development resulted from
teaching students how to set goals. In order to be successful in post-secondary education as well
as in their career field, at-risk students had to know how to set goals (Heckman, 2008). In
addition, students who were taught how to set goals presented lower levels of disruptive
behavior and higher levels of academic engagement and achievement (Farrington, Roderick,
Allensworth, Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson, & Beechum, 2012; McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter,
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 37

& McWhirter, 2017). Therefore, knowing how to set goals was an assumed asset of SSP
students.
SSP students know how to create and implement an educational plan for achieving
their goals. Research showed that when students were afforded a strong planning component of
college counseling services, they set a clear educational plan with a path to accomplish their
goals (Gysbers & Henderson, 2012). Students who received training on how to create and
implement an educational plan showed notable positive characteristics such as strategic semester
class plans, professor investigation that included their course offerings, enrollment in college
courses, and preparation for classes (Lapan, Whitcomb, & Aleman, 2012). Earlier research
supported Lapan, Whitcomb, and Aleman’s (2012) findings that comprehensive educational and
career planning was important for college success. A longitudinal study conducted by Eccles,
Vida, and Barber (2004) tracked children in the north eastern region of the United States from
their 6
th
grade year until 2 years after they graduated from high school. The researchers used
early educational planning as the independent variable and found that when the students created
an education plan early in their school career, they were more likely to earn high marks and
graduate from high school, as well as be successful full-time college students (Eccles, Vida, and
Barber (2004). Therefore, knowing how to create and implement an educational plan was an
assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students know how to balance work/life/student demands to maintain academic
success for their health and the welfare of their family. Students who exhibited self-regulatory
skills were able to successfully manage all aspects of their lives while maintaining their
academic success (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Crossley & Buckner, 2012; Karoly, 1993; NRCIM,
2000). Because they possessed a goal-directed mindset, students were able to use self-regulation
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 38

by applying cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and motivational processes to achieve their pre-
planned goals (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Karoly, 1993). The capability to function and adapt to
changes in an academic setting required students to have the skills necessary to internally
monitor their emotions, attention, thoughts, and behavior (NRCIM, 2000) as well as exercise
their working memory, inhibitory control, attention focusing and shifting, and mental flexibility
(Baumeister & Vohs, 2004; Blair 2002; Buckner, Mezzacappa, & Beardslee, 2009; Posner &
Rothbart 2000). The ability to self-regulate was clearly linked to positive results in academic
achievement (Buckner et al., 2009; Blair & Razza, 2007; Obradovic ´ 2010; Vohs & Ciarocco,
2004). Therefore, knowing how to balance all demands was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students know how to manage childcare needs. The number of student parents rose
to 4.8 million in the United States, so providing affordable and accessible childcare was an
essential element of increasing the graduation rate of this specific population (Eckerson,
Talbourdet, Reichlin, Sykes, Noll, & Gault, 2016). On-site childcare centers on college campuses
provided mental, physical, and emotional stability for student parents and their children, which
allowed student parents the ability to focus their attention on their academic endeavors (Eckerson
et al., 2016; McLaughlin & Randolph, 2012). Reliable child care was a prerequisite for student
parents to attend classes (Gault, Reichlin, Reynolds, & Froehner, 2014; McLaughlin &
Randolph, 2012). In several studies, student parents reported difficulty in finding childcare,
which was not readily available for most single parent students at their college (Huff & Thorpe,
1997; Lovell, 2014; McLaughlin & Randolph, 2012). Consequently, if a student parent had
difficulty securing and sustaining reliable, affordable, accessible child care, they were more
likely to leave college without a degree because the time demand to seek child care upset the
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 39

delicate balance of their life responsibilities (Gault et al., 2014). Therefore, knowing how to
manage child care needs was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students know the necessary study skills; they know how to study. Students entered
open-access community colleges from various backgrounds and skill levels and, as a result, they
were not all ready for the demands of college academics (Student Success Task Force, 2012) so
knowledge of how to study was of the utmost importance. Dembo and Eaton (2000) suggested
that when students knew how to study, their level of self-efficacy increased as their academic
achievement did. In addition, Zimmerman, Bonner, Kovach (1996) indicated that when a student
was aware of their own learning, they were able to choose assignments that they were
comfortable with and, at the same time, allowed advancement of their knowledge. When
students knew how to study, they were aware of the environmental conditions that were
necessary for them to learn (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). As a result, they regulated, adjusted, and
changed those environmental conditions as needed to achieve their academic goal (Dembo &
Eaton, 2000). Zimmerman (1989) held that when students knew how to study, had a clear goal,
were able to use what they already knew, thought about various ways to achieve their goal,
figured out the best way to meet their goal, and thought ahead about potential problems they
might encounter, they were more successful learners and were more likely to be answerable for
their own learning. Learning how to learn provided students with the critical tools for lifelong
learning (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). Therefore, knowledge of study skills was an assumed asset of
SSP students.
SSP students know how to manage their financial obligations and where to find
financial support services in order to achieve educational success. In a report published by
Miller, Gault, and Thorman of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2011-2012) it was
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 40

found that single parents faced significant financial challenges upon enrollment in college that
made it difficult to maintain enrollment. Student parents noted that extreme financial difficulty
was the main culprit that caused them to stop attending courses (Miller, Gault, & Thorman,
2011-2012). Because student parents were responsible for providing for their dependents, it was
likely that they needed financial aid to attend college (Sykes, Reichlin, & Gault, 2016).
Therefore, knowing how to manage financial obligations was an assumed asset for SSP students.
The most pertinent aspect of personal finances was financial education, counseling, and
planning because without it, single parents took out loans or worked additional hours, which
detracted them from their education (Goldrick-Rab, & Sorensen, 2010; Huff & Thorpe, 1997;
Lovell, 2014). In addition, it took them longer to pay off their loans and they accrued more debt
than students without children (Lovell, 2014). Single mothers had the highest level of debt upon
graduation than any other student group (Lovell, 2014) as they were responsible for themselves,
their children and their needs, and their own education. Financial aid offices on college campuses
offered workshops on how to spend money wisely and how to live within one’s means.
Therefore, how to manage their financial obligations and where to find financial services were
assumed assets to SSP students.
SSP students know how to manage stress. In a 2006 mixed methods study, Gerrard and
Roberts surveyed and interviewed single parent student mothers, some of whom were receiving
government aid, and found that 100% of the single parent students reported significant levels of
stress. Financial concerns such as not being able to pay their debts and not having the funds to
purchase food and other basic necessities for their children were the most stressful as 91.66% of
all participants reported financial stress (Gerrard & Roberts). One single parent student, a
recipient of government aid, shared that her lowest point was when she had no money and her
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 41

children gave her their piggy bank savings so they could buy food (Gerrard & Roberts). The
student communicated extreme despair at the fact that she could not provide for her children
(Gerrard & Roberts). Student parents in the same study also worried that the stress they felt
regarding their finances might transfer to their children and adversely affect their children’s
attitude regarding finances and negatively affect their social development (Gerrard & Roberts).
In Gerrard and Roberts (2006) research, many parents verbalized that worries regarding
time produced a lot of stress. Many single parents were forced to work part-time and attend
school in order to earn enough money or meet the requirements to continue receiving
government aid. They felt disconnected as these requirements removed them from their children
for an extended period of time (Gerrard & Roberts). 50% of participants noted difficulty with
time-related guilt (Gerrard & Roberts). One mother recollected her 3-year-old daughter
repeatedly crying when she left for school, which made the student-parent question whether she
was making the right choice by leaving her child to spend time in school when she could be
home with her young daughter (Gerrard & Roberts). Another mother spoke of high levels of guilt
and admitted she often questioned her goal of earning a college degree because her 11-year-old
daughter asked why she chose school over her children (Gerrard & Roberts). Therefore, knowing
how to manage stress was an asset for SSP students.
SSP students know how to manage mental health needs. Depression and anxiety
plagued single parent students as evidenced by Gerrard and Roberts’ (2006) study in which they
found that 75% of single parent participants reported experiencing depression and/or anxiety
while in college. For the majority of participants, widespread emotional strain affected their
psychological well-being. One single parent student mother described how she felt as if she were
looking up from the bottom of a deep well and trying to climb up without a ladder (Gerrard &
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 42

Roberts). Experts acknowledged that if there was a lack of emotional and mental support when
early signs of depression manifested, chronic issues might develop (Shaw, Krause, Chatters,
Connell, & Ingersoll-Dayton, 2004). The pressure of juggling studies, work, home life, and
children could lead to poor mental health support, which in turn might lead to mental health
problems (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994; Wickrama, Lorenze, & Conger, 1997).
Therefore, knowing how to manage mental health needs was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students know how to access mental health support and services. Psychological
services helped single parent students learn to resolve problems related to student and family
stress (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010). Goldrick-Rab and Sorensen (2010) explained that
personal counseling was absolutely necessary to successfully function as a single student parent.
Shenoy, Lee, and Trieu’s study of 6,832 community college students (2016) in California found
that single parent students were disproportionally affected by finance, family, and relationship
problems when compared to students without children and students who had children with a
partner. The researchers also established that single parent students reported twice as many
suicide attempts as their counterparts (Shenoy, Lee, & Trieu, 2016). Therefore, knowing how to
access mental health services was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students know how to manage their transportation needs. Attendance in college
courses was shown to have a significant impact on students’ final course grades (Alija, 2013;
Halpern, 2007) and was also a strong determining factor of degree completion (Halpern, 2007).
Halpern (2007) found that the amount of time it took for a student to travel to school influenced
their attendance and educational success. In 2005, Dutton and Dutton noted that when a student
lived more than ten miles from their campus, their level of academic achievement was
significantly lower than students that lived closer. This study was repeated in 2007 by Halpern
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 43

and the researcher noted that the length of time it took a student to commute to school was
directly correlated with their academic achievement. The longer the commute the student had,
the lower the achievement was (Halpern, 2007). Haleman (2004) agreed with this assessment
and added that the distance from campus coupled with unreliable transportation was a recurring
issue for single student parents. This issue was evidenced by a survey of single mothers in
community college and findings suggested that 89% were more likely to attend school on a
regular basis if their transportation and child care needs were met (McLaughlin & Randolph,
2012). Single parent students reported that factors beyond their control, namely transportation,
were more likely to impact their ability to attend class than personal or psychological factors
(Van Stone, Nelson, & Niemann, 1994). In a study focused on low-income single mothers in
college, McLaughlin and Randolph (2012) found that only 21% of students in their study
reported having reliable transportation to and from school. Attendance in college courses was so
important that it gained the attention of 14 states who were now providing recipients of
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) with transportation to college (Pandey, Zhan,
Neely-Barnes, & Menon, 2000). Therefore, knowing how to manage transportation needs was an
assumed asset for SSP students.
SSP students know how to access educational services in order to achieve educational
success. With the implementation of the recommendations of the Student Success Task Force
(2012), California’s community colleges, including Inland College, instituted several
requirements aimed at boosting academic success. It was a lengthy process that began with
student application, admission, and assessment; then, the student went to see an academic
counselor, declared a major, and created an education plan. After the student completed all of the
requirements, they were cleared to register for courses (Student Success Task Force, 2012). All
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 44

of the prerequisites had to be met before the student entered a classroom, which could be
overwhelming. However, without the requirement to meet with an academic counselor, a student
might not know how the specific process worked, the next step to take. After they had a plan and
made a contact with a representative of the college, a student was more likely to be successful.
As semesters progressed, students needed assistance to be successful in their courses.
SSP students, who were likely to enroll in remedial courses, needed to know how to locate
supplemental instruction to ensure success in their courses (Glessner, 2015). Students who
entered college, especially at the developmental level, benefitted greatly from continuous access
to supplemental instruction as their success and mastery of the subject was directly correlated to
the increased amount of exposure to the subject they were studying (Crisp & Delgado, 2014;
Enstrom & Tinto, 2008; Tinto, 2008). Therefore, knowing how to access educational services in
order to achieve educational success was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students know how to access a computer. Because of the emphasis on mobile
learning and the prevalence of technology in education, Brown (2015) asserted that it was
essential for students to know how to gain access to a computer because much of assigned
college-level coursework required the use of technology. The single parent students in the
McLaughlin and Randolph (2012) study confirmed that knowing how and where to access to a
computer for use on campus, or to take home, was imperative to complete homework and
research necessary for academic success; however, most of them did not own a personal
computer. Those who were higher on the socioeconomic scale were more likely than those who
were of low socioeconomic status to own a tablet, smartphone, or laptop (Brown, 2015).
Therefore, access to a computer was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 45

SSP students know how to register for customized courses in order to avoid extraneous
learning. 1,196 freshman at a university in the southeastern United States in Dee’s (2012) study
explained that registration would have been easier if there were a multimedia to accompany them
while they were registering for classes during their first semester. The ease of registering for
courses is often a point when students feel overwhelmed as they are unfamiliar with the school’s
protocol, but with knowledge the inundation of doubt could be avoided. Once SSP students are
registered in courses that are created with their needs in mind, they will be able to focus on what
they need to learn without receiving extraneous information, which will take their attention away
from the real lesson (Kaminski & Vladimir, 2013). Therefore, knowledge of how to register for
customized courses in order to avoid extraneous learning was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students are able to monitor their needs and recognize when they need help.
Monitoring and assessment of their own academic progress and success helped at-risk students
stay on track (Zimmerman, 1998, 2000, 2008). Bembenutty (2009) studied 58 at-risk college
freshmen and noted that they were not monitored by their instructors for completion of
homework, which did not motivate them to complete the homework. He found that the at-risk
students did not have the self-discipline to complete the assignments on their own, regardless of
instructor monitoring, or the intrinsic motivation to spend time on assignments that would not be
collected. The researcher also noted that these students were offered interventions to help them
succeed in their courses, but the focus of the programs was on academic content, not on
motivation, evaluating their academic progress, or teaching self-regulatory strategies that would
promote academic success. Bembenutty (2011) held that students should be illicitly taught
strategies to monitor their thoughts and actions as well as direct thoughts and actions to ensure
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 46

success in courses. Therefore, the ability to monitor their needs and recognize when they need
help was an assumed asset to SSP students.
Metacognitive knowledge. Krathwohl (2002) explained that the fourth type of
knowledge was metacognition, which was knowledge and awareness of one’s own thinking
processes. Metacognitive knowledge was self-knowledge; it was evident when a person was able
to reflect on their own behavior, was aware of their own thoughts, and could understand how
they thought about tasks. To explore their own metacognition, a person could reflect on their
own thoughts about study skills or discipline for their children. They included the strategies they
thought of and the actions they took, or did not take.
Metacognitive knowledge influences. The following were the assumed metacognitive
knowledge influences of SSP students.
SSP students are able to monitor their needs and recognize when they need help.
Recognizing needs, using appropriate strategies to ensure needs were met, staying motivated
until the needs were met, monitoring and evaluating progress, (Zimmerman, 1998, 2000, 2008;
Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 1996) as well as controlling the environment (Dembo & Eaton,
2000) were all integral elements of self-regulation. When a student, especially an at-risk student,
monitored their needs and adapted their strategies to meet those needs, Bembenutty (2009) held
that they were more likely to complete their goal. Therefore, the ability to monitor their needs
and recognize when they needed help was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students reflect on the impact of and control their social and physical
environments as essential components of self-regulation. Dembo and Eaton (2000) included the
control of the social and physical environment as an essential component of self-regulation. In
the study of 58 at-risk community college students, Bembenutty (2009) discovered the lack of
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 47

control and ability to change the distracting environment in which students studied to an
environment more conducive to learning and focus. This supported Kitsantas and Zimmerman’s
(2009) finding that less skilled, low-performing students, did not approach their work in the same
way that high-level self-regulated students did. Students who possessed self-regulation skills
took measures to avoid distractions that removed them from the work they valued in order to
remain focused on their task until it was complete (Bembenutty, 2011). Accordingly,
Zimmerman (2000) found that when self-regulated students focused their thoughts, feelings, and
actions on the assigned task, they attained their academic goals. Various self-regulating
behaviors were taught and implemented by an instructor in a concerted effort to help at-risk
students succeed (Bembenutty, 2009). Cleary and Zimmerman (2004) argued that all learners
were empowered to control their environment, by using self-regulation strategies. Therefore,
reflecting on the impact of social and physical environments was an assumed asset to SSP
students.
SSP students understand that when they delay their gratification to focus on
homework, their grades rise in correlation. Bembenutty (2009) posited that self-regulation,
which specifically included delay of gratification, was essential for successful at-risk student
outcomes. The researcher found that when at-risk students were willing to separate from
technology and friends to maintain academic focus, they were more likely to complete their
homework successfully (Bembenutty, 2009). When students made a conscious decision to place
a higher priority on their studies rather than technology and friends, the choice was a clear
predictor of academic success (Bembenutty, 2009). Similarly, Zimmerman (2000) found that
students were able to clearly focus on their studies when distracting elements were removed from
the study area. When gratification was delayed, the number of hours that students studied for all
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 48

classes increased which was positively correlated with a rise in their midterm grades
(Bembenutty, 2009). As a result, Bembenutty (2011) maintained that students needed to be
explicitly taught delayed gratification so they focused clearly on their studies. Therefore,
understanding the correlation between delay of gratification and rise in grades is an assumed
asset to SSP students.
SSP students understand that in order to be academically successful, they need to
actively maintain their motivation. Another constituent of self-regulation was maintaining
motivation (Zimmerman, 1998, 2000, 2008). In 2009, Bembenutty found that the number of
hours that at-risk students studied was directly correlated to the amount of intrinsic interest they
held in the topic. According to Zimmerman, Bonner, and Kovach (1996), to be successful
academically, learners needed to maintain their motivation. To raise the number of hours studied,
motivation must be maintained. Therefore, understanding the need to maintain motivation to be
academically successful is an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students know how to assess their academic progress. They know when they need
help. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was shown to be effective to help students achieve
academic awareness (CASEL, 2013a, 2013b). Major components of SEL included mastering
academic, social, and emotional learning and students determined their academic development
more completely (Dymnicki, Sambolt, & Kidron, 2013). When students set academic goals, their
social, emotional, and academic skills came into play when they determined the amount of
progress they made toward their goal and if the progress was not sufficient, students who were
taught SEL very likely made responsible decisions to request assistance to meet their academic
goal (CASEL, 2013a, 2013b). Weissberg and Cascarino (2013) held that a student’s capacity to
control their actions, thoughts, and emotions was a critical piece of self-assessment. When
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 49

students were able to self-regulate, their level of self-awareness was heightened as well as their
sound decision making ability to ask for help when it was necessary (Weissberg & Cascarino,
2013). Therefore, knowing how to assess their academic progress is an assumed asset to SSP
students.

Table 2
Assumed Knowledge Influences
Assumed Needs of Successful SSP
Students
General Literature

Factual

SSP students need to know their
educational goals.

(Boylan, 2002; Pascarella &
Terenzini, 1991; Student
Success Task Force, 2012)

SSP students need to know the
institution’s academic expectations
of them.

(Holmstrom, Karp, & Gray,
2002; Kern, Fagley, &
Miller, 1998)

SSP students need to know where to
find assistance.

(Burgette & Magun-Jackson,
2009; Daddona & Cooper,
2002; Fidler & Godwin,
1994; Porter & Swing, 2006)

Conceptual

SSP students understand that
accessing educational services can
help strengthen academic skills in
order to achieve educational success.

(Fayowski & MacMilan,
2008; Lazari & Simons,
2003; Ogden, Thompson,
Russell, & Simons, 2003;
Rabitoy, Hoffman, & Person,
2015; Ramirez, 1997; Rath,
Peterfreund, Xenos, Bayliss,
& Carnal, 2007)

Procedural

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 50

SSP students need to know how to
set goals.

(Bruhn, McDaniel,
Fernando, & Troughton,
2016; Duckworth, 2015;
Farrington, Roderick,
Allensworth, Nagaoka,
Keyes, Johnson, & Beechum,
2012; Heckman, 2008;
McWhirter, McWhirter,
McWhirter, & McWhirter,
2017; Rowe, Mazzotti,
Ingram, & Lee, 2017)

SSP students know how to create
and implement an educational plan
for achieving their goals.

(Eccles, Vida, & Barber,
2004; Gysbers & Henderson,
2012; Lapan, Whitcomb, &
Aleman, 2012)

SSP students know how to balance
work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their
health and the welfare of their
family.

(Baumeister & Vohs, 2004;
Blair, 2002; Blair &
Diamond, 2008; Blair &
Razza 2007; Buckner,
Mezzacappa, & Beardslee,
2009; Crossley & Buckner,
2012; Karoly, 1993;
NRCIM, 2000; Obradovic ´
2010; Posner & Rothbart,
2000; Vohs & Ciarocco,
2004)

SSP students know how to manage
childcare needs.

(Eckerson, Talbourdet,
Reichlin, Sykes, Noll, Gault,
2016; Gault, Reichlin,
Reynolds, & Froehner, 2014;
Huff & Thorpe, 1997;
Lovell, 2014; McLaughlin &
Randolph, 2012)

SSP students know the necessary
study skills; they know how to
study.

(Dembo & Eaton, 2000;
Student Success Task Force,
2012; Zimmerman, 1989;
Zimmerman, Bonner, &
Kovach, 1996)

SSP students know how to manage
their financial obligations and where
(Goldrick-Rab, & Sorensen,
2010; Huff & Thorpe, 1997;
Institute for Women’s Policy
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 51

to find financial support services in
order to achieve educational success.

Research, 2012; Lovell,
2014; Miller, Gault, &
Thorman, 2011; Sykes,
Reichlin, & Gault, 2016)

SSP students know how to manage
stress.

(Gerrard & Roberts, 2006)

SSP students know how to manage
mental health needs.

(Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, &
Klebanov, 1994; Gerrard &
Roberts, 2006; Shaw, Krause,
Chatters, Connell, &
Ingersoll-Dayton, 2004;
Wickrama, Lorenze, &
Conger, 1997).

SSP students know how to access
mental health support and services.

(Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen,
2010; Shenoy, Lee, & Trieu,
2016)

SSP students know how to manage
their transportation needs.

(Alija, 2013; Dutton &
Dutton, 2005; Haleman,
2004; Halpern, 2007;
McLaughlin & Randolph,
2012; Pandey, Zhan, Neely-
Barnes, & Menon, 2000; Van
Stone, Nelson, & Niemann,
1994)

SSP students know how to access
educational services in order to
achieve educational success.

(Crisp & Delgado, 2014;
Enstrom & Tinto, 2008;
Glessner, 2015; Student
Success Task Force, 2012;
Tinto, 2008)

SSP students know how to access a
computer.

(Brown, 2015; McLaughlin
& Randolph, 2012)

SSP students know how to register
for customized courses in order to
avoid extraneous learning.

(Dee, 2012; Kaminski &
Vladimir, 2013)

Metacognitive

SSP students are able to monitor
their needs and recognize when they
need help.
(Bembenutty, 2009; Dembo
& Eaton, 2000, Zimmerman,
1998, 2000, 2008;
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 52

Zimmerman, Bonner, &
Kovach, 1996)

SSP students reflect on the impact of
and control their social and physical
environments as essential
components of self-regulation.

(Bembenutty, 2009; 2011;
Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004;
Dembo & Eaton, 2000;
Kitsantas & Zimmerman,
2009; Zimmerman, 2000)

SSP students understand that when
they delay their gratification to focus
on homework, their grades rise in
correlation.

(Bembenutty, 2009; 2011,
Zimmerman, 2000)

SSP students understand that in
order to be academically successful,
they need to actively maintain their
motivation.

(Bembenutty, 2009;
Zimmerman, 1998, 2000,
2008; Zimmerman, Bonner,
& Kovach, 1996)

SSP students know how to assess
their academic progress. They know
when they need help.

(CASEL, 2013a, 2013b;
Dymnicki, Sambolt, &
Kidron, 2013; Weissberg &
Cascarino, 2013)

Motivation
This section of the literature focused on the motivation-related influences that were
pertinent to the achievement of the stakeholder goal of 100% of SSP students executing 100% of
the strategies necessary to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018. The motivation of a
student group is essential to study because they can possess all of the knowledge in the universe
and all of the organizational support, but if the student is not motivated success will never be
their goal.
Mayer (2011) explored five explanations for human motivation. The researcher explained
that a person’s level of motivation controlled the behaviors that caused them to initiate and
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 53

persist to reach set goals. The first type of motivation Mayer (2011) named was interest
motivation. The researcher continued to explain that there were four components of interest
motivation; they were personal, activating, energizing, and directed. When a learner used all four
components of this motivation model, they set a clear goal, took steps to realize the goal, and
persisted and maintained their motivation until the goal was accomplished.
Belief-based motivation was the second conception Mayer (2011) included. The
researcher explained that this motivation took form when learners with a high level of self-
efficacy, or belief in their abilities, worked hard to learn as they knew that their efforts would be
rewarded. When students were confident in their academic know-how, based on past experiences
or vicarious observation, their level of motivation increased as the level of probability of their
success rises (Mayer, 2011).
According to Mayer (2011), the third theory was attribution-based motivation. This
theory was based on the principle that if learners were able to attribute their success or failure to
their personal level of hard work, rather than outside factors such as teacher or environment, they
were more likely to work harder (Mayer, 2011). Students believed that their own effort was the
cause of their success or failure, so it motivated them to study longer, and they took specific
steps to succeed as they felt it was within their control.
Goal-based motivation was the fourth theory that Mayer (2011) introduced. He explained
that this construct held true if students had the desire to master the material, rather than earn a
good grade, students worked harder to achieve that goal. It seemed that when the pressure of
performance was lifted, and the student was avoiding a poor performance, the student was free to
put their effort into mastering the material instead of memorizing it to earn a good grade on a
test.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 54

The fifth theory of motivation Mayer (2011) explored was social partnership. The
researcher illustrated that this theory was rooted in the learner’s relationship with the instructor.
He continued to clarify that when the instructor was viewed as someone who was trying to work
in partnership with learners, the learners exhibited a higher level of motivation to learn. As such,
when the instructor treated learners as a valuable part of a team and spoke to learners in a
friendly and familiar manner, learners felt more at ease rather than tense, which was the result
when an instructor spoke in a superior fashion and made students anxious.
Self-efficacy theory. The beliefs one holds about their own abilities are known as self-
efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Pajares (2006) explains that if a person has low self-efficacy, the
likelihood of motivation and accomplishment are also low. In short, the way a person perceives
their capabilities determines their motivation, which in turn determines their thought processes,
choices, and actions in life. A person can have high self-efficacy, and be motivated to feel
confident and resilient, to be victorious over negativity, but if a person has low self-efficacy, they
will be unmotivated, vulnerable to stress, and accept defeat when they meet a challenge (Pajares,
2006).
Goal orientation theory. Ames (1992) explained goal theory as the significance of how
and why students wanted to achieve tasks. When the goal of the learner was to absorb the
material at an expert level, they worked harder to attain that goal than if the goal were to earn a
good grade or avoid seeming inept (Ames & Archer, 1988; Dweck & Legget, 1988; Mayer,
2011; Pintrich, 2000; Yough & Anderman, 2006). Pintrich (2000) explained that learners were
oriented toward mastery-approach, mastery-avoid, performance-approach, or performance-avoid.
Yough and Anderman (2006) explained that mastery-approach oriented students strove to master
the material, and to consistently improve. The researchers deduced that these learners
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 55

significantly valued the advancement of their personal knowledge, which was the source of their
motivation. According to Pintrich (2000), learners who were mastery-approach oriented
possessed intrinsic motivation that pushed them to be involved in the task, and focused on
learning and internalizing the material.
Contrary to mastery-approach, if students were more concerned with avoidance of failure
or misunderstanding, they were labeled as mastery-avoidance oriented (Yough & Anderman,
2006). When mastery-avoidance students were provided a task to complete, the students’ goal
was to prevent misinterpretation of the material rather than master it, as mastery-approach
students did (Pintrich, 2000). Pintrich (2000) explained that the intention of these learners was
clear as they also approached tasks with the assurance they were correct rather than the
willingness to err in the process of education and desire to master the task as mastery-approach
oriented learners did.
If a learner was not mastery oriented, they were performance oriented. Performance-
approach oriented students placed their attention on superiority, and they aspired to be the
highest performer in relation to their peer group and worked to outperform all others (Dweck &
Legget, 1988; Pintrich, 2000). Yough and Anderman (2006) offered that performance-approach
oriented students’ motivation was driven by ego, and these learners judged their own
performance in relation to their peers instead using self-reflection.
Performance-avoidance oriented learners also judged their own performance on the basis
of peer performance, however, their goal was to not be the worst performer in their peer group
(Meece, Blumenfeld, & Hole, 1988; Pintrich, 2000). These learners had a self-defeating ego, and
attempted to avoid appearing less smart than others in their peer group (Pintrich, 2000). Yough
and Anderman (2006) explained that the ultimate goal of a performance-avoidance oriented
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 56

student was to evade inferiority. The researchers clarified that these learners worked hard to
avoid being the student with the lowest grade in the class.
Assumed Motivational Influences
Assumed mastery goal orientation influences. SSP students wanted to learn, improve,
and master the content in their courses. Because SSP students were a very specific group of
students, their mastery-orientation had not been explicitly studied. Therefore, the research
presented in this section was not specifically about single parent community college students, but
instead focused on community college students in general. Nicholls (1989, 1992) showed that
students who were mastery-approach oriented perceived that success was achieved through deep
understanding, and they employed strategies such as (a) set a schedule for regular study groups;
(b) reported-out after class; (c) refreshed one another regarding previous topics before each class
began; (d) scheduled peer, tutor, and mentor assistance and; (e) worked consistently to
understand the content of their courses.
SSP students value their ability to assess and monitor their academic success. Roscoe
(2014) showed that when students were able to monitor what they understood and already knew,
and answer questions about it, this was expressive, and an accurate predictor of their ability to
comprehend and grasp more complicated aspects of the material. In addition, students who did
not possess the ability to self-monitor did not perform these behaviors (Roscoe, 2014). When
students are able to reflect on their behavior, they are able to change quickly and improve
immediately, which can bring about increased grade performance (Brookfield, 1995). Learners
who do not value the ability self-assessment are unlikely to gather a rich understanding from
their course material (Musolino, 2006).
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 57

SSP students value the effort they put into their work which allows them higher
accomplishments. Pajares (2006) holds that self-efficacy is key to motivation as people will
make choices based on their personal level of self-efficacy. The researcher explains that if an
individual believes they cannot be successful at a task, they will avoid it; whereas if an
individual believes they will be successful at a chosen task, they approach the task with
confidence, and are able to confront obstacles more readily than a person with low self-efficacy
regarding that specific task. If a person holds low-self efficacy, they will not employ strategies to
defeat the challenge; they will succumb to it (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, self-efficacy influences
people’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (Pajares, 2006). Accordingly, Pajares (2006) deduces
that defeat results in low self-efficacy whereas success cultivates high self-efficacy. It is logical
that if a person repeatedly fails or succeeds at a task, their beliefs about their ability to fail or
succeed at that task would be reinforced by their actions (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, students
valuing the effort they put into their work is an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value high persistence as they do not give up when faced with challenges.
With regard to educational success, Pajares (2006) holds that students who have high self-
efficacy put more effort into their work, stay in school longer, defeat challenges, view difficulties
more positively, have less worry about their success, and they accomplish more. The researcher
posits that the reason for the higher level of success can be attributed to the value of not giving
up and the confident use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to work through problems.
Even though strategies are employed at differing levels of student ability, research shows that
self-efficacious students are more persistent, despite the type of challenge, and successful than
students who have low self-efficacy (Pajares, 2006). Therefore, valuing high persistence is an
assumed asset to SSP students.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 58

SSP students are confident in their ability to implement study strategy interventions in
order to raise their level of self-efficacy. SSP students need to feel confident in their ability to
maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by using various study strategies for academic success. As
Schunk (1991) has argued, when students have successfully used cognitive strategies in past
learning situations that are similar to current situations, their self-efficacy in the current situation
should be high. Single parent students have lower self-efficacy because of difficulty in their
academic history, and typically need of some type of study strategy intervention before they can
put forth quality effort and raise their self-efficacy (Silver, Smith, & Green, 2001). Therefore,
confidence in their ability to implement study strategy interventions is an assumed asset to SSP
students.
SSP students value their ability to create mental pictures of successful scenarios in
order to visualize their success. Vick and Packard (2008) studied urban Hispanic students and
found a link between the ability of the student to visualize their abilities to be successful in
school and their actual self-efficacy level. Because self-efficacy involves mental pictures of
success or failure scenarios (Bandura, 1994), these visualizations can provide motivation for a
student to reach their goal. Female single parent college students in Australia were studied by
Stone (2008), and revealed that they exhibited low self-confidence in their ability to succeed
academically, but when they were able to visualize themselves as a graduate their level of
motivation escalated. Therefore, the ability of visualizing success is an assumed asset to SSP
students.
SSP students believe that engaging with faculty will solidify instructional help and
encouragement. McLaughlin and Randolph (2012) show that faculty relationships are an
essential element when students consider their self-efficacy in terms of institutional support.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 59

Even though Pajares (2006) focused on middle school students, the theory that when students are
supported with positivity, reassurance, and reinforcement, teachers play a part in developing a
strong sense of self-efficacy in their students holds true no matter what level of education the
student has attained. Huff and Thorpe (1997) posit that academic services from faculty and staff
can boost motivation and self-efficacy for single student parents. Studies show that single parents
need to feel supported with instructional help and encouragement during interactions with faculty
and staff (Heaney & Isreal, 2002; McLaughlin & Randolph, 2012). Therefore, engaging with
faculty is an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the opportunity to attend extracurricular events with their children.
In the study of community college students, Purcell (2010) found that single parent-students,
joined by their families, were more likely to attend extra-credit activities outside of the
classroom than two-parent students. The researcher also contended that single student parents
were far more likely to mention their children in dialogue with their instructor after a novel,
exciting idea was presented in class. Furthermore, the student parents clearly exhibited signs of
mastery-approach goal orientation by attending optional events, and completing assignments that
were suggested by instructors though there was no advantage to their final course grade (Purcell,
2010). Therefore, the opportunity to attend events with their children was an assumed asset to
SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to absorb information at an expert level. Purcell (2010)
surveyed younger and older groups and found that all students, regardless of age, found it fun to
learn new material, which indicated mastery goal orientation. Even though the older group
scored significantly higher than the younger group, not one student disagreed (Purcell, 2010).
Most students (88%) either agreed or strongly agreed that it was fun to learn new material and
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 60

12% neither agreed nor disagreed. Overall, the results of Purcell’s (2010) study showed that all
students were more mastery-oriented than performance-oriented. The older group reported a
much higher level of mastery orientation than the younger group (Purcell, 2010). Therefore, the
ability to absorb information at an expert level was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students believe in the importance of their role as students because they are single
parents. One reason for the emphasis on mastery orientation in the older students was attributed
to how they viewed their role as a student. If the older students were single parents, their
motivation to master content and earn a degree was rooted in their role as a single parent
(Haleman, 2004; Rizer, 2005). Haleman (2004) explained that a single parent student was
hyperaware of their position as the sole role model in their nuclear family and as such they felt
pressure to set a positive example of a successful student. In addition, the single parent student
was the sole caretaker of the family and as such had to do their best to provide for their family
(Rizer, 2005). Therefore, the importance of their role as single parent students was an assumed
asset to SSP students.
SSP students believe that engaging in self-monitoring behavior and being persistent
when faced with a challenge brings them closer to their educational goal. Pintrich (2000)
demonstrated that high self-monitoring and persistence when faced with a challenge were an
integral part of mastery-approach goal orientation. Marklein (2010) explained that a student must
be able to recognize their own mental and physical signs of stress and take appropriate action to
care for themselves. When students kept their educational goal in mind, they were more likely to
persist when tested with difficulty (Vick & Packard, 2008). Therefore, the engagement in self-
monitoring behavior and being persistent when faced with a challenge was an assumed influence.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 61

SSP students value the ability to know the in st it u t ion ’s academic expectations of them.
Kern, Fagley, and Miller (1998) explained that when a student was unfamiliar with the rigor and
high expectations of college-level assignments, they were more likely to fail. If the inability to
meet the expectations of academic and social obligations continued, the student was
unmotivated, and the end result was failure to achieve (Kern, et. al, 1998). If institutional
academic expectations were unknown or unclear to students, they experienced failure (Kern, et.
al, 1998). Holmstrom, Karp, and Gray (2002) determined that when students understood their
social and academic collegiate responsibilities, they were more likely to succeed than students
who did not comprehend their responsibilities. Therefore, valuing the ability to know the
institution’s academic expectations was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know where to find assistance. Daddona and Cooper’s
(2002) research showed that college students who were able to locate and make use of campus
services earned a higher GPA than those students who were unable to locate campus services
and, as a result, did not use them. In addition, students considered themselves part of their
college community, and exhibited a higher level of motivation and comfort when they asked for
help and, consequently, knew where support centers such as the library, health office, tutoring
centers, and counseling center were located (Burgette & Magun-Jackson, 2009; Porter & Swing,
2006). Students who knew where to find assistance were more likely to persist and succeed
academically (Daddona & Cooper, 2002; Fidler & Godwin, 1994). Therefore, valuing the ability
to know where to find assistance was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to set goals. High school students who were
directed to set goals were more likely to see them through post-secondary education and into
their career field (Farrington et al, 2012; Heckman, 2008). Duckworth (2015) showed that
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 62

students who set their own comprehensive plan to complete their education and attain their
career goal, exhibited excitement about the steps they would to take in pursuit of their future
career. Goal setting was a successful tool that promoted students’ academic progress and boosted
their academic performance (Bruhn, McDaniel, Fernando, & Troughton, 2016; Rowe, Mazzotti,
Ingram, & Lee, 2017). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to set goals was an assumed
asset of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to create and implement an educational
plan to achieve their goals. Lapan, Whitcomb, and Aleman (2012) observed college students
that were explicitly taught how to plan their own university education, and found that the
students exhibited behaviors that caused the researchers to conclude that comprehensive
educational planning was essential for college success. Among the behaviors, students arranged
their course plan for all four years, researched courses they were interested in taking, and showed
enthusiasm to project their future educational plan (Eccles, Vida, & Barber, 2004; Gysbers &
Henderson, 2012; Lapan, Whitcomb, & Aleman, 2012). Therefore, valuing the ability to know
how to create and implement an educational plan was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to balance work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their health and the welfare of their family. The exhibition of
self-regulation was necessary to achieve to academic accomplishment and juggle family for
single parents (Buckner, Mezzacappa, & Beardslee, 2009). To display self-regulation, single
parent students (a) exhibited behavior that was conducive to academic and personal success, (b)
wanted to meet the required standards of academia and family requirements, (c) banished the
social and environmental thoughts, situations, and structures that may possibly distract or remove
them from their goals, and (d) had the unbreakable willpower to see it through, but many did not
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 63

succeed (Blair & Diamond, 2008). The exhibition of self-regulation was clearly linked to
academic accomplishment (Buckner et al., 2009; Blair & Razza, 2007; Obradovic´, 2010; Vohs
& Ciarocco, 2004). The students who succeeded in college were able to maintain a healthy
balance among their family, work, and school commitments (Blair & Diamond, 2008; Crossley
& Buckner, 2012; Karoly, 1993; NRCIM, 2000). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to
balance all demands was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage childcare needs. Given that
many professors were not supportive of children in their classrooms, many student parents had
difficulty finding child care and did not attend their classes (Gault, Reichlin, Reynolds, &
Froehner, 2014; McLaughlin & Randolph, 2012). Because the time demand to seek safe child
care was daunting, student parents were the most likely student group to leave college before
they earned a degree (Gault et al., 2014). Reliable, accessible, and affordable child care was an
essential element of the graduation rate for this specific population (Eckerson et al, 2016; Huff &
Thorpe, 1997; Lovell, 2014). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to manage child care
needs was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know the necessary study skills; they value the ability
to know how to study. Dembo and Eaton (2000) explained that in their research they experienced
both teaching and learning. The researchers discovered that when students understood how to
learn, they were provided with everything they needed for lifelong learning (Dembo & Eaton,
2000). As students grew confident in their knowledge of their own learning, they detected the
environmental conditions that suited them best and adjusted as needed to focus on their studies
(Dembo & Eaton, 2000). Researchers suggested that when students learned how to study, their
academic achievement and level of self-efficacy increased (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Student
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 64

Success Task Force, 2012; Zimmerman, 1989; Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 1996).
Therefore, valuing the ability to know study skills was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage their financial obligations and
where to find financial support services in order to achieve educational success. Single parents
faced significantly more financial challenges upon enrollment in college than students without
children, which made it difficult for the single student parents to maintain enrollment (IWPR,
2012; Miller, Gault, & Thorman, 2011-2012). The highest unmet educational need of personal
finances was financial education, advisement, and investment because without budget
management, single parents took out loans or worked additional hours, which pulled them from
classes, study time, and family (Goldrick-Rab, & Sorensen, 2010; Huff & Thorpe, 1997; Lovell,
2014). Student parents explained that economic necessity was the main reason they were forced
to drop courses (Miller, Gault, & Thorman, 2011-2012; Sykes, Reichlin, & Gault, 2016).
Therefore, how to manage their financial obligations and where to find financial services was an
assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage stress. For single parent students,
stress was a serious concern as evidenced by Gerrard and Roberts’ (2006) mixed methods study
when 100% of the single parent student mothers they surveyed and interviewed expressed
significant levels of stress. Of the total, 91.66% rated financial stress as their highest stressor
(Gerrard & Roberts, 2006). Further, they held a fear that their children carried a pessimistic
attitude regarding financial obligation as a result of their own stress (Gerrard & Roberts, 2006).
In addition, the parents expressed deep concern that their children experienced delayed cognitive
and social development because of the parents’ focus on success in their own courses as they felt
they did not have ample time to provide their children with homework help or attend playdates
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 65

with other children (Gerrard & Roberts, 2006). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to
manage stress was an asset for SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage mental health needs.
Researchers showed that mental health needs increased as student responsibilities increased and
at the point that when responsibilities became overwhelming for each student, for example the
requirement for single parents students to balance school, work, home, and family, the students
were unable to cope with the overpowering requirements and very often it led to mental health
issues as a result of poor mental health services and support (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, &
Klebanov, 1994; Wickrama, Lorenze, & Conger, 1997). In a study of single parent student
mothers, Gerrard and Roberts (2006) discovered that most of their participants, 75%,
experienced psychological distress in the form of anxiety and/or depression which was a
manifestation of their emotional past and current stress. When students first showed signs of
distress, anxiety and depression, support services had to be provided without delay or chronic
mental health issues developed if they were not treated promptly (Shaw, Krause, Chatters,
Connell, & Ingersoll-Dayton, 2004). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to manage
mental health needs was an assumed asset of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to access mental health support and
services. In 2016, Shenoy, Lee, and Trieu studied 6,832 community college students in
California and showed that students without children were less likely than single parent students
to be feel plagued by depression and anxiety over relationship issues, family problems, and
finance. Even parents who had children with a partner felt less affected than single parents
(Shenoy, Lee, & Trieu, 2016). Given that single parent students were so negatively affected, it
was an unfortunate result that the number of suicide attempts made by single parent students was
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 66

double that of their counterparts (Shenoy, Lee, & Trieu, 2016). Goldrick-Rab and Sorensen
(2010) made the essential nature of single parent students’ receipt of psychological services
unmistakable. The researchers showed the necessity of single parent students to obtain strategies
for life success and in order to thrive as parents and students (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010).
Additionally, counseling services provided single parent students with the required tools that
began resolution of long-standing stressors (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010). Therefore,
valuing the ability to know how to access mental health services was an assumed asset to SSP
students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage their transportation needs.
When a student was able to regularly attend a college course, it was more likely that student
would pass the course over a student who did not regularly attend the same college course (Alija,
2013; Halpern, 2007), and regular course attendance was also clear predictor of if the student
completed their degree (Halpern, 2007). Because course attendance was a struggle in the low-
income, single parent, community college level population, McLaughlin and Randolph (2012)
surveyed them and results suggested that if they had dependable transportation and child care,
89% were more likely to attend their classes regularly. In the same study, the researchers asked
how many respondents in their sample had dependable transportation and 21% reported that they
did (McLaughlin & Randolph, 2012). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to manage
transportation needs was an assumed asset for SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to access educational services in order to
achieve educational success. Educational support centers, such as the Tutoring Center, Reading
Lab, and the Writing Right Center, provided the continuation of instruction for students before or
after class time and students made use of these support centers for supplemental instruction to
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 67

secure their course success (Glessner, 2015; Student Success Task Force, 2012). Research
showed that the amount of time a student spent studying was directly correlated to their success
and mastery of the subject, which was a result of open access to supplemental instruction (Crisp
& Delgado, 2014; Enstrom & Tinto, 2008; Tinto, 2008). Therefore, valuing the ability to know
how to access educational services in order to achieve educational success was an assumed asset
of SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to access a computer. In Brown’s (2015)
study of college students, it was suggested that all students should have access to a computer as
the focus of many courses called for technology and mobile-learning. However, low-income
students were unlikely to own a tablet, smartphone, or laptop (Brown, 2015). The familiarity of
how to check out a computer to borrow for the week or hour was absolutely necessary to pass
their courses, according to the single parent students in the McLaughlin and Randolph (2012)
study. Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to access a computer was an assumed asset of
SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to monitor their needs and recognize when they need
help. Bembenutty (2009) noted that even though students were failing their course, because the
instructor did not collect homework, the students did not complete it. The researcher
hypothesized that the students lacked motivation to spend their time on assignments that would
not be collected as they would not earn credit for their work (Bembenutty, 2009). In this
situation, the students would have succeeded if they self-diagnose their need for help and acted
on it (Bembenutty, 2009). To avoid future failure, researchers explained that to monitor and
guide their own thoughts and behaviors, students must learn clear, correct instructional methods
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 68

(Bembenutty, 2009, 2011; Dembo & Eaton, 2000). Therefore, valuing the ability to know how to
monitor their needs and recognize when they need help was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to reflect on the impact of and control their social and
physical environments as essential components of self-regulation. Students who were high-
level self-regulated approached their tasks very differently than less skilled, low-performing
students (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Kitsantas & Zimmerman, 2009) as they studied in an
environment that was disruptive to their focus and were either unaware that it distracted them or
were unable to change the environment (Bembenutty, 2009; Zimmerman, 2000). Conversely,
high-level self-regulated students approached their tasks purposefully and worked in an
environment where valued distractions were removed to allow complete concentration until their
task was satisfactorily finished (Bembenutty, 2011; Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004). Therefore,
valuing the ability to reflect on the impact of social and physical environments was an assumed
asset to SSP students.
SSP students believe that when they delay their gratification to focus on homework,
their grades rise in correlation. When college students completed required homework
assignments, studied for exams, or met with study groups, instead of gratified their social needs
with friends or technology, they maintained focus on their academics and succeed in their
courses (Bembenutty, 2009). The researcher prognosticated academic success based on if a
student’s priority was gratification of social needs through technology and friends or their studies
(Bembenutty, 2009; Zimmerman, 2000). Similarly, when students chose to delay their
gratification, their grades rose in correlation with the amount of hours they spent studying
(Bembenutty, 2009). Because delayed gratification was a factor to increased academic
achievement, students learned techniques to focus their energy on their studies and delayed their
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 69

gratification (Bembenutty, 2011). Therefore, the belief that when they delay their gratification,
their grades rise in correlation was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to understand that in order to be academically
successful, they need to actively maintain their motivation. Students who exhibited high-level
self-regulation maintained their motivation and kept their focus until their goal was met
(Bembenutty, 2009; Zimmerman, 1998, 2000, 2008). High-level self-regulated students exerted
the necessary amount of effort even when the subject of the course did not appeal or seemed
unimportant to succeed in a course and Bembenutty (2009) explained that the number of hours
they studied was correlated with their success in the course. Through their research, Zimmerman,
Bonner, and Kovach (1996) showed that to be successful academically, learners maintained their
motivation. Therefore, valuing the ability to understand the need to maintain motivation to be
academically successful was an assumed asset to SSP students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to assess their academic progress. They
know when they need help. In 2013, California taught Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in
elementary schools and, as a result, students achieved academic self-awareness (CASEL, 2013a,
2013b) and determined their academic development more completely (Dymnicki, Sambolt, &
Kidron, 2013). Students set their own academic goals and revisited them throughout the year to
assess their progress. If the students determined their progress was unsatisfactory, they were very
likely to ask for supplementary instruction to meet their self-appointed goal (CASEL, 2013a,
2013b). When students’ level of self-awareness was heightened, their decision making ability to
ask for help when it was necessary was also raised (Weissberg & Cascarino, 2013). Therefore,
valuing the ability to know how to assess their academic progress was an assumed asset to SSP
students.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 70

Table 3
Assumed Motivational Influences
Assumed Needs of Successful SSP Students General Literature
Motivation
SSP students value their ability to
assess and monitor their academic
success.

(Brookfield, 1995; Musolino,
2006; Roscoe, 2014).
SSP students value the effort they put
into their work which allows them
higher accomplishments.

(Pajares, 2006)

SSP students place high value on
persistence as they do not give up
when faced with challenges.

(Pajares, 2006)

SSP students are confident in their
ability to implement study strategy
interventions in order to raise their
level of self-efficacy.

(Schunk, 1991; Silver, Smith,
& Green, 2001)

SSP students value their ability to
create mental pictures of successful
scenarios in order to visualize their
success.

(Bandura, 1994; Stone, 2008;
Vick & Packard, 2008)

SSP students believe that engaging
with faculty will solidify instructional
help and encouragement.

(Heaney & Isreal, 2002; Huff
& Thorpe, 1997; McLaughlin
& Randolph, 2012; Pajares,
2006)

SSP students value the opportunity to
attend extracurricular events with
their children.

(Purcell, 2010)

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 71

SSP students value the ability to
absorb information at an expert level.

(Purcell, 2010)

SSP students believe in the
importance of their role as students
because they are single parents.

(Haleman, 2004; Rizer, 2005)

SSP students believe that engaging in
self-monitoring behavior and being
persistent when faced with a
challenge brings them closer to their
educational goal.

(Marklein, 2010; Pintrich,
2000; Vick & Packard, 2008)

SSP students value the ability to
know the institution’s academic
expectations of them.

(Holmstrom, Karp, & Gray,
2002; Kern, Fagley, & Miller,
1998)

SSP students value the ability to
know where to find assistance.
(Burgette & Magun-Jackson,
2009; Daddona & Cooper,
2002; Fidler & Godwin,
1994; Porter & Swing, 2006)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to set goals.

(Bruhn, McDaniel, Fernando,
& Troughton, 2016;
Duckworth, 2015; Farrington,
Roderick, Allensworth,
Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson, &
Beechum, 2012; Heckman,
2008; Rowe, Mazzotti,
Ingram, & Lee, 2017)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to create and implement
an educational plan to achieve their
goals.

(Eccles, Vida, & Barber,
2004; Gysbers & Henderson,
2012; Lapan, Whitcomb, &
Aleman, 2012)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to balance
work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their
health and the welfare of their family.

(Blair & Diamond, 2008;
Blair & Razza 2007;
Buckner, Mezzacappa, &
Beardslee, 2009; Crossley &
Buckner, 2012; Karoly, 1993;
NRCIM, 2000; Obradovic ´
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 72

2010; Vohs & Ciarocco,
2004)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to manage childcare
needs.

(Eckerson, Talbourdet,
Reichlin, Sykes, Noll, Gault,
2016; Gault, Reichlin,
Reynolds, & Froehner, 2014;
Huff & Thorpe, 1997; Lovell,
2014; McLaughlin &
Randolph, 2012)

SSP students value the ability to
know the necessary study skills; they
value the ability to know how to
study.

(Dembo & Eaton, 2000;
Student Success Task Force,
2012; Zimmerman, 1989;
Zimmerman, Bonner, &
Kovach, 1996)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to manage their financial
obligations and where to find
financial support services in order to
achieve educational success.

(Goldrick-Rab, & Sorensen,
2010; Huff & Thorpe, 1997;
Institute for Women’s Policy
Research, 2012; Lovell,
2014; Miller, Gault, &
Thorman, 2011-2012; Sykes,
Reichlin, & Gault, 2016)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to manage stress.

(Gerrard & Roberts, 2006)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to manage mental health
needs.

(Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, &
Klebanov, 1994; Gerrard &
Roberts, 2006; Shaw, Krause,
(Chatters, Connell, &
Ingersoll-Dayton, 2004;
Wickrama, Lorenze, &
Conger, 1997)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to access mental health
support and services.

(Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen,
2010; Shenoy, Lee, & Trieu,
2016)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to manage their
transportation needs.

(Alija, 2013; Halpern, 2007;
McLaughlin & Randolph,
2012)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to access educational
(Crisp & Delgado, 2014;
Enstrom & Tinto, 2008;
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 73

services in order to achieve
educational success.

Glessner, 2015; Student
Success Task Force, 2012;
Tinto, 2008)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to access a computer.

(Brown, 2015; McLaughlin &
Randolph, 2012)

SSP students value the ability to
monitor their needs and recognize
when they need help.

(Bembenutty, 2009; 2011;
Dembo & Eaton, 2000)

SSP students value the ability to
reflect on the impact of and control
their social and physical
environments as essential
components of self-regulation.

(Bembenutty, 2009; 2011;
Cleary & Zimmerman, 2004;
Dembo & Eaton, 2000;
Kitsantas & Zimmerman,
2009; Zimmerman, 2000)

SSP students believe that when they
delay their gratification to focus on
homework, their grades rise in
correlation.

(Bembenutty, 2009; 2011,
Zimmerman, 2000)

SSP students value the ability to
understand that in order to be
academically successful, they need to
actively maintain their motivation.

(Bembenutty, 2009;
Zimmerman, 1998, 2000,
2008; Zimmerman, Bonner,
& Kovach, 1996)

SSP students value the ability to
know how to assess their academic
progress. They know when they need
help.

(CASEL, 2013a, 2013b;
Dymnicki, Sambolt &
Kidron, 2013; Weissberg &
Cascarino, 2013)

Organizational Influences
The next section focused on the organizational factors that affected the SSP students.
First, a general discussion of organizational theory was presented. Then, information regarding
the SSP program and students was provided with the specific organizational influences and
corresponding theories. One important factor for student success was the feeling of belonging in
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 74

the college culture and the sense of value that a student felt. Also, resources that were necessary
for persistence, such as tutoring, should be attainable for all students who need it. Along that
line, the practices of the institution focused on creating policies that alleviated barriers to student
parent success. As success was the central point of enrollment, the organization provided
services that supported and promoted student success and general wellbeing. The next section
will present general organizational theory.
General Theory. Clark and Estes (2008) identified potential organizational gaps through
the way that an organization structured and aligned its work processes and resources, as well as
the culture of the organization. The researchers explained that when a system of many individual
processes interact, they created a system that was responsible for the way that an organization
produced their product. They explained that if one of the individual systems was askew or
deficient, the organization could experience inefficiency or even failure. Clark and Estes
identified the way the organization was run, business was conducted, and the amount of supplies,
other resources and how they are used as potential causes of an organizational gap in
performance. Another aspect that Clark and Estes explored was the idea of organizational
culture. They showed that the culture of an organization could be included as an individual
system within the larger organization as it was an unconscious presentation of the collective
organizational values. When all of the individual systems worked together and were aligned, the
result was organizational success.
The culture of an organization was what Schein (2010) honed in on. The researcher
showed that an organization’s culture was an unspoken, yet strong and powerful, entity. If a
leader understood how it worked, Schein explained, the leader was ability to understand the
behavior of others within their organization, which lead to improvement. Evidence of culture
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 75

was found in various aspects of the organization. Culture and climate was experienced through
the way people behaved within the organization and how they interacted with one another.
Another sign was the group’s formal philosophy and their implicit rules. Their traditions and the
way they celebrated one another’s milestones and accomplishments provided further evidence of
culture. In addition, Schein showed that there were subcultures that shared outlooks based on
their context within an organization. Furthermore, when those subcultures interacted they
became a macro culture that was part of the complete organizational context. Schein explained a
focused culture was the basis of any organizational change process.
Cultural models and cultural settings were Gallimore and Goldenberg’s (2001) key to the
way educators understood and improved education and achievement. Their explanation of a
cultural model was the blue print of the way that the world worked in the form of shared
understanding. The researchers explained cultural setting was the way that two or more people
interacted, given the situation. The belief that culture existed in the setting, or the way that
people interacted was what the researchers believed improved student learning and achievement.
They explained that when students felt comfortable in their own familiar setting, they practiced
and internalized what was presented. In addition, Gallimore and Goldenberg (2001) found that
engagement increased if the interaction included the language their pupils felt most comfortable
speaking. The interconnection between cultural models and settings explained individual
variation in performance due to culture. The researchers showed that the model and setting were
both examined to determine the correct intervention for each individual person.
Stakeholder Specific Influences
SSP program and students. The SSP program was a subdivision of Inland College, a
community college in California. The SSP program provided assistance to single parents who
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 76

were currently receiving government aid and had at least one dependent child under the age of
14.
Most of the parents in the program struggled with addiction and were victims of abuse
(IC). Also, most of these students were the first in their family to attend college and did not have
any familial support for the care of their children while they attended school or for homework
completion (IC). Because they had very low socioeconomic status and lacked mental backing,
the SSP students required additional support. Several of the SSP students had consistent issues
with safe, stable housing (IC). Given their circumstances, the SSP program students needed
supportive encouragement and personal reinforcement.
Support for program participants came in the form of school supplies (backpack,
highlighter, voice recorder, pen, pencil, Scantron, paper) as well as emotional guidance.
Workshops that were intended to strengthen and cultivate independent students were offered
once each month to learn about financial management, suicide prevention, child behavior
strategies, grocery shopping tips, free or low cost food resources, scholarship writing, and other
pertinent topics. The students also received one-on-one educational counseling to keep them on
track with their courses so they graduated and transferred to a university on schedule. Individual
tutoring was also provided to aid in their graduation endeavor. To assist their navigation and
inspiration of the transfer experience, SSP offered parents in the program the chance to attend
tours of universities that offered family housing.
Assumed organizational influences.
The SSP program creates an environment of acceptance, inclusion, and belonging.
One factor that influenced the success of the SSP students was their sense of belonging and the
feeling that they were valued when they were on campus (Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo, 1996).
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 77

Clark and Estes (2008) explained that the bulk of the culture of an organization existed
subconsciously and therefore was not apparent, so it was imperative that the culture of an
organization helped students feel as if they belonged and were accepted. When a student felt
accepted as part of an organization, Berbary and Malinchak (2011) explained that the student’s
capacity to learn increased. Therefore, feeling accepted was an assumed asset to SSP students.
The SSP program offers students the ability to engage in interpersonal relationships
with other SSP students. When student value was communicated to fellow students through
interpersonal relationships, Berbary and Malinchak (2011) explained that students were more
engaged, focused, productive, and their capability to learn increased. Strategic Direction (2015)
showed that when a student created a relationship with another student with similar personal
circumstances, those students reported a sustained, strong connection twelve months later.
Students who were able to personally connect with another student were more likely to retain
college enrollment because they had an educational partner to depend on (Schwandt &
Marquardt, 2000). Therefore, interpersonal relationships with fellow students was an assumed
asset of SSP students.
The SSP program has procedures in place to increase the sense of worth and
importance of the SSP students by making individual connections with students to meet their
educational needs as well as being personally meaningful. Because any person who was a
representative of the college could deeply affect and influence students, either positively or
negatively, Strategic Direction (2015) suggested that programs, such as the SSP program, had a
responsibility to ensure and increase the sense of worth and importance of students. By having a
plan in place, programs made each connection with students individualized to meet their
educational needs and were personally meaningful to them (Strategic Direction, 2015) which
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 78

increased their sense of worth. The students were presented with the opportunity to make
individual connections with other students in an effort to turn provided information into usable
knowledge so they could use it to their advantage and further their education (Schwandt &
Marquardt, 2000). Therefore, having procedures to increase the sense of worth and importance
was an assumed asset to SSP students.
The SSP program has a process in place to receive feedback from the students to
maintain a valuable program experience. Feedback was central to developing and maintaining a
quality student program (Carless, Salter, Yang, & Lam, 2011; Hattie & Timperley, 2007;
Hounsell, 2003). The student point of view was immeasurably important as they
reconceptualized program processes (Burke, 2009) and information transmission (Nicol &
Milligan, 2006). Weaver (2006) held that written comments, focus groups, emailed surveys, and
in-person conversations were the most effective forms of collecting feedback from students.
Hounsell (2007) touted the positive effect of sustainable feedback on students as it provided
students with a sense of distinction because the program encouraged them to provide their ideas
and opinions, it raised the status of a being a student, and students witnessed their feedback put
into action. Feedback in multiple stages was at the center of Gibbs’ (2006) research that showed
it was the most informative when it was spread throughout a semester rather than provided only
at the end. Boud (2000) showed that sustainable feedback collection supported a program and
provide lifelong learning opportunities to its participants. Therefore, having a student feedback
process in place was an assumed asset to SSP students.
The SSP program has the resources to provide affordable, accessible, safe child care so
the SSP students can focus on academic success. For student parents, child care had to be
affordable and easily accessible. Colleges recognized that in order to succeed, be effective
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 79

students, and be confident in their abilities, student parents must know that their children were
cared for in a safe environment (Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo, 1996). As Clark and Estes (2008)
explained, those who had the power to create the availability of resources often came from very
different backgrounds than those who needed and used the resources. Therefore, affordable,
accessible, safe child care was an assumed asset to SSP students.
The SSP program has procedures in place that enable it to expect and plan for growth
and change. Senge (1990) indicated that organizations that endured and stayed relevant to the
changing needs of society created a system that expected and planned for growth and change. It
was imperative that organizations grew and adjusted their resources and offerings to stay abreast
of fast-paced change (Senge, 1990). Clark and Estes (2008) added detail and noted that
organizations needed to be flexible and adaptable to be sure that they provided students with the
resources that they needed to flourish and succeed. One way colleges stayed relevant and
remained current as they researched student needs and then experimented with offerings, which
created opportunities for the colleges (Senge, 1990). Student motivation had to be the priority of
all organizations that worked with schools (Belsky, 2012; Clark & Estes, 2008). As an example
of students’ motivation, students were more focused on their studies when they knew there was a
campus drop-in child care center for children in case their child care were unavailable (Strategic
Direction, 2015). As engagement was connected to the cognitive mind, the students were sure to
be more dedicated to their studies and successful in their courses when they knew that their
children were in a safe space that was available to them when they needed it (Strategic Direction,
2015). Therefore, organizational program procedures that allow for growth and change were an
assumed asset to SSP students.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 80

The SSP program ensures that Inland College considers the needs of SSP students
when policies and procedures are created and/or amended. In order to support the students of
the SSP program at Inland College, the institutional practices mitigated any policies that possibly
interfered with their success. Schneider, Brief, and Guzzo (1996) asserted that those who were
touched by any changes were involved from the planning phase all the way to the achievement of
the change. In addition, the researchers posited that the point of view and concerns of those who
were affected were respected and taken into consideration (Schneider Brief, & Guzzo, 1996).
Unfortunately, the inclusion of SSP students in any stage of a change did not happen as the
culture of the organization was not inclusive or wholeheartedly supportive of the SSP students
and their circumstances. Along this line, the changes that were made, as well as policies and
procedures, created and carried out must united with the culture of the organization, (Clark &
Estes, 2008) but the culture at Inland College did not yet consider or act upon the requisite needs
of the many parents on campus. One institutional practice that was useful for the inclusion of
single parent students’ needs was to execute a planned model for change. Therefore, the
consideration of SSP student needs into organizational policies and procedures was an assumed
asset to SSP students.
SSP student success and wellbeing services.
The SSP program ensures that SSP students are supported with intellectual tutoring.
As a respected place of higher education, Inland College provided services that supported student
success. As a foundation for achievement, single parent students needed to be supported with
non-financial encouragement (Reilly, 2004) by way of intellectual support. The college did
provide one location on campus where students went to receive help with coursework, but the
SSP program outdid the College’s service. The SSP program employed specific tutors
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 81

exclusively for their students. This created a familiarity between the students and their tutors
which meant they were more likely to return to ask for help and in turn, had a higher probability
of course success. Reilly (2004) showed that non-financial rewards, such as educational
assistance with course material that boosted student achievement levels, was more encouraging
and of the utmost importance to students. Given that single parent students overcame many
obstacles to just to attend class, they were, clearly, intrinsically motivated to succeed; having
reliable and consistent help sustained that motivation (Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo, 1996).
Therefore, intellectual tutoring support was an assumed asset to SSP students.
The SSP program has an effective communication process to ensure that SSP students,
as whole people, are taken into account and programs and services are created to serve them.
Burke (2009) explained that speaking with students about their lives was irreplaceable as were
the only individual who could recount their experiences. Because life changed throughout the
semester, it was imperative that information was collected multiple times not only once at the
beginning of the semester or twice at the beginning and end (Gibbs 2006). Once comprehensive
information was collected and analyzed, students could be viewed as complete people, instead of
only students, without taking the responsibilities they had into account outside of school (Senge,
1990). Then, a shared vision of student service was created (Senge, 1990). Therefore, an
effective communication process to ensure that SSP students as whole people, were being taken
into account and programs and services were created to serve them was an assumed asset to SSP
students.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 82

Table 4

Assumed Organizational Influences

Assumed Needs of Successful SSP Students General Literature
Organization

The SSP program creates an
environment of acceptance,
inclusion, and belonging.

(Berbary & Malinchak, 2011;
Clark & Estes, 2008;
Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo,
1996)
The SSP program offers students
the ability to engage in
interpersonal relationships with
other SSP students.

(Berbary & Malinchak, 2011;
Schwandt & Marquardt,
2000; Strategic Direction,
2015)

The SSP program has procedures
in place to increase the sense of
worth and importance of the SSP
students by making individual
connections with students to meet
their educational needs as well as
being personally meaningful.

(Schwandt & Marquardt,
2000; Strategic Direction,
2015)

The SSP program has a process in
place to receive feedback from the
students to maintain a valuable
program experience.

(Boud, 2000; Burke 2009;
Carless, Salter, Yang, &
Lam, 2011; Gibbs, 2006;
Hattie & Timperley, 2007;
Hounsell, 2003; 2007; Nicol
& Milligan, 2006; Weaver,
2006)

The SSP program has the
resources to provide affordable,
accessible, safe child care so the
SSP students can focus on
academic success.

(Clark & Estes, 2008;
Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo,
1996)

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 83

The SSP program has procedures
in place that enable it to expect
and plan for growth and change.

(Belsky, 2012; Clark & Estes,
2008; Senge, 1990; Strategic
Direction, 2015)

The SSP program ensures that
Inland College considers the
needs of SSP students when
policies and procedures are
created and/or amended.

(Clark & Estes, 2008;
Schneider Brief, & Guzzo,
1996; Strategic Direction,
2015)

The SSP program ensures that
SSP students are supported with
intellectual tutoring.

(Reilly, 2004; Schneider,
Brief, & Guzzo, 1996)

The SSP program has an effective
communication process to ensure
that SSP students, as whole
people, are taken into account and
programs and services are created
to serve them.
(Burke 2009; Gibbs, 2006;
Senge, 1990)

Conclusion
The literature review explored general theory on possible knowledge, motivation, and
organizational factors that affected the performance of the SSP students and hindered their
ability to reach their performance goal of executing 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at
least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018. The process of validating these factors was described in
Chapter 3.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 84

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the Project and Questions
The goal of this research was to evaluate the degree to which SSP achieved its goal of
100% of SSP students completing transfer, graduation, or certification. Elements that were
related to the students’ knowledge, motivation and organizational factors in relation to achieving
their performance goal were be the focus of this analysis. Because the SSP students provided the
most useful data regarding the SSP program’s global goal, they were the focus of this research.
Accordingly, the questions that guided this study were the following:
1. To what extent are SSP students meeting their goal of executing 100% of the strategies
they need to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements related to their
achieving this goal?
3. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Conceptual and Methodological Framework
Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework, a way to determine connections
between performance gaps between the actual performance level of SSP students and the
preferred performance level within the organization, were implemented as the conceptual
framework. This project employed mixed methods data gathering and analysis. The
stakeholder’s performance was assessed by using a survey, interviews, literature review, and
content analysis and the results and findings will be discussed in Chapter 4. Research-based
solutions will be recommended and evaluated in a comprehensive manner in Chapter 5.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 85

Clark and Estes (2008) sought to identify gaps between the actual performance and the
desired performance for organizational and stakeholder goals through a methodical, analytical
framework. They theorized that a gap in one or more of the areas of a stakeholder’s knowledge
and skills, motivation, and organizational factors could account for the difference between the
expected performance and the actual performance (Clark & Estes, 2008). Clark and Estes (2008)
explained that testing if people knew how to answer the “how, when, what, why, where, and
who” (p. 44) questions regarding their performance goal, then they were demonstrating their
knowledge and skills. The evidence of knowledge and skills was often quite obvious, but
evidence of motivation was more difficult to determine (Clark & Estes, 2008). Motivation, as
explained by Clark and Estes (2008) involved three decisions. The first was making a conscious
choice to meet a goal. The second decision was the choice to not give up until the goal was met.
The third choice was deciding to exert the necessary mental effort to meet the goal. As the
researchers determined, evidence of decision making and the behavior that resulted was more
complex, even more so than identifying organizational factors (Clark & Estes, 2008). Processes,
procedures, resources, and facilities were all examples of organizational factors that can keep the
stakeholder from performing at their best (Clark & Estes, 2008). Although these three categories
had unique qualities, they worked interactively and all were vital to the optimum performance of
a stakeholder (Clark & Estes, 2008). The researchers theorized that once the divergence in
performance was identified and examined, the process of performance improvement could begin
(Clark & Estes, 2008). In the following literature review, the knowledge and skills, motivation,
and organizational influences of SSP students will be analyzed by systematically applying Clark
and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis framework. Each of these three categories will be considered
separately in an effort to analyze any gaps in the desired performance goal of 70% of SSP
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 86

students executing 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May
2018.

Figure 1: SSP Conceptual Framework. This figure shows how Knowledge, Motivation, and the
SSP program all contribute to the SSP students meeting their goal.

As interpreted in Figure 1, the knowledge and motivation of the SSP students was
paramount to the way that the SSP program served their students in order to meet the stakeholder
SSP Program
Cultural Models
Cultural Settings
SSP Student
Knowledge
Procedural
Metacognitive
SSP Student
Motivation
Goal Orientation
Self-Efficacy

By May 2018, 70% of SSP students will execute 100% of the
strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 87

goal. It was essential that SSP students had the know-how to navigate (Goldrick-Rab &
Sorensen, 2010) their way to the SSP office in order to begin the lengthy process of acceptance
into the program. To provide assistance with this endeavor, the SSP office arranged for clear
signage across the campus for ease of direction, which exhibited the cultural model of offering
students what Schneider, Brief, and Guzzo (1996) explained as the feeling of belonging on
campus. Eligible students were often highly motivated to join the SSP program as there were
many perks such as priority course registration, food vouchers for the café on campus, textbook
vouchers, free clothing, improvement seminars, and fellow SSP students provided valuable
information (Berbary & Malinchak, 2011) regarding free or reduced goods and services.
The SSP program strove to provide affordable and accessible resources to their students
(Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001), a critical cultural model. As an example of their dedication to
students, the SSP program sponsored a workshop presented by the state of California to provide
information and free resources regarding suicide prevention because children raised in a single
parent home were twice as likely to attempt suicide (Kirchheimer, 2003). Workshops such as this
helped students become introspective as well as cognizant of their need for additional support
services such as counseling, which were not offered by the SSP program.
For students who were not part of the SSP program at Inland College, an appointment
with an educational counselor needed to be scheduled well in advance. However, as a solid
cultural setting and strong support for student success and well-being, contact with SSP
counselors was readily available and, in fact, required to retain membership in the program. This
was one example of a cultural setting, or institutional practice, which was designed to promote
self-efficacy in the SSP students. The counselor and the student met to create a success plan for
completing assignments as well as a daily schedule (Zimmerman, 1998, 2000, 2008;
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 88

Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 1996). When a student was encouraged by the counseling
faculty, their confidence in their ability to meet the stakeholder goal (Pajares, 2006) of executing
100% of strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA rose. Once the students’ self-efficacy
increased, their goal orientation surged. They no longer wanted to learn the material just to pass
their courses, they wanted to master each topic (Yough & Anderman, 2006). Their motivation
was the driving force for their success.
Assessment of Performance Influences
In Chapter 2, the assumed influences that positively impacted SSP students revolved
around the way they managed their academic needs and their personal responsibilities. A survey
and in-person interview were used to assess those assumed influences and determined if they
positively impacted SSP students.
Knowledge Assessment
Table 5 displays the twenty-two assumed knowledge influences that the literature
revealed. Three of these items represented factual knowledge and the assumed influences were
assessed with an in-person interview. The Researcher chose to interview to assess factual
knowledge rather than survey because the data was useful. While they were interviewed,
participants provided an answer with an explanation whereas if they were surveyed, they would
have provided a rating without any explanation. The participants provided clear information
regarding their major, education plan, and how to navigate Inland College as the Researcher
examined their recall.
There was one assumed influence regarding conceptual knowledge. This item was
assessed with an in-person interview. It was very difficult to gain an understanding of a
participant’s conceptual knowledge with a survey as the Researcher had to determine if the
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 89

participant understood the connection between three variables. The three variables were (a)
accessing educational services, (b) that those services can help a student be academically
stronger, and that, (c) as a result, they could be educationally successful. To assess this assumed
influence each participant was asked to connect the idea of tutor services to their academic
success.
Fourteen items represented procedural knowledge assumed influences. Nine of the items
were assessed through an in-person interview. The research showed an assumed influence that
was not included in the SSP program, a customized course. Therefore, this one item was not
included in the survey or interview as the participants would have no knowledge of it. Data for
the four remaining items was not collected. Nine of the assumed influences were addressed with
open-ended interview questions that allowed the participants to provide in-depth, rich data
regarding their constant struggles and creative strategies to survive them. These interview
questions were asked in a concerted effort to truly understand their daily routines and their past
affliction that they all worked intensely to overcome.
Four metacognitive assumed influences focused on self-reflection and understanding of
their own behavior. All of these assumed influences were assessed through an in-person
interview. The questions focused on asking the participants to reflect on their behavior and
thoughts. The Researcher provided the participants with a scenario and asked them to reflect on
how they would behavior in such a situation. In another question, the participants were asked to
provide the behavior and the scenario and the Researcher provided the reflection. All of these
questions focused on the knowledge of the participants’ own behavior and self-reflection.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 90

Table 5
Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed Knowledge Influencers
Assumed Knowledge Influence Assessment/Validation Strategies
Factual

SSP students need to know their
educational goals.

Interview: What is your major?
Interview: Have you met with a counselor
to create an education plan to reach your
educational goals?

SSP students need to know the
institution’s academic expectations of
them.

No data was collected for this influence.

SSP students need to know where to
find assistance.

Interview: If you wanted to find out if a
class you have taken transfers to a
university, where would you go on
campus for direction?

Conceptual

SSP students understand that
accessing educational services can
help strengthen academic skills in
order to achieve educational success.

Interview: Please tell me about a time
when you felt underprepared for a course.
Perhaps you didn’t understand it or were
worried that you would not do well. What
did you do? Have you ever sought out a
tutor? If no, Would you ever seek out a
tutor? why/why not

Procedural

SSP students need to know how to set
goals.

No data was collected for this influence.

SSP students know how to create and
implement an educational plan to
achieve their goals.

No data was collected for this influence.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 91

SSP students know how to balance
work/life/student demands to maintain
academic success for their health and
the welfare of their family.

Interview: How do you do it? What do
you do to attempt to maintain a balance
between work, family, and go to school?
How well is that working?

SSP students know how to manage
childcare needs.

Interview: Who watches your child/ren
when you study or do homework? Do you
have a back-up person/plan?
Interview: What about child care,
finances, transportation?

SSP students know the necessary
study skills; they know how to study.

No data was collected for this influence.

SSP students know how to manage
their financial obligations and where
to find financial support services in
order to achieve educational success.

Interview: What about child care,
finances, transportation?

SSP students know how to manage
stress.

Interview: How do you manage stress?

SSP students know how to manage
mental health needs.

Interview: How do you know when you
are about to lose it? What signs do you see
in yourself? How do you handle yourself
when you are about to lose it?

SSP students know how to access
mental health support and services.

Interview: Have you ever seen a therapist?
Interview: If the SSP program were to
offer mental health services, would you
make use of them? Why/why not?

SSP students know how to manage
their transportation needs.

Interview: What about child care,
finances, transportation?

SSP students know how to access
educational services in order to
achieve educational success.

Interview: Please tell me about a time
when you felt underprepared for a course.
Perhaps you didn’t understand it or were
worried that you would not do well. What
did you do? Have you ever sought out a
tutor? If no, Would you ever seek out a
tutor? Why/Why not?

SSP students know how to access a
computer.

No data was collected for this influence.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 92

SSP students know how to register for
customized courses in order to avoid
extraneous learning.

No data was collected for this influence.

SSP students are able to monitor their
needs and recognize when they need
help.

Interview: How do you know when you
are about to lose it? What signs do you see
in yourself? How do you handle yourself
when you about to lose it?

Metacognitive

SSP students reflect on the impact of
and control their social and physical
environments as essential components
of self-regulation.

Interview: Describe the best time and
place for you to focus on your school
work.

SSP students understand that when
they delay their gratification to focus
on homework, their grades rise in
correlation.

Interview: How do you handle peer
pressure? For example, if you have an
important test to study for and your
friends ask you to go out, how do you deal
with that?

SSP students understand that in order
to be academically successful, they
need to actively maintain their
motivation.

Interview: What makes you want to stay
in school?

SSP students know how to assess their
academic progress. They know when
they need help.
Interview: How are you doing in your
classes? How do you know you are doing
well or not doing well?

Motivation Assessment
The research revealed twenty-nine motivational assumed influences as shown in Table 6.
All twenty-nine of the assumed influences fell into the goal orientation category. Eleven of the
assumed influences were assessed through fifteen survey items on an Importance scale of 1 “Not
important” to 7 “Very important.” There were five follow-up interview questions that focused on
the participants’ academic strategies before they went to school and while they were in class and
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 93

on campus. In addition, the remaining eighteen assumed influences were assessed through survey
items on a Confidence scale of 1 “Not confident at all” to 7 “Completely confident”. These items
focused on the participants’ value or belief in their ability to accomplish each strategy. Also
included in the motivation section was a list of six items that the participants were asked to rank
in order of most to least important. These items were included so the students’ personal priorities
could be determined.

Table 6
Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed Motivational Influencers
Assumed Motivational Influence
Goal Orientation
Validation/Assessment Strategies
SSP students value their ability to
assess and monitor their academic
success.

SurveyQ7e: Keep track of how I am d in
school
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important
Interview: How are you doing in your
classes? How do you know you are doing
well or not doing well?

SSP students value the effort they put
into their work which allows them
higher accomplishments.

SurveyQ8e: See the effort I put into my
work reflected in my grades
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important
SurveyQ12f: Earning good grades in
school
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important

SSP students place value high on
persistence as they do not give up
when faced with challenges.

SurveyQ12c: Working to overcome all
personal and educational challenges
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important
Interview: What is the last challenge you
faced? How did you deal with it?
Did it affect your education/classes?
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 94

SSP students are confident in their
ability to implement study strategy
interventions in order to raise their
level of self-efficacy.

Survey Q8a: Concentrate on school
subjects during class
Survey Q8b: Take good notes during class
instruction
Survey Q7b: Plan my schedule for the
week
Survey Q7a: Organize my schoolwork
Survey Q7c: Remember information
presented in class and textbooks
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important

SSP students value their ability to
create mental pictures of successful
scenarios in order to visualize their
success.

SurveyQ7f: Visualize myself after
graduation as successful
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important

SSP students believe that engaging
with faculty will solidify instructional
help and encouragement.

SurveyQ8d: Meet and talk with my
professors outside of class time
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important
Interview: Please tell me about the
experiences you have had with your
teachers here at this school. How useful is
it to meet with a professor outside of
class?

SSP students value the opportunity to
attend extracurricular events with their
children.

SurveyQ9a: Attend extracurricular events
with my family
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important

SSP students value the ability to
absorb information at an expert level.

SurveyQ8c: Learn the most I can from
each class
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important

SSP students believe in the
importance of their role as students
because they are single parents.
SurveyQ9b: Play an important role in my
family.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 95

SurveyQ9c: Be a positive role model for
my children
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important
SurveyQ12d: Being a positive role model
for my family
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important
Interview: Please tell me about the role
you play in your family. What does the
rest of your family think about you being
in school? Your kids? Your parents?
Interview: 100% of the people who took
the survey at the meeting in September
felt that it was very important to be a
positive role model for their children.
Every single person felt the same way.
Why do you think that feeling was so
strong among the group?

SSP students believe that engaging in
self-monitoring behavior and being
persistent when faced with a challenge
brings them closer to their educational
goal.

SurveyQ12b:Reaching my educational
goal
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important
Interview: What is the last challenge you
faced? How did you deal with it?
Did it affect your education/classes?

SSP students value the ability to know
the institution’s academic expectations
of them.

SurveyQ7d:To feel academically prepared
for classes
Importance Scale: 1-Not important; 7-
Very important

SSP students value the ability to know
where to find assistance.

SurveyQ10l:Find help with my school
work
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to set goals.

SurveyQ10b:Set goals for myself
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to create and implement an
educational plan to achieve their
goals.
SurveyQ10a:Create and carry out my
educational plan
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident
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SSP students value the ability to know
how to balance work/life/student
demands to maintain academic
success for their health and the
welfare of their family.

SurveyQ10d:Balance all of my
responsibilities
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident
SurveyQ12e,:Balancing all of my
responsibilities
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important

SSP students value the ability to know
how to manage child care needs.

SurveyQ10e:Manage my child care needs
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
the necessary study skills; they value
the ability to know how to study.

SurveyQ10f:Make myself study even
when I don’t want to
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to manage their financial
obligations and where to find financial
support services in order to achieve
educational success.
SurveyQ10g:Manage all of my financial
responsibilities
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to manage stress.

SurveyQ10h:Manage my stress
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to manage mental health needs.

SurveyQ10i:Manage my mental health
needs
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident
SurveyQ12a:Maintaining my physical and
emotional health
Rank: 1-Least important; 6-Most
important

SSP students value the ability to know
how to access mental health support
and services.

SurveyQ10j:Access mental health support
and services
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to manage their transportation
needs.

SurveyQ10k:Manage my transportation
needs
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 97

SSP students value the ability to know
how to access educational services in
order to achieve educational success.

SurveyQ10l:Find help with my school
work
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to access a computer.

SurveyQ10m:Access a computer
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to
monitor their needs and recognize
when they need help.

SurveyQ10o:Monitor my personal needs
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to
reflect on the impact of and control
their social and physical environments
as essential components of self-
regulation.

SurveyQ10q:Arrange a place to study
without distractions
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students believe that when they
delay their gratification to focus on
homework, their grades rise in
correlation.

SurveyQ10p:Get myself to study when
there are more interesting things to do
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to
understand that in order to be
academically successful, they need to
actively maintain their motivation.

SurveyQ10c:Stay motivated to reach
goals
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

SSP students value the ability to know
how to assess their academic progress.
They know when they need help.
SurveyQ10n:Monitor my academic needs
Confidence Scale: 1-Not confident at all;
7-Completely confident

Organization Assessment
The research revealed nine assumed organizational influences as shown in Table 7. Two
were cultural models and seven were cultural settings. All nine assumed influences were
assessed through survey items and five included follow-up in-person interview questions. The
survey items were rated on an Agreement scale of 1 “Strongly Disagree” to 7 “Strongly Agree”.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 98

The follow-up questions focused on the participants’ impression of the SSP program and their
ideas of additional services, workshops, and programs that would help support single parents be
successful through college.
Table 7
Summary of Strategies for Validating/Assessing the Assumed Organizational Influencers
Assumed Organizational Influencers Validation/Assessment Strategies
Cultural Model

The SSP program creates an
environment of acceptance, inclusion,
and belonging.

SurveyQ11a: The SSP program makes me
feel welcome.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree
Interview: Where, on campus, if
anywhere, do you feel like you most
belong? Why?

The SSP program has the resources to
provide affordable, accessible, safe
child care so the SSP students can
focus on academic success.

SurveyQ11e: The SSP program should
provide child care so I can focus on
school. Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly
Disagree; 7-Strongly Agree
Interview: What are services could the
SSP program provide that would allow
you to focus on school? How could they
help?

Cultural Setting

The SSP program offers students the
ability to engage in interpersonal
relationships with other SSP students.

SurveyQ11b: The SSP program gives me
an opportunity to become friends with
other SSP students.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree
Interview: Do you have friends on
campus? How did you meet?

The SSP program has procedures in
place to increase the sense of worth
and importance of the SSP students by
SurveyQ11c: The SSP program allows me
to make meaningful connections with
educational counselors.
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making individual connections with
students to meet their educational
needs as well as being personally
meaningful.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree
Interview: Please tell me about the
experiences you have had with the SSP
counselors.

The SSP program has a process in
place to receive feedback from the
students to maintain a valuable
program experience.

SurveyQ11d: If I were to give feedback to
the SSP program, it would be listened to.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree

The SSP program has procedures in
place that enable it to expect and plan
for growth and change.

No data was collected for this assumed
influence.

The SSP program ensures that Inland
College considers the needs of SSP
students when policies and procedures
are created and/or amended.

No data was collected for this assumed
influence.

The SSP program ensures that SSP
students are supported with
intellectual tutoring.

SurveyQ11f: The SSP program provides
helpful educational tutoring.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree

The SSP program has an effective
communication process to ensure that
SSP students, as whole people, are
taken into account and programs and
services are created to serve them.
SurveyQ11g: I believe the SSP program
takes my needs into account when
designing programs and services.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree
SurveyQ11h: I am satisfied with the
information I receive about the services
available through the SSP program.
Agreement Scale: 1-Strongly Disagree; 7-
Strongly Agree
Interview: What programs or services
would you create?

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 100

Participating Stakeholders
The gathering of data and analysis of the information and experiences of SSP students
was essential to understand their use of strategies for academic success. Only they could provide
the necessary input. By knowing more about the single parent student population’s behaviors and
needs, organizations could adapt their strategies to provide useful, supportive, and beneficial
services to help students succeed and reach their educational goals. No data had ever been
collected regarding how many SSP students utilized the various support services that were
offered, so 100% participation in the survey was an ideal number. However, given prior
knowledge and experience of actual student participation in the SSP program, the reality of
single parent student life, and the complex challenges that they faced just to come to school, 50%
participation in the survey was a realistic number.
Data Collection
Survey
Sampling. All 38 SSP students who attended the mandatory Orientation Workshop on
August 17, 2017 were willing to participate and were provided the survey. 38 students completed
the survey and submitted it. 36 participants were female and 2 were male. 7 participants were
new to SSP and 31 were returning.
Recruitment. The sampling strategy was census in order to gain the most information
from the students in the SSP program who attended the workshop. All 85 students in the program
were emailed, by the SSP Specialist, and told that their attendance at the Orientation Workshop
on August 17, 2017 was mandatory. However, the survey was not mentioned in the email. The
Researcher did not recruit participants for the survey. This survey was the first part of a mixed
methods research model.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 101

Instrumentation. The survey protocol was developed through researching the assumed
influences on the knowledge, motivation, and organizational factors of SSP students. In the first
section, there were six demographic questions that opened the protocol. They asked about
gender, age, number of children, age of the youngest child, if the student was new to the SSP
program, and where the student planned to sleep that night. The second section focused on
Academic Strategies. It provided an Importance rating scale (1-Not important; 7-Very important)
and asked the SSP students to rate how important they felt the 17 academic behaviors were. The
specific behavior categories were School Preparation (6 questions), During School (5 questions),
and Family (3 questions). The third section focused on Individual Strategies and provided a
Confidence scale (Bandura, 2006) to measure how confident (1-Not at all confident; 7-
Completely confident) the SSP students were that they could carry out the 17 behaviors that were
provided. The fourth section focused on the SSP program asked the students to rate their level of
agreement on an Agreement scale (1-Strongly disagree; 7-Strongly agree) regarding the nine
statements. These statements measured how satisfied the students were with the program. The
fifth section focused on Personal Priorities and asked participants to rank six priorities in order of
importance. In addition, two open ended solicitations, “Please add comments about being a
single parent student” and “Please add comments about the SSP program” were added to the
back of the survey. The pilot survey test took 7 minutes, without adding additional comments, to
complete. (See “Support for Single Parent Program Survey” in Appendix A)
Data collection process. After obtaining permission from University of Southern
California’s Institutional Review Board, (IRB) the survey was administered by the Researcher at
the Orientation Workshop to SSP students on August 18, 2017 approximately 45 minutes into
the workshop. The Researcher followed the protocol for the Administration of Surveys (See
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“Administration of Surveys” in Appendix B) and asked for questions of clarification but received
none. The Researcher stood at the front of the room in case there were questions on any of the
survey items and when the first participant finished completing the survey, the Researcher
directed them to a desk in the back of the room. As the students approached the desk, the
Researcher showed them how to insert their completed surveys into the one-way locked box.
Once the survey was inserted, each participant received a ticket to participant in the drawing to
possibly win a grocery store gift card. (See “Receipt of Surveys” in Appendix C).
Given the number of SSP attendees, it was highly unlikely that any of the information
requested on the survey could be used to identify any individual female student. Given that the
total male population in the SSP program is three, identification is more likely. However, every
effort to maintain anonymity was made. During the workshop, all submitted surveys were kept in
a one-way opening locked box and kept in sight of the Research. Also, as soon as the last survey
was collected, the Researcher took the locked box to a locked office and stored it in a locked
drawer.
Interview
Sampling. It was imperative to determine a representative subset of SSP students who
completed the survey to interview. Six students, who chose pseudonyms to be reported, were
interviewed by the Researcher.
Crystal Lewis was a female between the ages of 26-30. She had one daughter, age 2. She
was never married and had no partner. Her major was human services and she was pursuing six
Associates of Science degrees.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 103

Chiquita Belos was a female between the ages of 36-40. She had two sons, ages 5 and 15.
She was divorced and she had a supportive partner, who was the father of her youngest son. Her
major was nursing.
Delia Lopez was a female between the ages of 31-35. She had six children between the
ages of 8 and 17 years old. She was never married and had no partner. Her major was social
work.
Allison Gonzalez was a female between the ages of 23-25. She had one son, age 5. She
was never married and she had a supportive partner who was the father of her son. In addition,
Allison considered her partner’s two children, ages 7 and 8, her step-children. Her major was
child development.
Robert Rodriguez was a male between the ages of 36-40. He had four children between
the ages of 10 and 23. It was unknown if Robert was ever married. He had a supportive partner
who was also a single parent. His major was computer information technology and business.
Emilio Estrada was a male between the ages of 26-30. He had two children, ages 10 and
8. He was divorced and had no partner. His major was administration of justice.
Because thirty-eight SSP students completed the survey, it was important to ensure that
interview participants carried the various traits to required fit the needs of the study. While all of
the SSP students had at least one child, the ages of the youngest children in each family varied
greatly. A parent who was responsible for a two-month-old would behave differently than a
parent who was responsible for a twelve-year-old, so the age of the youngest child in the family
was an important factor. Another variable that had to be taken into account was the age range of
the SSP student. It was necessary to gauge how the younger students behaved when compared to
the older students. Accordingly, the SSP students had differing back stories that needed to be
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honored and accounted for when participants were selected to interview. Related to their past,
was the level of familial support they received. With at least one representative from each
category, reliable data was collected. Since all participants who were present at the Orientation
Workshop completed and submitted the survey, three of the attributes that they bring to make
this research meaningful will be identified and explained.
Attribute 1. age of youngest child. The age of the youngest child in each SSP family
varied greatly. Given that a single parent is responsible for their every aspect of their child’s
well-being, the age of the child determined their needs and greatly impacted the student’s entire
life including the manner in which a student studied and managed their time. When the child was
very young, they required more physical care. As children grew, they required less physical care
and more emotional care. In addition, many children also required medical, physical, and
psychological therapy. There was a wide spectrum of childhood needs and the requirements of a
child changed with their age.
Attribute 2. age of student. An area of great variance was the age range of SSP students.
It was critical that at least one representative from each age range be interviewed as the
experience that came with age was a factor. The younger students were not as confident as the
older students. The older students were less stressed than the younger students. The younger
students seemed to be less organized than the older students. This variable had an effect on the
research question, “To what extent are SSP students meeting their goal of 70% of SSP students
will execute 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018?”
Attribute 3. life experience. The life experiences that each single parent brought with
them diverged greatly. Many of the parents were recovering from addictions to drugs and
alcohol. Most were the target of multiple types of abuse from family members and friends. Some
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were affiliated with gang life. Some were active drug users. The SSP program, in general, knew
very little about the life experiences of their students. This was a wild card in the knowledge and
motivation of the SSP students, as well as the organizational practices of the SSP program.
Recruitment. Faith, the SSP Specialist, waited for students who attended the Orientation
Workshop to contact her to declare their interest in being interviewed. However, two weeks
passed and no student showed interest. Faith emailed the Researcher for direction. The
Researcher provided Faith with a list of preferred attributes (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016) and Faith
directly emailed students who fit the criteria and asked if they would like to be interviewed, their
Belmont Rights were included in all emails. Because the first few students declined to be
interviewed, the Researcher gained permission to award the students $35 for their interview time.
Then, the next six students who were emailed accepted Faith’s request for an interview.
The sampling strategy for the one-on-one interviews was purposeful in an effort to select
a representative sample of SSP students who completed the survey from the spectrum of
attributes to interview (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The interviews took place in the fall 2017
semester after the survey results were collected and interpreted so that meaningful research
questions were created.
The original number of participants was to range from 3-8 with more interviewees to be
added as needed until, according to Merriam & Tisdell (2016), the Researcher did not collect any
new data from the interviewees. The Researcher felt that there was no new information after
interviewing three females. Then, Robert was interviewed and he seemed to be an outlier so an
additional male interview was necessary. In addition, there was another female who was willing
to be interviewed, so her data was added as well. The result was valuable data.
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Instrumentation. The interview protocol was created to provide an opportunity for a
deeper understanding of the survey results. The open-ended questions and probes allowed the
participants the freedom to provide in-depth explanations of behavior, values, and difficulties. In
addition, the questions were created to triangulate the survey results. The “SSP Student Interview
Protocol” appears in the Appendix.
Data collection process. After obtaining permission from University of Southern
California’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), the Researcher and interviewees met at Inland
College at a time and day that was convenient for them. There were 18 questions and each
interview took an hour and a half to two hours to complete. All six participants consented to
allow the interview to be audio-recorded, transcribed, and the Researcher was permitted to take
notes during the interview. The Researcher took copious notes so no opportunity for data was
missed. The Researcher asked probing questions and asked for clarification when necessary.
Given the sensitive nature of some questions, the Researcher felt compelled to share their
personal story with some participants who had difficulty speaking of their past experiences. The
Researcher found that participants felt more comfortable after than before the Researcher shared
and were willing to speak of their own past when they realized that the Researcher had a
comparable story to theirs. The last question the Researcher asked was, “Do you have any
questions for me?” At the conclusion of the interview, the Researcher thanked each participant
and gave them an envelope that contained $35 for their time.
Data Analysis
Quantitative data was collected first. In order to analyze the nominal demographic data,
which included gender, first semester in SSP, and where they planned to sleep that night,
frequency and mode were measured. The ratio demographic information, which included age of
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student, how many children they had, and the age of their youngest child were measured using
the measures of central tendency and standard deviation. The Likert scale items were measured
by mean and standard deviation. In addition, the top three figures were added to determine if the
gap in knowledge, motivation, or organizational structure was validated or not.
The qualitative data was collected after the quantitative data was analyzed so the
Researcher could conduct member checks with the interview participants to validate the results
of the survey. While the interview was being conducted the researcher took copious notes and
was sure to ask clear follow-up questions. Also, the Researcher did not hesitate to check her
understanding of the participant’s response to ensure clear meaning. As soon as the participant
left the interview, the researcher took time to reflect before writing a detailed post-interview
analytical memo. The transcripts were read several times. Then, they were organized by
interview question in order to code.
Trustworthiness of Data
There were four ways to ensure that the data presented in this study was trustworthy: (a)
the creation of the survey items and interview questions were triangulated with existing
literature. In addition, results from the survey items were designed to be cross-checked with
interview findings to determine if an influence was validated, (b) survey items were pilot-tested
thirteen times and adjusted to secure SSP student comprehension. Also, most items on the survey
were Bandura-style scaled items, which were valid and reliable instruments, (c) when the survey
was distributed, the utmost care for privacy was taken. All students were provided with a survey
and pencil so not to single out any person who was unwilling to complete it. All surveys were
deposited in a one-way locked box and it was in sight of the Researcher the entire time. The
anonymity of each interview participant was ensured as each person created a pseudonym for the
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 108

interview which was used throughout the report and transcripts. In addition, access to the
transcription was limited to the Researcher and the transcription service. The transcriptions were
printed and kept in a sealed envelope inside a locked desk drawer that was inside of a locked
office, and during the interviews the Researcher did not hesitate to check understanding of the
participant’s responses to establish clear meaning. In addition, the Researcher mentioned
remarks that other participants made and asked the interviewee their opinion of each issue. Due
to multiple member checks, the Researcher added two questions that were not on the original
protocol. These additions were a result of the first participant's answer on a subject that
compelled the Researcher to investigate what all other participants thought about that topic.
Role of Investigator
The Researcher was related to the SSP program as a volunteer and advocate, as well as a
Professor, at Inland College. However, the Researcher’s role in this project was to conduct an
evaluation of the organization’s performance. Because the Researcher did not have any of the
survey respondents or interview participants in her classes, the potential for them to feel coerced
or pressured to participate was minimized.
As a long-time volunteer, and advocate, the Researcher had an interest in the results of
this project. The Researcher wanted to figure out what single parent students really needed to be
successful in college as she felt that the population is under recognized and under supported.
Although the SSP program and CareerEd did an excellent job at providing for some of their
needs, the Researcher felt strongly that the mental health needs of all students, single parent
students in particular, were not being met.
There may have been potential confusion as the Researcher felt that because most of the
SSP students that were interviewed were aware of the advocacy and previous volunteer work that
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had been done, their answers may have not been as truthful than if someone they did not knew
interviewed them. The Researcher addressed this issue by speaking up to share difficult personal
details with the students so they felt comfortable to share their own story. This tactic was
successful.
The Researcher reduced the pressure for participants to participate when their Belmont
Rights were explained at the Orientation Workshop and before the interview took place. Also at
the Workshop, when the students went to the back of the room to submit their survey, they could
enter a drawing for a chance at a $35 grocery store gift card as an incentive for completing the
survey. So not to force students to complete the survey, all were provided a drawing ticket when
they submitted a survey even if it were blank.
Faith, the SSP Specialist, took the lead. She emailed the participants in order to keep their
personal information secret. The only identifiable information the Researcher had was the
student’s name and email address, for interview scheduling purposes. One exception was Robert
as he preferred to be contacted by telephone, so the Researcher had his name, email address, and
telephone number.
While they were at the interview, all students created a pseudonym that was used
throughout the transcripts. Additionally, the names that they mentioned on the transcripts were
changed and no identifiable details were provided in the report. All interview participants were
asked permission to audio-record, transcribe, and for the Researcher to take notes during the
interview. They all consented. The Researcher made it clear to the participants that she would
check with them for feedback and any misunderstandings before the report was made public.

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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The purpose of this project was to evaluate the degree to which SSP was achieving its goal of
increasing the number of SSP students who graduate, transfer, or receive a certificate by 10% by
May 2019. The analysis focused on knowledge, motivation and organizational elements related
to the students’ achieving their performance goal. A survey and follow-up interview were used to
gather data on the SSP students, the stakeholder for this project. The questions that have guided
this study are the following:
1. To what extent are SSP students meeting their goal of 70% of SSP students will
execute 100% of the strategies needed to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018?
2. What are the knowledge, motivation, and organizational elements related to their
achieving this goal?
3. What are the recommendations for organizational practice in the areas of knowledge,
motivation, and organizational resources?
Participating Stakeholders
Survey Participants
Thirty-eight single parent students who were also members of the SSP program
completed the Single Parent Student Survey. Thirty-six of the respondents were female and two
were male. In addition, there were thirty-one students who were returning members of the SSP
program and seven were brand new members of the program. Figure 2 displays the survey
participants’ reported ages. Their ages clustered around the 23-25 and 26-30 year old range and
there was a sharp drop in the 31-35 year old category. There were no single student parent
participants younger than 20 years old. When the respondents were asked about their sleeping
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arrangements for the night they completed the survey, thirty-five out of the thirty-eight disclosed
that they were sleeping at a place that they rent.

Figure 2: Age of SSP Survey Participants.

When asked about their children, 47% of students reported having one child while 24%
reported having two children. Also, 16% of students reported having three children while 5%
reported having four children. No students reported having five children and 8% of students
reported having six or more children.
Figure 3 shows the age of the youngest child in each survey participant’s family as well
as the wide range of participants with family between 0 and 14 years of age. There was a
concentration of 3-4 and 5-7 year olds and a high number of 0-2 year olds and 8-11 year olds.
There was a vast decline in 12-14 year olds
2
as the youngest child in SSP student families.

2
On the date the survey was administered, and since the program’s inception, the California Community Colleges
Chancellor’s Office deemed it necessary to limit the eligibility of enrollment in the SSP program to parents whose
youngest child was under the age of 14. However, in January 2018, that eligibility restriction was eliminated and, as
a result, future research will not reflect the same age requirement.
0%
13%
21%
28%
8%
18%
13%
17 -19
20 -22
23 -25
26 -30
31 -35
36 -40
41+
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Figure 3: Age of Youngest Child. This figure shows the age of the youngest child of each
SSP student participant who answered the survey.

Interview
Six SSP students, a subset of survey participants, were invited and participated in
individual interviews. A purposeful sample based on participant gender, age, number of
children, and age of their youngest child was generated to ensure these participants were a
representative sample of the surveyed population. Four females and two males were interviewed
by the Researcher for approximately two hours. The interviewees were asked to choose a
pseudonym to protect their anonymity. Those pseudonyms were used throughout the report and
were added to the transcripts. In addition, all other names, places, and any possible identifiable
information that were mentioned in the interview were changed to safeguard anonymity. The
Researcher emailed each interview participant the description of them to be used in the narrative
and received approval from each prior to putting these descriptions into this document.
Crystal Lewis was a female between the ages of 26-30. She had one daughter, age 2, and
no partner. Her major was Human Services and she was pursuing six Associates of Science
degrees. Crystal was the first from her family to attend college, which was difficult as her mother
29%
21%
21%
26%
3%
0-2
3-4
5-7
8-11
12-14
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frequently attempted to deter her. One result of the deterrence was a complete lack of child care
for her daughter, which made it extremely difficult for Crystal to work or attend classes. In her
adolescence, Crystal had a history of addiction and selling drugs and she endured severe
physical, psychological, verbal, and financial abuse. Her family had a history of gang affiliation
and Crystal was gang affiliated before she attended Inland College (IC). While she was enrolled
at IC, she found motivation in academia and other people. Crystal became a spokesperson and
advocate of equal rights for parenting students and formed a network that provided guidance and
assistance to others in her position.
Chiquita Belos was a female participant between the ages of 36-40 whose major was
nursing. She had two sons ages 5 and 15. She was divorced once and had a live-out boyfriend,
whom her children called “Dad”. Chiquita immigrated to the United States alone on a trying
months-long journey from western South America at 10 years old. She arrived in Los Angeles to
meet her father and was harshly immersed in American culture and the English language. To
escape the verbal and physical abuse from her father, Chiquita married only to find out that her
husband possessed the same traits as her father. Not long after their marriage vows were taken,
the newlyweds’ home was filled with yelling and hitting. As a mother of boys, she used these
experiences to strengthen her conviction to teach her sons that domestic violence, in any form, is
unacceptable. As Chiquita was enrolled at Inland College, she was incredibly motivated to earn
her LVN and RN degrees to move forward in her nursing career and to be a positive role model
for her sons.
Delia Lopez was a 31-35-year-old female with six children between the ages of 8-17
years old and she did not have a partner. Her major was Social Work and she pursued three
Associate of Science degrees. Delia had a personal history of drug addiction which she sought
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help for and had been clean for the last five years. She had no parents as her mother died in 2008
and her father was serving a life sentence in prison. Delia suffered an acute history of sexual
abuse and sexual assault by several criminals throughout her life. In addition, she endured
countless experiences of violence, in addition to domestic violence, as well as verbal abuse. All
of these occurrences inflicted serious psychological wounds on Delia. However, she treated and
healed herself with the help of several individuals and organizations at Inland College. Delia
used her experiences to mentor others who have had the same experiences and may not know
where to turn. She became a spokesperson and advocate on behalf of students who were victims
of sexual crimes. She planned to transfer and earn a PhD in order to open a NPO that serves
women who have mental health issues, have been sexually assaulted, or have a history of
domestic violence.
Allison Gonzalez was a 23-25-year-old female with one son, age 5, and her major was
Child Development. Her son’s father was her live-out boyfriend. Allison’s boyfriend had full
custody of his son, age 8, and daughter, age 7. Allison considered her boyfriend’s children her
stepchildren. The pair dated since his daughter was born, they had a child together, and Allison
was the only mother the children had known. Allison and her son visited her boyfriend’s family
home each weekend. Allison’s extended family had a history of gang affiliation with rival gangs.
As a result, there was often violence in the extended family and frequent deaths. In her
immediate family, there was a history of drug and alcohol addiction, as well as extreme and
repeated violence. For two months in her adolescence, Allison was a victim of abandonment and
entrapment, which was accompanied by repeated violent sexual assault, lifetime bodily damage,
verbal abuse, and continued psychological injury. Determined to show her immediate and
stepfamily family what she could accomplish, Allison was proving her capability and excellence
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by attending Inland College. Her career goal was to protect those without a strong voice,
especially disabled children and the elderly.
Robert Rodriguez was a 36-40-year-old male whose major was Computer Information
Technology and Business. He lived with his four self-sufficient children, ages 10-23, whom he
has full, sole custody of. Robert was very proud that all of his children earned good grades in
school and were particularly well-mannered. Within two months of the interview, Robert
developed a relationship with a live-out girlfriend who was a single mother. He described her as
academically supportive as her educational goal was a Master of Science degree. Robert’s family
history with drugs, gangs, and abuse was unknown. His personal history included time in prison
for diverse crimes and a tendency toward violent behavior. While Robert served his sentence, not
all was lost. Robert learned to avoid people and situations in order to control his anger and the
world, through books, was opened to him. While at Inland College, he developed his love of
reading and writing in addition to focusing on his core courses. Robert was on the award-
winning Forensics Debate Team and thrived in the classroom environment.
Emilio Estrada was a 26-30-year-old male whose major was Administration of Justice.
He was divorced and lived with his two children, ages 10 and 8, of whom he had full custody
and he did not have a partner. Emilio’s family had a history of verbal and physical abuse. In his
personal history, Emilio’s ex-wife was physically and financially abusive. In his adolescence,
Emilio was rebellious and he had a history of violence and jail, but he learned that he did not
want to live that type of life. Emilio was the first in his family to attend college and he realized
how important it was for his children to see him in school. Though Emilio loved to learn, he
found it mostly impossible to attend school regularly due to the lack of reliable childcare before
or after his children were in school. Due to the unmet need, Emilio failed multiple classes and
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was ineligible for financial aid. He was severely unmotivated as he felt his educational goal was
out of reach. He felt strongly that if he had access to an after-school program he would be able to
focus on school.
Validation
In the survey findings, “validation” of the gap in performance refers to when the top three
of the highest ranking responses were added up and the result was 90% or lower. The gap in
performance was not validated when the result of the top three highest-ranking responses was
higher than 91%. The sections that follow present the results and findings by influence category.
Knowledge Results
Assumed Knowledge Influence 1: SSP students need to know their educational goals.
(Factual)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To test this influence, the interviewer asked, “What is your major?
Tell me about your education goals. Have you met with a counselor to create an education plan
to reach your educational goals?” The interview findings showed that all of the participants knew
their major and educational goals, had met with a counselor, and knew the contents of their
educational plan. The first question was regarding their course of study in college. All of the
participants were able to provide the name of their major quickly, without hesitation. Next, they
were asked if they had taken action to seek guidance from a school counselor regarding direction
for their major. They all answered “Yes” they met with a counselor. Then, they were asked about
the courses that they were directed to take by their counselor to see if they knew what their plan
included. Although the level of information specificity varied by participant as to what was in
their educational plan, all answers were affirmative. Delia Lopez simply replied, “Yes,” while
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Chiquita Belos, Crystal Luis, Allison Gonzalez, Robert Rodriguez, and Emilio Estrada
mentioned specific classes. With the plan set, the educational goals were also addressed. One
participant, Crystal Luis, wanted the freedom to vacillate within the field of Human Services so
she was intent on earning as many degrees as possible. She described that when she met with her
counselor to create her education plan, they figured out that if she completed all the same classes
with a limited number of additional courses she could earn an “AS in Psychology, Sociology,
Social Behaviors-General Studies, Anthropology, and Social Justice” all at the same time.
Summary. Because all of the participants knew their educational goals, the gap in
knowledge was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 2: SSP students need to know the in stitu tion ’s academic
expectations of them. (Factual)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn for this influence.
Assumed knowledge influence 3: SSP students need to know where to find assistance.
(Factual)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. The interview question “If you wanted to find out if a class you have
taken transfers to a university, where would you go on campus for direction?” was asked to test
the students’ declarative knowledge. In response to the interview question, all participants knew
where to go to find out if a class transfers to a university. All students answered without
hesitation as there were several places at Inland College where a student may go to find out if a
class transfers to a university. Emilio mentioned the Transfer Center in a positive manner and
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Robert knew a family friend who worked there that he could ask for guidance. Allison reported
that the person at the Transfer Center had a negative attitude and was not helpful when she asked
for help with her university application. Chiquita mentioned that the Transfer Center would be
the place to go for other students, but not for her. She felt privileged to go to SSP and CareerEd
counselors for guidance. Allison also mentioned that she used both program counselors. Delia
reported that she only used the SSP counselors for course guidance.
Summary. Given that all interview participants knew where to find assistance, the gap in
knowledge was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 4: SSP students understand that accessing educational
services can help strengthen academic skills in order to achieve educational success.
(Conceptual)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To check the students’ understanding of how accessing educational
services could help strengthen academic skills in order to achieve education success, the
following question was asked, “Please tell me about a time when you felt underprepared for a
course, Perhaps you didn’t understand the material or were worried that you would not do well.
What did you do?” and “Have you ever sought out a tutor? If no, “Would you ever seek out a
tutor?” The interview findings showed that the responses were mixed. Emilio noted that he
attended the Writing Help Center for guidance when he had any writing assignment. He took
what he learned at the appointment, revised his assignment and made another appointment for a
recheck to see how his revision could be improved. Chiquita reported that she sought tutoring for
all math and English classes. She, also, made multiple appointments with tutors. Delia described
that she attended tutoring through four different programs and that it was essential for her college
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success. Allison sought a tutor once, but had a bad experience and did not try again. When she
did struggle in another course she reached out to the professor who was able to help her with the
material. Crystal sought a tutor as she needed help, but she left a few minutes into the
appointment. She explained that she was not focused because she had to take her two-year-old
daughter and felt that the other students in the tutoring center were irritated because her toddler
made noise. She left frustrated because she needed to learn material for her test and she felt
unwelcome in the tutoring center. Robert did not ever seek help. He felt that course work at
Inland College was very easy and that homework was unnecessary.
Summary. Allison, Emilio, Chiquita, Delia, and Crystal clearly understood that when
they accessed educational services they could strengthen their skills and it might lead to
educational success even if they could not access educational services as much as they needed to.
In their cases, the gap in knowledge was not validated. In Robert’s case, the gap in knowledge
was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 5: SSP students need to know how to set goals. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn about this influence.
Assumed knowledge influence 6: SSP students know how to create and implement an
educational plan to achieve their goals. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn about this influence.
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Assumed knowledge influence 7: SSP students know how to balance work/life/student
demands to maintain academic success for their health and the welfare of their family.
(Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To investigate the influence, the interview question “How do you do
it? What do you do to attempt to maintain a balance between work, family, and go to school?
How well is that working?” was asked. The interview answers revealed that all participants had
strategies that they used to attempt to achieve balance but all admitted to, except Robert who
seemed to be an outlier, had challenges maintaining balance.
Robert stated that there was no other choice but to make balance happen. His strategy
was to make tasks as easy as possible so they could be completed quickly. For example, he
owned a washer and dryer so his family did not have to haul their laundry to a laundromat, wash,
dry, and fold there, bring it home, and put it away. Robert had two adult children, ages 23 and
19, who helped with his two younger children, ages 12 and 10. He reported they were all self-
sufficient which helped maintain balance. Robert worked twenty hours at the APDE office. Due
to family support, Robert did not display any challenges with maintaining balance.
Emilio reported that a set schedule was the key to balanced responsibilities. However, he
did not have a set schedule and his work was unstable. He said that sometimes he had two jobs
and at the time of the interview he did not have a job. He also sought to reduce his part-time
course load from two classes to one class each semester. Due to unstable work and
overwhelming course load, Emilio displayed difficulty with balance.
Allison carried a paper agenda where she wrote all of her appointments and tasks to be
completed. She explained that if an appointment must be attended it would or if something were
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required it was submitted, but if it was not necessary she tried to plan for it but not absolutely
stress out to make it happen. She learned to be malleable with her schedule. Another strategy that
Alison used was to take online courses. She stated that online professors typically scheduled
predictable due dates so she did not have to remember many different due dates for all of her
courses. Online classes also made it easier for Allison to block out time to complete assignments.
Allison attended school full-time, worked twenty hours at Inland College, and worked an
additional sixteen hours on the graveyard shift at a private company. Due to a full-time work
schedule and full-time course load, Allison displayed difficulty with balance.
Chiquita assigned activities to blocks of her time, which she said worked most of the
time, except when she had classes at night. She felt guilty as she left her sons to attend school,
but recognized that she made a choice to earn a career so she could show them how to be
successful. Chiquita attended Inland College Monday-Thursday. She was a nursing major and so
twelve hours of her day each Friday were spent at the hospital working clinical hours. In
addition, she worked twenty hours at Inland College and sixteen hours on Saturday and Sunday
at a private company. Due to a full-time work schedule, full-time course load, nursing clinical
hours, and emotional stress, Chiquita displayed difficulty with balance.
Delia used communication with her children and elimination of stressors to attempt to
achieve balance. One strategy Delia took advantage of was the freedom to study and complete
homework while she was at work. She reported that she was able to study and complete
homework for approximately three to four hours each day, which alleviated the need to juggle
homework and the care of six children. Delia was in a unique work position at Inland College.
One of the largest stressors for Delia was bills, so she paid them each month on the first. She had
no money left, which was a considerable stressor, but she felt that when all bills were paid for the
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month, at attempt at balance could begin. At the time of the interview, her main stressor was the
inability to keep doctor appointments for her two youngest children and herself. She had to find
the time to leave work/school to fight for their psychological services. Her youngest child had a
very difficult time at school and got into considerable trouble. Five of her six children had been
diagnosed with at least one mental illness and Delia needed to be with them for appointments.
She reported that in previous semesters, she had to drop classes in order to attend appointments
with her children. Delia worked twenty hours each week at Inland College. Due to her inability
to tend to family needs and attend classes, Delia displayed challenges with maintaining balance.
Crystal’s strategy for balance was to take time away from school and focus on her child.
She reported that if she did not want to complete her homework, she did not complete it. Instead,
she took her daughter to the park or they stayed home in their pajamas to relax and have a movie
day. She stated that she took life day-to-day. When she did homework, she stated that she
procrastinated until the day it was due and then began work on the assignment. In addition, she
stated that she was not remorseful if she did not have time to complete an assignment to the best
of her ability. She accepted a lower grade and moved on if it meant less stress for her and her
daughter. Crystal worked twenty hours each week at Inland College. Due to a preference for free
time and family over school, Crystal displayed challenges with maintaining balance.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to balance
work/life/student demands to maintain academic success for their health and the welfare of their
family was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 8: SSP students know how to manage child care needs.
(Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
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Interview findings. To explore the level of knowledge the participants had regarding
how to manage their child care needs, the interview questions “Who watches your child/ren
when you study or do homework? Probe: Do you have a back-up person/plan? What about child
care, finances, transportation?” were asked. The interview answers revealed that Emilio and
Crystal’s child care needs were completely unmet and Chiquita had no help in the afternoon and
evening. Robert, Allison, and Delia had reliable child care arrangements.
Emilio stated that he had no one to watch his children while he studied or did homework.
Instead, he used the time after he took them to school and before he picked them up to study. He
mentioned that his ex-wife should pick up the children from school on her days off of work, but
she was unreliable so he was responsible for pick up on quick notice. This caused Emilio to leave
class or be late to class. In addition, the elementary school threatened to call the Sheriff’s
multiple times because he sometimes was thirty minutes to an hour late for pick up when he had
to work. When probed about a back-up plan, Emilio noted that no other member of his family
was available to help with pick-up. He also reported that the children were not in an after-school
program because there was a long early-morning queue and they could be placed on a wait-list.
Robert showed that his ten-year-old was in an after-school program until 6pm when he
picked her up. The twelve year old was picked up by her older brother, so Robert did not have to
be concerned about child care for her.
Allison had child care assistance from her mother and youngest sister. Allison also
enrolled her son in an after-school program.
Chiquita explained that her boyfriend and mother were the main caregivers for her
youngest son, aged 5. She disclosed that her fifteen-year-old son preferred to be alone than with
his grandmother so she allowed him to be independent as long as he continued to be on the
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President’s Honor Roll at school. Chiquita had day care coverage until 4pm and if she had an
evening or night class, she had to be sure to make arrangements with her boyfriend. Her mother
worked during the week and was only available on Saturday and Sunday, when Chiquita worked
her weekend job. If her boyfriend or mother were not available, she took her sons to her
commitments.
The mother of Delia’s ex-fiancé, and father of her children, watched the eight and nine-
year-old children. All of the other school-aged children were enrolled in an after-school program.
Crystal was the only caregiver, besides the preschool that her two-year-old daughter was
enrolled in from 7am until 4pm during the week. Crystal took and picked her up between her
own classes and meetings on campus. Crystal and her daughter were isolated as Crystal did not
have family she could rely on for help with child care.
Summary. Given that half of the interviewees did not have reliable child care, the gap in
knowledge of how to manage child care needs was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 9: SSP students know the necessary study skills; they know
how to study. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn about this influence.
Assumed knowledge influence 10: SSP students know how to manage their financial
obligations and where to find financial support services in order to achieve educational
success. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
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Interview findings. To investigate the influence, interviewees were asked, “What about
child care, finances, transportation?” Their answers revealed that all participants, with the
exception of Robert whose two adult children contribute to the family expenses, had a difficult
time with financial management. In an attempt to have extra money, Chiquita and Allison each
worked two jobs. They, and Emilio, mentioned that they had to be very aware of how many
hours they worked each week or their government funding would be decreased if they worked
too much. Emilio assigned a purpose for every dollar he received, but the unpredictable nature of
his work made a stable schedule, and spending budget, impossible. Allison and Crystal both
reported that they had to borrow money for transportation in order to attend school and return
home. Delia explained that on the first day of each month she paid her bills so her utilities would
not be turned off. However, that approach left her without enough money for the remainder of
the month. To make her money last as long as possible, Delia brought leftover food home from
school program meetings, retrieved the tiny unused excess toilet paper rolls the janitorial staff
left behind so she did not have to pay for toilet paper, and she and other SSP students took turns
making food to share so the cost of food was not so heavy. Even with these tactics, Delia came
up short each month.
Summary. Based on the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to manage
finances was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 11: SSP students know how to manage stress. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. Although it was not on the original survey, the Researcher noticed
the extreme experiences that the first participant recounted and asked “How do you manage
stress?” during the first interview in an attempt to discover their coping mechanisms. The same
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question was asked in all subsequent interviews. Their answers revealed that all of the
interviewees attempted to tune out their stress. Emilio, Robert, and Allison mentioned that they
kept their stress to themselves. Robert also reported that he loved to read novels and that
cleaning his home while he listened to music relaxed him. Crystal took weekends off from
school responsibilities to spend time with her daughter. Delia reported that she ensured that she
took her prescribed medication and took care of herself. Chiquita preferred to watch television or
play games on her phone until she fell asleep.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to manage stress
was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 12: SSP students know how to manage mental health needs.
(Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To learn more about their management of mental health needs, all
interviewees were asked, “How do you know when you are about to lose it? What signs do you
see in yourself? How do you handle yourself when you are about to lose it?” Their answers
revealed that all interviewees, with the exception of Emilio who reported that he no longer lost
control of his emotions, isolated themselves when they got angry.
Robert stated that when he was angry his thoughts were focused on the one thing that
made him angry and nothing else distracted him from it. To avoid this level of anger and control
his thoughts, Robert avoided the people and situations that caused distress in his past.
Allison explained that when she got angry she snapped at her mother. When she
recognized her anger, Allison went to the bathroom or in the backyard to be with her seven dogs.
In the backyard, she groomed her dogs, revamped their houses, and spent time with them.
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Chiquita frequently screamed at her two sons when she was angry and frustrated. She
had a busy schedule and her sons often did not listen to her direction. In these cases, she threw
their toys and belongings in a trash bag. This caused her sons to join the screaming. Chiquita
realized that she raised her voice too much and asked to be left alone to calm herself. After
repeated incidents, her oldest son asked to speak with her. Together, they worked to have quiet
voices in the home.
Crystal’s version of anger looked different as it was only her and her two-year-old
daughter. She explained that “losing it” for her resulted in self-isolation and frustration. Feelings
of doubt and inadequacy coupled by negative energy were all internalized and the external
evidence manifested in a low level of patience with her daughter. Crystal realized that her young
daughter should not be the recipient of her frustration, so she isolated herself from others who
may cause anger.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to manage mental
health needs was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 13: SSP students know how to access mental health support
and services. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. During the first interview, the Researcher noted the need for mental
health services and asked the participant, “Have you ever seen a therapist?” The same question
was asked in all subsequent interviews. Their answers revealed that only Delia had seen a
therapist on a regular basis. Robert, Allison, and Chiquita said they had never seen a therapist.
Emilio said he was ordered by a judge to attend a single therapy session to determine custody of
his two children. However, ongoing therapy was not provided. A year prior, Crystal recognized
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the need for counseling and reached out for help. She scheduled an appointment at Inland
College and after a long wait was met with an uninterested, yawning therapist who made her feel
ashamed and unimportant, so she did not return. Therefore, ongoing therapy was not provided.
At the time of the interview, Crystal had waited, and provided many reminders, for ten months
for her social worker to refer her to a counselor. The only participant who regularly saw a
psychiatrist was Delia. She explained that she was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses and
medication was required.
Given the answers to, “Have you ever seen a therapist?” the Researcher asked, “If the
SSP program were to offer mental health services, would you make use of them? Why/why not?”
to further investigate the students’ interest in and need for mental health support services. With
the exception of Robert, who felt that a person should be able to solve problems on their own,
their answers revealed that all participants would make use of mental health services if the SSP
program were to offer them. Delia reported that she would most definitely use mental health
services if they were offered through the SSP program because the program was a safe space for
her. In addition, it would save time and resources as she would not have to make the bi-weekly
drive to see her regular therapist. Emilio and Allison both reported that they kept their stress,
trauma, and hardship to themselves. Both felt it would be beneficial to talk with a therapist and
would use SSP mental health services. Chiquita and Crystal both felt very strongly that their
psychological needs were not met and that they would absolutely use SSP mental health services.
Summary. Given that only one participant regularly accesses mental health services, the
gap in knowledge of how to access mental health services and support was validated. In addition,
the desire and urgent need for mental health services was clear.
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Assumed knowledge influence 14: SSP students know how to manage their transportation
needs. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. In order to understand how students managed their transportation
needs, they were asked, “What about child care, finances, transportation?” Their answers
revealed that Allison depended on an unreliable bus system and the other five participants had
access to a car. Emilio, Robert, Delia, Crystal, and Chiquita all reported that they often had no
money for fuel, but reported no difficulty with their car.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to manage
transportation needs was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 15: SSP students know how to access educational services in
order to achieve educational success. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To learn about their knowledge of how to access educational
services, participants were asked, “Please tell me about a time when you felt underprepared for a
course – you didn’t understand it or were worried that you would not do well. What did you do?
Probe, if needed: Have you ever sought out a tutor? (If no, “would you ever seek out a tutor?”
why/why not?)” Their answers revealed that all participants knew how to access educational
services in order to achieve educational success. The participants mentioned accessing services
through the Disabled Students Program, TRIO, CareerEd, Learning Center, and Writing Right
Center. In addition, they spoke with their teachers, asked questions during class, visited
professors during office hours, reached out to educational counselors, visited the re-entry center,
and checked in at the transfer center.
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Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to access
educational services in order to achieve educational success was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 16: SSP students know how to access a computer.
(Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn about this influence.
Assumed knowledge influence 17: SSP students know how to register for customized
courses in order to avoid extraneous learning. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn for this influence.
Assumed knowledge influence 18: SSP students are able to monitor their needs and
recognize when they need help. (Procedural)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. Participants were asked, “How do you know when you are about to
lose it? What signs do you see in yourself? How do you handle yourself when you about to lose
it?” in an effort to learn about their ability to monitor their needs and recognize when they
needed help. Their answers revealed that the participants were able to recognize when they were
angry, but were unable to recognize when they needed help or monitor their needs. Emilio never
admitted that he lost control of his emotions and so seemed to be an outlier in this area. Robert,
Allison, Chiquita, and Delia reported that they were quick to anger. Crystal reported that her
patience with her daughter was thin. The five interviewees were able to recognize the physical
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and mental signs in themselves before they lost control of their emotions. All six students have
had distressingly traumatic events in their lives yet only two reported asking for professional
help.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to monitor their
needs and recognize when they needed help was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 19: SSP students reflect on the impact of and control their
social and physical environments as essential components of self-regulation.
(Metacognitive)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To figure out if students reflected on the impact of and control their
social and physical environments as essential components of self-regulation, they were asked,
“Describe the best time and place for you to focus on your school work.” Their answers revealed
that all of the participants were reflective regarding their social and physical environments as
essential components of self-regulation, but most could not control it. Robert waited until his
children went to sleep for the night to begin his homework. Since his children were all older and
self-sufficient, there were no problems. Before she was able to complete 3-4 hours of homework
each day at work, Delia reported that she needed to stay awake until 1am to complete her
summer school homework. She explained that she could not focus on her work at home and she
had to drop the class. Emilio stated that he preferred to study outside, but if he was called to
work, he had to stop immediately. Crystal reported that her homework was typically done in the
bedroom that she shared with her daughter between the hours of 11pm and 3am. She reported
difficulty with this arrangement because she could not tap her computer keys too loudly as it
irritated her housemate, the light could not be too bright, she could not stay awake so late at
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night, and her daughter slept right next to where she worked. Chiquita and Allison had to find
time to complete their homework at school, which was sometimes impossible due to their course
load and work schedule. They were both very aware that they could not complete any
schoolwork at home because their children wanted all of their attention as soon as they arrived
home. In addition, they both reported that they had household chores that they were responsible
for. All students reflected on their physical and social environments and knew they were
essential components of self-regulation. However, due to the unpredictability of work, school,
and life demands the ability to arrange a time and place to study without distractions was a
challenge.
Summary. Due to the interview findings, the gap in knowledge to control their physical
and social environments as essential components of self-regulation was validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 20: SSP students understand that when they delay their
gratification to focus on homework, their grades rise in correlation. (Metacognitive)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. Interviewees were asked, “How do you handle peer pressure? For
example, if you have an important test to study for and your friends ask you to go out, how do
you deal with that?” in an effort to investigate their level of knowledge of the relationship
between delayed gratification to focus on homework and higher grades. Their answers revealed
that the students understood that delayed gratification could result in higher grades.
Robert explained that he did not have friends, so pressure to leave schoolwork behind
was not a problem for him. Allison and Crystal felt pressure from their families, not friends.
Their strategy was to dismiss their unsupportive comments, but both still felt the implications of
their hurtful words. Neither student felt that their family understood their position as a single
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parent student. Emilio and Chiquita mentioned a difference between peer pressure in high school
and college. They reported that they often said no to friends who asked them to go out because
they preferred to stay home to focus on homework. Delia simply stated that she did not deal with
people who tried to take her from her priority, school. All interviewees were very knowledgeable
that their ability to delay gratification to focus on homework could result in higher grades.
Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of understanding that
delayed gratification to focus on homework correlated with rising grades was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 21: SSP students understand that in order to be
academically successful, they need to actively maintain their motivation. (Metacognitive)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. To examine the participants’ knowledge of understanding that in
order to be successful they needed to maintain their motivation, they were asked, “What makes
you want to stay in school?” Their answers revealed that the students understood the importance
of maintaining motivation to be academically successful. The first reason that all participants
mentioned, with the exception of Emilio, was their children and most also mentioned their field
of study. They recognized the influence that their education had on their children’s future and
wanted to succeed for their posterity. Robert wanted to provide his children with a comfortable
life. He also wanted to set the example of how to love learning and thrive in college. Allison also
wanted a happier and safer life for her son than she had in her youth. In addition, she wanted to
share her love and care for children with Downs Syndrome. Chiquita spoke of her older son’s
college future as he wanted to attend USC or UCLA and she needed to earn significantly more
money to pay for tuition. She also mentioned two jobs that she was passed over for because she
did not have a degree, even though she had more experience than those who were hired. Delia
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wanted to show her six children that they had to attend college and she wanted to lead by
example. Crystal spoke of leaving a legacy for her daughter. She wanted to make it easier for her
to attend college than it had been for Crystal. She also mentioned how much she loved to learn
about her major and the professors at the college. Emilio focused on his love of learning new
skills.
Summary. Given the clear understanding of the importance of motivation from the
interview findings, the gap in knowledge of understanding that in order to be academically
successful, students needed to actively maintain their motivation was not validated.
Assumed knowledge influence 22: SSP students know how to assess their academic
progress. They know when they need help. (Metacognitive)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. Participants were asked, “How are you doing in your classes?” to
measure their knowledge of how to assess their academic progress and when they needed help.
Their answers revealed that all participants were able to declare their semester grades and
progress without hesitation.
To further probe their knowledge of their academic assessment the interviewees were
asked, “How do you know you are doing well or not doing well?” Their answers revealed that
they were all aware of how to assess their academic progress and they knew when they needed
help. The participants had different strategies of how that assessed their progress. The students
checked their grades through the online system, spoke with or emailed their professors, kept their
own record of the points earned, cross-checked the graded papers they received back from their
professors with their online grades to be sure they were correct, and ensured that professors
entered grades in a timely manner.
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Summary. Given the interview findings, the gap in knowledge of how to assess their
academic progress was not validated.
Motivation Results
Assumed motivation influence 1: SSP students value their ability to assess and monitor
their academic success. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 7e, “Keep track of
how I am doing in school” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important,
survey results showed that 94% felt it was important to keep track of how they did in school. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.68 and the standard deviation was .739.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “How are
you doing in your classes? Probe: How do you know you are doing well or not doing well?”
Their answers revealed that all interviewees kept track of their progress in their classes. Robert,
Chiquita, and Allison checked their grades through Inland College’s website. Allison also
followed up to make sure that her grades were posted correctly through the site. Robert and
Emilio both felt it was useful to record their own points for each course. Delia and Crystal
reported communication with their professors to stay abreast of their course status.
Summary. Due to the survey and interview results, the gap in motivation to value their
ability to assess and monitor their academic success was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 2: SSP students value the effort they put into their work
which allows them higher accomplishments. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 8e, “See the effort I
put into my work reflected in my grades” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very
important, survey results showed 100% of students felt it was important to see the effort they put
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into their work reflected in their grades. The average rating for this survey item was 6.15 and the
standard deviation was 1.127.
On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order of most to least
important. 26.32% of participants ranked survey item 12f “Earning good grades in school” as the
fourth most important item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation for students to value the effort
they put into their work which allowed them higher accomplishments was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 3: SSP students place value high on persistence as they do
not give up when faced with challenges. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order
of most to least important. 36.84% of participants ranked survey item 12c “Working to overcome
all personal and educational challenges” as the fifth most important item.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “What is the
last challenge you faced? How did you deal with it?” and “Did it affect your education/classes?”
Their answers revealed a high value on persistence as none of the interviewees gave up even
when they were faced with overwhelming challenges.
Emilio explained that due to the lack of child care, he had not been able to attend classes
on a regular basis even though he wanted to push on with his education. His absences had
affected his grades and he was on academic probation. This status made him ineligible to receive
financial aid. Because he was intent on his education, Emilio’s goal was to take one class each
semester even if it was a financial strain.
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Robert explained that within two weeks he lost his car and home. While Robert drove
home from school, he was hit from behind and his car was not drivable. In addition, his sister’s
boyfriend, who was unwelcome in their home, broke into the home that Robert and his children
shared with his sister and mother. The intruder destroyed all of Robert’s belongings which
caused a scuffle. As a result, Robert and his children had to move out of the home quickly.
During that time, his classes and grades were negatively affected. However, Robert persisted and
found an apartment for him and his children so they could live peacefully in their own space.
During Allison’s first semester at Inland College there were multiple deaths, one very
violent death, and shootings within her close family. Given that she was lost in grief and did not
know how to drop classes, she failed most of her classes. It took time for Allison to heal, and she
reported that she was still healing. Also, she had retaken all of the courses that she failed and
passed.
Chiquita’s challenge involved a drastic financial change. She explained that she made
$21 an hour as a Medical Assistant and was used to the pay. Then, when she was pregnant with
her youngest son, she was unemployed when she went on maternity leave. At that point, she
received $250 each month in food stamps and cash aid. Chiquita did not allow the financial
strain to drain her motivation for education.
Delia spoke of the entire previous semester as a challenge. She experienced a life change
when she moved to a Section 8 apartment with her children. She explained that she had a great
deal of anxiety for the first five months that the apartment could be taken away. In addition, she
was stressed that mental health services for her two youngest children were close to an end and
that it was a difficult process to get them back. She struggled to keep up with her family
obligations in addition to her school commitments, but her family came first. Delia had to drop a
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class and she received her first F, which was devastating for her. As a result of the failed grade,
she was not allowed to graduate as she planned to do. Delia persisted and enrolled the following
semester in the class that she previously failed.
Crystal’s challenge was also financial. Her MOVE worker changed his telephone number
which caused a delay in Crystal’s receipt of her transportation funds for two months, which
equaled $200. She explained that she gathered quarters and other change in order to put fuel in
her car so she could take her daughter to school, go to Inland College, pick her daughter up, and
return home. She reported that there were several days and weeks at a time when she could not
attend class because she did not have enough gas in her car. She explained that the money she
was provided with was used early every month.
When asked if challenges affected her education and classes, Crystal summed up the
experience of all of the interviewees when she said, “It definitely shows in my work. It's not easy
to balance it all and then focus in class and be super attentive to what's going on. It doesn't work
that way. I don't know that any parent who's a student can really be 100% attentive in any class
at any level.”
Summary. Given that the survey rating was low and the interviewee persistence was
high, the gap in motivation for students to place a value high on persistence as they did not give
up when faced with challenges was not clear.
Assumed motivation influence 4: SSP students are confident in their ability to implement
study strategy interventions in order to raise their level of self-efficacy. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 8a, “Concentrate on
school subjects during class” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important,
survey results showed 94% of students felt it was important to concentrate on school subjects
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during class. The average rating for this survey item was 6.57 and the standard deviation was
1.030.
When students were asked to rate survey question 8b, “Take good notes during class
instruction” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey results
showed 100% of students felt it was important to take good notes during class instruction. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.81 and the standard deviation was 0.512.
When students were asked to rate survey question 7a, “Organize my schoolwork” on an
importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey results showed 97% of students
felt it was important to organize their schoolwork. The average rating for this survey item was
6.78 and the standard deviation was 0.740.
When students were asked to rate survey question 7b, “Plan my schedule for the week”
on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey results showed 92% of
students felt it was important to plan their schedule for the week. The average rating for this
survey item was 6.34 and the standard deviation was 1.34.
When students were asked to rate survey question 7c, “Remember information presented
in class and textbooks” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey
results showed 94% of students felt it was important to remember information presented in class
and textbooks. The average rating for this survey item was 6.52 and the standard deviation was
1.083.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation of students to be confident in
their ability to implement study strategy interventions in order to raise their level of self-efficacy
was not validated.
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Assumed motivation influence 5: SSP students value their ability to create mental pictures
of successful scenarios in order to visualize their success. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 7f, “Visualize myself
after graduation as successful” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important,
survey results showed 100% of students felt it was important to visualize themselves as
successful after graduation. The average rating for this survey item was 6.86 and the standard
deviation was 0.484.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation of students to value their
ability to create mental pictures of successful scenarios in order to visualize their success was not
validated.
Assumed motivation influence 6: SSP students believe that engaging with faculty will
solidify instructional help and encouragement. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 8d, “Meet and talk
with my professors outside of class time” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very
important, survey results showed 89% of students felt it was important to meet and talk with
their professors outside of class time. The average rating for this survey item was 6.15 and the
standard deviation was 0.112.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “Please tell
me about the experiences you have had with your teachers here at this school. Probe: How useful
is it to meet with a professor outside of class?” Their answers revealed mostly positive
experiences.
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Emilio mentioned that when he tried to speak with his professors about his lack of child
care, they were unsympathetic and unwilling to work with him. He also mentioned one professor
with whom he had a great experience and was his favorite.
Robert mentioned two teachers that were particularly inspirational. Both of these
professors had an impact on how Robert approached life and he felt they were supportive.
Allison recounted memories of her professors and said that she kept in touch with them
through email. She stated that all of her professors gave her their time and one-on-one attention
and helped her understand course material. She felt it was because she met with them after class
or during office hours to go through the questions she had. She also mentioned that many
professors went out of their way to meet with her when she couldn't meet with them during their
office hours.
Chiquita communicated that her overall experience had been very positive. Her
professors had always been very supportive and available to help her with her coursework during
their office hours. She did note that one professor had a favorite student, and the professor
seemed to provide the test answers to, which was unfair to other students.
Overall, Delia had a positive experience with the professors at Inland College, but one
very negative encounter colored her perception. She explained that on the first day of that class
the professor welcomed his students by saying, “If you are a parent, you may as well drop this
class now because you are not going to pass. There is no way you can handle it.” She was taken
aback and felt immediately judged.
Crystal spoke of a particular professor who was helpful for her. She explained that if a
student did not understand how to solve a math problem, the professor showed his work on the
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projector. If the students still did not understand, he showed his work on the board and repeated
it several different ways. She stated that he focused on the success of his students.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in motivation to believe that
engaging with faculty will solidify instructional help and encouragement was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 7: SSP students value the opportunity to attend
extracurricular events with their children. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 9a, “Attend
extracurricular events with my family” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very
important, survey results showed 89% of students felt it was important to attend extracurricular
events with their family. The average rating for this survey item was 6.36 and the standard
deviation was 1.496.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the opportunity to
attend extracurricular events with their children was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 8: SSP students value the ability to absorb information at an
expert level. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 8c, “Learn the most I
can from each class” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey
results showed 97% of students felt it was important to learn the most they could from each
class. The average rating for this survey item was 6.73 and the standard deviation was 0.685.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to absorb
information at an expert level was not validated.
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Assumed motivation influence 9: SSP students believe in the importance of their role as
students because they are single parents. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 9b, “Play an important
role in my family” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey results
showed 97% of students felt it was important to play an important role in their family. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.81 and the standard deviation was 0.608.
When students were asked to rate survey question 9c, “Be a positive role model for my
family” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very important, survey results showed
100% of students felt it was important to be a positive role model for their family. The average
rating for this survey item was 7 and the standard deviation was 0.
On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order of most to least
important. 47.37% of participants ranked survey item 12d “Being a positive role model for my
family” as the first most important item.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “Please tell
me about the role you play in your family.” Their answers revealed that the interviewees took
their role as students very seriously because they were single parents.
Emilio expressed that he was the foundation for his children. As their one reliable parent,
he recognized that he was the backbone that kept them supported. He was proud that his children
thought of him as their hero and hesitant, at the same time, that he could not be able to live up to
their Hollywood expectations. In his view, he was their hero because he provided guidance,
helped them when needed him, and knew that his children felt comfortable to approach him
when they needed to talk about anything.
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Robert’s role was the head of household and keeper of order. He was the accountant and
chef. Robert liked to keep a clean house and made sure that his children kept their spaces tidy to
his approval.
Allison felt like she was the mother of everyone in her household, including her mother.
She reported that she did most of the chores around the house and was financially responsible for
household needs. In addition, she planed all household events.
Chiquita was the head of household. She felt alone because her parents and her sons were
the only family she had. She wondered out loud about what might happen if she were to die or be
seriously injured. Also, she felt like the mother of her parents, even though they did not live with
her and had jobs.
Delia stated that she was the mom, dad, provider, doctor, everything. She explained that
role in her family was huge and she had to do it well not only because she was the role model for
her children but because they were quick to call her attention to anything that she did wrong or
anything that she forgot to do.
Crystal was very aware that her family consisted of her and her daughter. She expressed
all of her duties, paid the bills, drove, cooked, and cleaned as she was the only adult in her
family. Even more so, Crystal revealed her real fear. She was the only caretaker of her daughter
and if she were to die or be seriously injured there would be no one to care for her daughter.
As a second follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “What does the rest of
your family think about you being on school? Your kids? Your parents?” Their answers revealed
that there is a severe lack of familial support for the students who were interviewed.
Emilio’s parents were not supportive of his education. He reported that they ask when he
will be finished. His children were supportive and thought he was smart because he was in
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college. No one in Emilio’s family was supportive as is evidenced by the fact that he had no
child care.
Robert’s children were very supportive. He reported that he and his daughter had taken a
class at Inland College together and they competed, regularly, to see who could earn the highest
grades.
Allison explained that her mother, sister, and boyfriend were really supportive. She said
that her sister was the person who helped her register at Inland College. Her boyfriend was also
supportive and he appreciated her position as a college student because he recognized that their
children admired Allison. When SSP had an event, Allison brought the three children to campus.
They were very impressed by the expansive campus and ever since then, Allison reported that
she and her boyfriend no longer had to convince their children to sit down and complete their
homework. The children were motivated because they wanted to attend Inland College just like
Allison.
Chiquita’s mother was always supportive of her education, but her father was not. Her
boyfriend supported and encouraged her often. He made it clear when he reminded her that her
classes were their priority. Chiquita and her oldest son often competed to see who could earn the
highest grades.
Delia did not have parents. She made no mention of support or encouragement from her
children or extended family, but she worked very hard to be a successful student and role model
for her children.
Crystal did not have support from family. Her daughter was two years old and could not
express her support.
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The Researcher sought an explanation for the response to survey question 9c, which
every respondent rated a 7 “very important” and so added the question, “100% of people who
took the survey at the meeting in September felt that it was very important to be a positive role
model for their children. Every single person felt the same way. Why do you think that feeling
was so strong among the group?” to all interviews. The responses revealed very passionate,
reflective reasoning.
Emilio felt that his job as a father was to be a role model to his children and it was his
number one priority. He believed that the example he set and the behavior his children saw from
him shaped who they grew up to be. He wanted his children to surpass his position in life.
Robert wanted his children to look up to him and feel proud to call him their dad. When
the children reflected on their dad, Robert hoped that they would be proud of all the hard work
he completed in order to accomplish his educational goals. He felt that the best way to open the
opportunity to go to college for his children was to attend college himself and set the example.
Allison’s expressed that mother never had high expectations of her and her mother
focused her attention on Allison’s older sister. Allison attended Inland College to show her
family that she was more than capable to succeed in college and earn a degree. In addition, she
wanted to show her son and step children how a supportive mother behaved so they would repeat
that behavior for their children.
Chiquita explained that she did not want her sons to make the same mistakes that she did
and so she had to show them a better example. The mistakes she made in her past caused her to
struggle and they had negative outcomes. She did not want to see her sons experience the pain
she endured. Chiquita said, “We're life examples to our kids. This is where these things can get
you. This is where gangs can get you. This is where drugs can get you. This is where bad friends
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can get you. This is where bad decisions can get you. Now, this is where college can get you.
That's why all of us are there, to show a better example for our kids.”
Delia explained that she wanted her children to see her as a different person than the
person she was five years ago and ten years ago. However, she recognized that even though she
grew stronger, developed into herself, and changed, her past was still the same and she was not a
different person. She wanted to be a positive role model to her children, with a small twist. She
stated that she wanted her children to think, "I don't want to be like her, but at the same time I
want to do things like her. I want to go to school. I want to do that." Delia did not want her
children to repeat the mistakes she made in her past. She only wanted them to follow her current
lead as she made good choices in life.
Crystal believed that she should set a high standard for herself as a positive role model
because her daughter would follow her behavior. She wanted her daughter to surpass her
position.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in motivation to believe in the
importance of their role as students because they were single parents was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 10: SSP students believe that engaging in self-monitoring
behavior and being persistent when faced with a challenge brings them closer to their
educational goal. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order
of most to least important. 26.32% of participants ranked survey item 12b “Reaching my
educational goal” as the second most important item.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “What is the
last challenge you faced? Probe: How did you deal with it? Probe: Did it affect your
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education/classes? (repeated question)” Their answers revealed that students persisted despite
setbacks.
Emilio’s last challenge landed him on academic probation, which caused him to pay for
all of his classes. As a result, he could barely afford to take one class at a time. This took him
further away from his educational goal.
Robert’s last challenge removed his car and home, which downgrade an A in a Literature
course to a C. He did not fail the class, but he did not earn the grade he deserved.
Allison’s last challenge called for her to deal with multiple deaths and shootings in her
family during a semester and she failed multiple courses as a result. That challenge did not bring
her closer to her educational goal, but she persisted, took all of the courses again, and passed
them.
Chiquita’s challenge was financial in nature. She used to earn $21 per hour when she was
employed full-time. When she was unemployed and on maternity leave she received $250 each
month from the government. This financial, mental, and physical challenge did not deter her. She
persisted and it brought her closer to her educational goal because she qualified for educational
assistance.
Delia’s challenge was a semester-long ordeal that caused her to fail her first course, drop
a course, and not graduate when she was expected to. She fought very hard for mental health
services for her two youngest children as they were both diagnosed with multiple mental
illnesses and their services were necessary for their well-being. In addition, Delia was awarded
with a Section 8 apartment. She never lived on her own and carried extreme anxiety. Delia made
up for the courses she failed and dropped as she enrolled in the classes she needed the following
semester and was on-track to graduate.
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Crystal’s challenge resulted because her MOVE worker changed his contact information
without notification. That issue was solved. Although it affected her classes, and grades, she
persisted.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in motivation to believe that
engaging in self-monitoring behavior and being persistent when faced with a challenge brought
them closer to their educational goal was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 11: SSP students value the ability to know the in stitution ’s
academic expectations of them. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 7d, “To feel
academically prepared for classes” on an importance scale of 1-Not important to 7-Very
important, survey results showed that 100% of participants felt it was important to be
academically prepared for classes. The average rating for this survey item was 6.68 and the
standard deviation was .661.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
the institution’s academic expectations of them was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 12: SSP students value the ability to know where to find
assistance. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10l, “Find help with
my school work” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 92% were confident that they could find help with their school work.
The average rating for this survey item was 6.02 and the standard deviation was .0182.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item
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Summary. Given the high confidence level on the survey, the gap in motivation to value
the ability to know where to find assistance was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 13: SSP students value the ability to know how to set goals.
(Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10b, “Set goals for
myself” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident, survey results
showed that 95% of participants were confident in their ability to set goals for themselves. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.57 and the standard deviation was 0.248.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. The survey results showed that the gap in motivation to value the ability to
know how to set goals was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 14: SSP students value the ability to know how to create and
implement an educational plan to achieve their goals. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10a, “Create and carry
out my educational plan” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely
confident, survey results showed that 92% of students were confident in their ability to create
and carry out their educational plan. The average rating for this survey item was 6.31 and the
standard deviation was 0.207.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. The survey results showed that the gap in motivation to value the ability to
know how to create and implement an educational plan to achieve their goals was not validated.
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Assumed motivation influence 15: SSP students value the ability to know how to balance
work/life/student demands to maintain academic success for their health and the welfare of
their family. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10d, “Balance all of
my responsibilities” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 89% were confident that they could balance all of their
responsibilities. The average rating for this survey item was 6.05 and the standard deviation was
0.165.
On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order of most to least
important. 31.58% of participants ranked survey item 12e, “Balancing all of my responsibilities”
as the third most important item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to balance work/life/student demands to maintain academic success for their health and the
welfare of their family was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 16: SSP students value the ability to know how to manage
child care needs. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10e, “Manage my
child care needs” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 95% were confident that they knew how to manage their child care
needs. The average rating for this survey item was 6.36 and the standard deviation was 0.020.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Given the high confidence rating on the survey, the gap in motivation to value
the ability to know how to manage child care needs was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 17: SSP students value the ability to know the necessary
study skills; they value the ability to know how to study. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10f, “Make myself
study even when I don’t want to” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely
confident, survey results showed that 86% were confident in their ability to make themselves
study even when they did not want to. The average rating for this survey item was 5.84 and the
standard deviation was 0.146.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
the necessary study skills and how to study were validated.
Assumed motivation influence 18: SSP students value the ability to know how to manage
their financial obligations and where to find financial support services in order to achieve
educational success. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10g, “Manage all of
my financial responsibilities” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely
confident, survey results showed that 81% were confident that they could manage their financial
responsibilities. The average rating for this survey item was 5.92 and the standard deviation was
0.162.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Based on the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to manage financial obligations and where to find financial support services in order to
achieve educational success was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 19: SSP students value the ability to know how to manage
stress. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10h, “Manage my
stress” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident, survey results
showed that 76% were confident that they could manage their stress. The average rating for this
survey item was 6.02 and the standard deviation was 0.182.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to manage stress was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 20: SSP students value the ability to know how to manage
mental health needs. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10i, “Manage my
mental health needs” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 86% were confident that they could manage their mental health needs.
The average rating for this survey item was 5.73 and the standard deviation was 0.171.
On survey questions 12a-f, students were asked to rank six items in order of most to least
important. 63.16% of participants ranked survey item 12a, “Maintaining my physical and
emotional health” as the least important item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to manage mental health needs was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 21: SSP students value the ability to know how to access
mental health support and services. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10j, “Access mental
health support and services” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely
confident, survey results showed that 81% were confident in their ability to access mental health
support and services. The average rating for this survey item was 5.78 and the standard deviation
was 0.157.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the low rate of confidence, the gap in motivation to value the ability to
know how to access mental health support and services was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 22: SSP students value the ability to know how to manage
their transportation needs. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10k, “Manage my
transportation needs” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 94% were confident that they could manage their transportation
needs. The average rating for this survey item was 6.52 and the standard deviation was 0.244.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to manage transportation needs was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 23: SSP students value the ability to know how to access
educational services in order to achieve educational success. (Goal Orientation)
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Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10l, “Find help with
my school work” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 92% were confident in their ability to find help with their school
work. The average rating for this survey item was 6.02 and the standard deviation was 0.182.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation value the ability to know
access educational services in order to achieve educational success was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 24: SSP students value the ability to know how to access a
computer. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10m, “Access a
computer” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident, survey
results showed that 97% were confident in their ability to access a computer. The average rating
for this survey item was 6.78 and the standard deviation was 0.307.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to know
how to access a computer was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 25: SSP students value the ability to monitor their needs and
recognize when they need help. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10o, “Monitor my
personal needs” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 78% were confident that they could monitor their personal needs. The
average rating for this survey item was 5.81 and the standard deviation was 0.165.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Given the survey data, the gap in motivation value the ability to monitor their
needs and recognize when they need help was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 26: SSP students value the ability to reflect on the impact of
and control their social and physical environments as essential components of self-
regulation. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10q, “Arrange a place
to study without distractions” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely
confident, survey results showed that 78% were confident in their ability to arrange a place to
study without distractions. The average rating for this survey item was 5.65 and the standard
deviation was 0.130.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Due to the survey results, the gap in motivation to value the ability to reflect
on the impact of and control their social and physical environments as essential components of
self-regulation was validated.
Assumed motivation influence 27: SSP students believe that when they delay their
gratification to focus on homework, their grades rise in correlation. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10p, “Get myself to
study when there are more interesting things to do” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at
all to 7-Completely confident, survey results showed that 76% were confident in their ability to
get themselves to study even when there were more interesting things to do. The average rating
for this survey item was 5.78 and the standard deviation was 0.171.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Given that the survey confidence rating was low, the gap in motivation of the
belief that delayed gratification to focus on homework correlated with rising grades was
validated.
Assumed motivation influence 28: SSP students value the ability to understand that in
order to be academically successful, they need to actively maintain their motivation. (Goal
Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10c, “Stay motivated
to reach goals” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident, survey
results showed that 92% were confident in their ability to stay motivated to reach their goals. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.31 and the standard deviation was 0.219.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given that the survey resulted in high confidence ratings, the gap in
motivation to value the ability to understand that in order to be academically successful, students
needed to actively maintain their motivation was not validated.
Assumed motivation influence 29: SSP students value the ability to know how to assess
their academic progress. They know when they need help. (Goal Orientation)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 10n, “Monitor my
academic needs” on a confidence scale of 1-Not confident at all to 7-Completely confident,
survey results showed that 94% were confident in their ability to monitor their academic needs.
The average rating for this survey item was 6.36 and the standard deviation was 0.211.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
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Summary. Given that the survey resulted in high confidence ratings, the gap in
motivation to know how to assess their academic progress was not validated.
Organization Results
Assumed organizational influence 1: The SSP program creates an environment of
acceptance, inclusion, and belonging. (Cultural Model)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11a, “The SSP
program makes me feel welcome” on an agreement scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to 7-Strongly
Agree, survey results showed 100% of students felt that the SSP program made them feel
welcome. The average rating for this survey item was 6.94 and the standard deviation was 0.339.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “Where, on
campus, if anywhere, do you feel like you most belong? Why?” Their answers revealed that the
SSP program and CareerEd offices were where students felt they most belonged.
Emilio did not mention the SSP program or any other place on campus.
Robert stated that the SSP office was where he felt like he most belonged because that
was his place of work. Also, he knew everybody there and he felt that if he had trouble or needed
anything the counselors, office staff, and his boss would help him. He also noted that before he
worked there, he already knew everyone in the office and felt the same support. He also
mentioned that he could talk with all of the counselors at CareerEd and that was that place he
went to complete his work. In addition, Robert noted that it felt comfortable to be part of The
Forensics Debate Team and he travelled to competitions with the team and the Director.
Allison felt that she most belonged in the SSP office and CareerEd office. Allison felt
comfortable in the SSP office because she shared her life events and stress with Faith. She was
grateful for the food, drink, and supplies they regularly provided. Allison always felt a “warm
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welcome there.” She also belonged at the CareerEd office. She appreciated the staff’s
personalities because they were always excited and funny. She noted that if she were sad,
anxious, or stressed the staff in CareerEd could be counted on to cheer her up. She felt that SSP
and CareerEd were the perfect combination.
Chiquita also mentioned the SSP and CareerEd offices. She felt that the SSP office was a
place to go and vent about what she went through, especially with Faith and Joy. She felt safe to
talk with Faith about her serious stressors. Regarding CareerEd, she mentioned that Michelle was
very kind and welcomed her.
Delia mentioned the Student Union and the SSP office. She explained that the Student
Union was where she worked and so spent most of her time there. Also, she mentioned she
belonged in the SSP office with Faith. She noted that Faith was like her mother because she was
so loving and supportive.
Crystal felt that she most belonged in the CareerEd office because she worked there and
her counselors were there. She enjoyed the company of the staff.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in organizational structure
that the SSP program created an environment of acceptance, inclusion, and belonging was not
validated.
Assumed organizational influence 2: The SSP program has the resources to provide
affordable, accessible, safe child care so the SSP students can focus on academic success.
(Cultural Model)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11e, “The SSP
program should provide child care so I can focus on school” on an agreement scale of 1-Strongly
Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 86% of students felt that the SSP program
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should provide child care so they could focus on school. The average rating for this survey item
was 6.10 and the standard deviation was 0.213.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “What
services could the SSP program provide that would allow you to focus on school? How could
they help?” Their answers revealed excellent ideas.
Emilio’s need was an after-school program to alleviate his need for child care.
Robert felt that between the SSP program and CareerEd he was provided with everything
he needed to focus on school and that students who had difficulty did not put enough effort into
their studies.
Allison needed occasional child care for when her regular provider was ill so she could
attend classes or required appointments. She recounted that the SSP program required several
meetings throughout the semester, but children were not allowed at any. In addition, Allison
needed an eye exam and glasses as she did not see well and could not see far and near which
made focus in classes a challenge.
Chiquita needed child care in the evenings to focus on her courses. In addition, she felt
that many students needed to take advantage of psychological services.
Delia needed an after-school program that included homework help. She needed a place
for herself and her children to study where tutors were available because they needed help with
their assignments.
Crystal needed evening child care. In addition, she wanted safe spaces on campus for
student parents. She also felt that student parents did not have, yet needed, a strong identity on
campus.
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Summary. Given that each student, with the exception of Robert who had older children,
mentioned child care, it was possible that the survey question was too vague.
Given the survey and interview results, the gap in organizational structure that the SSP program
had the resources to provide affordable, accessible, safe child care so the SSP students could
focus on academic success was validated.
Assumed organizational influence 3: The SSP program offers students the ability to engage
in interpersonal relationships with other SSP students. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11b, “The SSP
program gives me an opportunity to become friends with other SSP students” on an agreement
scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 100% of students felt
that the SSP program gave them an opportunity to become friends with other SSP students. The
average rating for this survey item was 6.86 and the standard deviation was 0.308.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “Do you
have friends on campus? How did you meet?” Their answers revealed that the males preferred to
be alone while the females preferred to have friends.
Emilio reported that he had no friends on campus. Robert reported that he no friends on
campus, but he recently met a girlfriend through the SSP program. Allison had friends on
campus that she met through the SSP program and CareerEd. Chiquita had friends on campus
that she met through the Honor Society and Nursing classes. She felt that some of the students in
the SSP program did not take their education seriously and preferred to spend time with people
from other programs. Delia had friends on campus that she met through the SSP program and she
met many people through work. Crystal had friends throughout campus that she met through
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CareerEd, MOCA, Encompass, and a few from the SSP program though she preferred to spend
time with people from other programs.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in organizational structure
that the SSP program offered students the ability to engage in interpersonal relationships with
other SSP students was not validated.
Assumed organizational influence 4: The SSP program has procedures in place to increase
the sense of worth and importance of the SSP students by making individual connections
with students to meet their educational needs as well as being personally meaningful.
(Cultural Setting)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11c, “The SSP
program allows me to make meaningful connections with educational counselors” on an
Agreement Scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 100% of
students felt that the SSP program allows me to make meaningful connections with educational
counselors. The average rating for this survey item was 6.86 and the standard deviation was
0.308.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “Please tell
me about the experiences you have had with the SSP counselors.” Their answers revealed that
the students had strong connections with their counselors.
Emilio reported that his experience with the counselors was good and they spoke of a
detailed educational plan.
Robert stated that his impression of the SSP counselors was very positive. He felt that he
formed a student-counselor relationship with all of the counselors because he made a strong
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effort to get to know them and he allowed them to know him. Robert expressed that all of the
counselors were very good to him and helped him.
Allison mentioned that she bonded with Dawn because she loved dogs as much as
Allison did. Hope was younger, she didn't sugarcoat anything, and she recently graduated from
the university that Allison wanted to attend. For those reasons, Allison reported a bond with
Hope. Allison reported that Faith was very special to her and said that she opened up to her about
anything and everything.
Chiquita said that Faith was like her second mother because she helped her find the
answer to any education-related question she had and also helped her emotionally. Charity was a
counselor that continually remembered everything about Chiquita and excitedly congratulated
her when she was accepted into the Honor Society.
Delia spoke of her bond with Hope because she was newly graduated and Delia felt
comfortable when she made mistakes around her. Delia felt that the love Hope had for the
students in the SSP program was palpable, just like Faith’s, who held a position of trust within
the SSP program.
When asked about her impression of the SSP counselors, Crystal enthusiastically replied,
“I love them!” She explained that Faith was amazing because she was extremely supportive and
helped Crystal often. Faith referred her to different resources, gave her ideas to think about, and
just listened to Crystal when she needed to talk. Crystal also spoke lovingly of Hope. She
reported that Hope kept her motivated and advised her to set realistic goals at the same time.
Hope continually asked about Crystal’s daughter and was always personable. Crystal loved the
SSP counselors and they felt like a small family to her.
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Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in organizational structure
that the SSP program had procedures in place to increase the sense of worth and importance of
the SSP students by making individual connections with students to meet their educational needs
as well as being personally meaningful was not validated.
Assumed organizational influence 5: The SSP program has a process in place to receive
feedback from the students to maintain a valuable program experience. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11d, “If I were to give
feedback to the SSP program, it would be listened to” on an agreement scale of 1-Strongly
Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 97% of students felt that the SSP program
had a process in place to receive feedback from the students to maintain a valuable program
experience. The average rating for this survey item was 6.81 and the standard deviation was
0.307.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in organizational structure that the SSP
program had a process in place to receive feedback from the students to maintain a valuable
program experience was not validated.
Assumed organizational influence 6: The SSP program has procedures in place that enable
it to expect and plan for growth and change. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn for this influence.
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Assumed organizational influence 7: The SSP program ensures that Inland College
considers the needs of SSP students when policies and procedures are created and/or
amended. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. This influence did not include a survey item.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. No conclusion could be drawn for this influence.
Assumed organizational influence 8: The SSP program ensures that SSP students are
supported with intellectual tutoring. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11f, “The SSP
program provides helpful educational tutoring” on an agreement scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to
7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 84% of students felt that the SSP program ensured that
SSP students were supported with intellectual tutoring. The average rating for this survey item
was 6.02 and the standard deviation was 0.194.
Interview findings. This influence did not include an interview item.
Summary. Given the survey results, the gap in organizational structure that the SSP
program ensured that SSP students were supported with intellectual tutoring was validated.
Assumed organizational influence 9: The SSP program has an effective communication
process to ensure that SSP students, as whole people, are taken into account and programs
and services are created to serve them. (Cultural Setting)
Survey results. When students were asked to rate survey question 11g, “I believe the
SSP program takes my needs into account when designing programs and services” on an
agreement scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 100% of
students felt that the SSP program had an effective communication process to ensure that SSP
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students, as whole people, were taken into account and programs and services were created to
serve them. The average rating for this survey item was 6.73 and the standard deviation was
0.269.
When students were asked to rate survey question 11h, “I am satisfied with the
information I receive about the services available through the SSP program” on an agreement
scale of 1-Strongly Disagree to 7-Strongly Agree, survey results showed 100% of students were
satisfied with the information they received about the services available through the SSP
program. The average rating for this survey item was 6.81 and the standard deviation was 0.288.
Interview findings. As a follow-up to the survey, interviewees were asked, “What
workshops or programs would you create?” Their answers revealed very creative workshop and
program ideas.
Emilio expressed his love of learning new skills through his suggestions of workshops on
woodwork, knot-tying, CPR and first aid, investment, Yoga and cooking. Robert felt that all
SSP students could benefit from workshops on finances and time management, especially for the
parents who had difficulty balancing all of their responsibilities as well as succeeding in school.
Robert thought an inspirational workshop that included people who were previously in
the SSP program and then became successful could give the students ideas for achievement they
may not have thought about might be useful. Also, Robert wanted a workshop where SSP
students could really get to know one another on a deeper level, not only to hold a surface-level
conversation. He felt that if students knew more about what one another experienced, there was
more common ground between students. He recognized that students in the SSP program needed
mental health services, so he wanted to see a strong program started that helped those in need of
such services. For students who are new to the SSP program, he felt it could be very helpful if an
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audience-specific workshop to focus on how to navigate the Inland College course system were
held. Robert wanted the new students to feel confident in their knowledge of which classes to
enroll in, how to drop a class, what the consequences were if a class was dropped at different
points during the semester, and what happened if they change their mind about a class or major.
One additional point Robert made was that the culture of the SSP program was geared toward
female empowerment while lowering the status of males at the same time. He wanted to see
more of a focus on the recognition that not all males were harmful to women. In addition, an
equal opportunity to earn scholarships for males was necessary.
Allison mentioned that she wanted to see a meditation class because she felt that all
students in the SSP program could benefit from learning how to relax. She wanted more
exercise-based workshops. She stated that there was a previous Zumba program and that the
students who participated had fun as they exercised together.
Chiquita felt it could be useful to see workshops on how to manage finances, time,
professional etiquette (clothing, speech, make-up, behavior), and how to prioritize parenthood.
Delia wanted to see workshops on finance, parenting techniques, self-care while in
school, how to balance school, work, and children, scholarship applications and scholarship
availability, and how to write a personal statement.
Crystal wanted to see workshops on self-care for parents and the transfer process to the
university system, particularly the University of California system, focused on parenting
students.
Summary. Given the survey and interview results, the gap in organizational structure
that the SSP program had an effective communication process to ensure that SSP students, as
whole people, were taken into account and programs and services were created to serve them
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was not validated. The SSP program strove to provide affordable and accessible resources to
their students (Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001), a critical cultural model.

Table 8
Validated Influences Summary
Influence Type Influence Gap Validated
(Yes, No,
NC-Not
Collected)
Knowledge
Factual Knowledge
SSP students need to know their educational
goals.

No
SSP students need to know the institution’s
academic expectations of them.

NC
SSP students need to know where to find
assistance.
No
Conceptual
Knowledge

SSP students understand that accessing
educational services can help strengthen
academic skills in order to achieve
educational success.

No
Procedural
Knowledge

SSP students need to know how to set goals.

NC

SSP students know how to create and
implement an educational plan to achieve
their goals.

NC

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SSP students know how to balance
work/life/student demands to maintain
academic success for their health and the
welfare of their family.

Yes

SSP students know how to manage
childcare needs.

Yes

SSP students know the necessary study
skills; they know how to study.

NC

SSP students know how to manage their
financial obligations and where to find
financial support services in order to
achieve educational success.

Yes

SSP students know how to manage stress.

Yes

SSP students know how to manage mental
health needs.

Yes

SSP students know how to access mental
health support and services.

Yes

SSP students know how to manage their
transportation needs.

No
SSP students know how to access
educational services in order to achieve
educational success.

No
SSP students know how to access a
computer.

NC
SSP students know how to register for
customized courses in order to avoid
extraneous learning.

NC
Metacognitive
Knowledge

SSP students are able to monitor their needs
and recognize when they need help.

Yes

SSP students reflect on the impact of and
control their social and physical
Yes

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environments as essential components of
self-regulation.

SSP students understand that when they
delay their gratification to focus on
homework, their grades rise in correlation.

No
SSP students understand that in order to be
academically successful, they need to
actively maintain their motivation.

No
SSP students know how to assess their
academic progress. They know when they
need help.
No
Motivation
Goal-Orientation
SSP students value their ability to assess
and monitor their academic success.
No
SSP students value the effort they put into
their work which allows them higher
accomplishments.

No

SSP students place high value on
persistence as they do not give up when
faced with challenges.

Unclear
results

SSP students are confident in their ability to
implement study strategy interventions in
order to raise their level of self-efficacy.

No

SSP students value their ability to create
mental pictures of successful scenarios in
order to visualize their success.

No

SSP students believe that engaging with
faculty will solidify instructional help and
encouragement.

No

SSP students value the opportunity to attend
extracurricular events with their children.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to absorb
information at an expert level.

No

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SSP students believe in the importance of
their role as students because they are single
parents.

No

SSP students believe that engaging in self-
monitoring behavior and being persistent
when faced with a challenge brings them
closer to their educational goal.

No

SSP students value the ability to know the
institution’s academic expectations of them.

No

SSP students value the ability to know
where to find assistance.

No

SSP students value the ability to know how
to set goals.
No

SSP students value the ability to know how
to create and implement an educational plan
to achieve their goals.

No

SSP students value the ability to know how
to balance work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their health
and the welfare of their family.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to know how
to manage child care needs.

No

SSP students value the ability to know the
necessary study skills; they value the ability
to know how to study.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to know how
to manage their financial obligations and
where to find financial support services in
order to achieve educational success.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to know how
to manage stress.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to know how
to manage mental health needs.

Yes
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SSP students value the ability to know how
to access mental health support and
services.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to know how
to manage their transportation needs.

No
SSP students value the ability to know how
to access educational services in order to
achieve educational success.

No
SSP students value the ability to know how
to access a computer.

No
SSP students value the ability to monitor
their needs and recognize when they need
help.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to reflect on
the impact of and control their social and
physical environments as essential
components of self-regulation.

Yes
SSP students believe that when they delay
their gratification to focus on homework,
their grades rise in correlation.

Yes
SSP students value the ability to understand
that in order to be academically successful,
they need to actively maintain their
motivation.

No
SSP students value the ability to know how
to assess their academic progress. They
know when they need help.
No
Organizational
Cultural Model
The SSP program creates an environment of
acceptance, inclusion, and belonging.

No
The SSP program has the resources to
provide affordable, accessible, safe child
care so the SSP students can focus on
academic success.
Yes
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Cultural Setting
The SSP program offers students the ability
to engage in interpersonal relationships with
other SSP students.

No
The SSP program has procedures in place to
increase the sense of worth and importance
of the SSP students by making individual
connections with students to meet their
educational needs as well as being
personally meaningful.

No
The SSP program has a process in place to
receive feedback from the students to
maintain a valuable program experience.

No
The SSP program has procedures in place
that enable it to expect and plan for growth
and change.

NC
The SSP program ensures that Inland
College considers the needs of SSP students
when policies and procedures are created
and/or amended.

NC
The SSP program ensures that SSP students
are supported with intellectual tutoring.

Yes
The SSP program has an effective
communication process to ensure that SSP
students, as whole people, are taken into
account and programs and services are
created to serve them.
No

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CHAPTER FIVE: RECOMMENDATIONS AND INTEGRATED IMPLEMENTATION AND
EVALUATION PLAN
In Chapter 4, the survey results and interview findings were presented through Clark and
Estes’ (2008) gap analysis model of knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences. The
focus of Chapter 5 is to answer the third research question, “What are the recommendations for
organizational practice in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources?”
thoroughly. Each of the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that were
validated as having a gap in their respective areas are examined below. Additionally, context-
specific research was consulted to provide specialized recommendations for practice to remove
the gap in SSP student performance in order to meet the goal of executing 100% of the strategies
they need to maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018. Additionally, the New World
Kirkpatrick Model and Four Levels of Training Evaluation (2016) is used to frame a plan for
implementation and evaluation of these recommendations.
Recommendations for Practice to Address KMO Influences
Knowledge Recommendations
Introduction. The first column of Table 9 shows the list of influences that were validated
as having a knowledge gap based on the survey results and the interview findings of SSP
students. Clark and Estes (2008) showed that in order for people to actually achieve the goals
that they set, it was imperative that they possessed the knowledge and skills necessary to pursue
actualization of those goals. The second column shows the priority status of the validated
influence. If the influence is rated a high priority, it affects the students’ ability to lead their
personal life and be successful in school. If the influence is rated a medium priority, it affects
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either the students’ ability to lead their personal life or be successful in school. If the influence is
rated a low priority, it is beneficial, but not necessary for students to lead their personal life or be
successful in school. Table 9 also includes context-specific recommendations based on
theoretical principles that are specific to the SSP program to successfully carry out these
influences.

Table 9
Validated Knowledge Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Knowledge
Influence:
Cause, Need, or
Asset*

Priority
(High,
Medium
, Low)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
SSP students
know how to
balance
work/life/student
demands to
maintain
academic success
for their health
and the welfare
of their family.
(P)

High Self-regulatory
strategies,
including goal
setting, enhance
learning and
performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler,
Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009;
Smith, 2002).

Provide students with
training, mentoring,
checklists, and create a
community of practice
regarding goal setting
for work-life balance,
self-regulation, and
academic success.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 176

SSP students
know how to
manage childcare
needs. (P)

High How individuals
organize
knowledge
influences how
they learn and
apply what they
know (Schraw &
McCrudden,
2006).
Establish a
community of practice
for student child care
needs.

SSP students
know how to
manage their
financial
obligations and
where to find
financial support
services in order
to achieve
educational
success. (P)

High Effective
observational
learning is
achieved
by first organizing
and rehearsing
modeled
behaviors, then
enacting them
overtly
(Mayer, 2011).
Provide training to
show students how to
manage financial
obligations and where
to find financial
support.

Provide a job aid
containing
information regarding
the various financial
services that the
community provides
for students, as well as
the college.
SSP students
know how to
manage stress.
(P)

High Learning is
enhanced when the
learner’s working
memory capacity
is not overloaded
(Kirshner,
Kirshner, & Paas,
2006).
Provide training that
shows students how to
manage their time
wisely to avoid being
overwhelmed.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 177

SSP students
know how to
manage mental
health needs. (P)

High Models who are
credible and
similar (e.g.,
gender, culturally
appropriate) can
foster positive
values (Pajares,
2006).

Teaching models will
provide training to
help SSP students
manage their mental
health needs. Weekly
check-ins with mental
health professionals
will support SSP
students to support
student wellness and
avoid developing
chronic mental health
issues.
SSP students
know how to
access mental
health support
and services. (P)
High Activating
personal interest
through
opportunities for
choice and control
can increase
motivation
(Eccles, 2006).

Provide a job aid
containing
information regarding
the various mental
health services that the
community provides,
as well as the college.
SSP students are
able to monitor
their needs and
recognize when
they need help.
(M)

Medium Self-regulatory
strategies,
including goal
setting, enhance
learning and
performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler,
Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009;
Smith, 2002).
Provide training and
job aids to teach SSP
students strategies to
set goals, manage
their motivation, time,
learning strategies,
control their physical
and social
environment, and
monitor their
performance so they
can be self-aware and
control their needs.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 178

SSP students
reflect on the
impact of and
control their
social and
physical
environments as
essential
components of
self-regulation.
(M)
Low Effective
observational
learning is
achieved by first
organizing and
rehearsing
modeled
behaviors, then
enacting them
overtly (Mayer,
2011).
Provide training for
students to teach time
management and
environmental control
strategies.

Procedural knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. SSP students know
how to balance work/life/student demands to maintain academic success for their health and the
welfare of their family. Multiple researchers have shown that students who increased their
learning performance exhibited the self-regulatory strategy of goal setting (Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2009; Smith, 2002). Their findings would suggest that
knowledge of how to set goals can improve academic success. The recommendation may be for
the SSP program to provide goal setting training and continue with one-on-one mentoring so
students continue prioritize their obligations for their academic success.
In 2012, Moeller, Theiller, and Wu of the University of Nebraska, reported their findings
of a five-year quasi-experimental study of 1,273 high school students across 23 high school
Spanish language classrooms. The students were explicitly taught how to use LinguaFolio a tool
that focused on self-assessment, goal-setting, and individual achievement (Moeller, Theiller, &
Wu, 2012). At the end of their endeavor, the researchers found a statistically significant
correlation between goal setting and student achievement (p <.01) (Moeller, Theiller, & Wu,
2012). Because the link between training for goal setting, actual goal setting, and academic
achievement was statistically clear, the recommendation is for the SSP program to provide
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 179

students with training, mentoring, checklists, and create a community of practice regarding goal
setting for work-life balance, self-regulation, and academic success.
SSP students know how to manage childcare needs. Schraw and McCrudden (2006)
showed that the way individuals organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what
they know. Their research proposes that when students are provided a job aid, such as a link to
available babysitters, to organize their child care options it will help balance their scheduling
needs (Schraw & McCrudden, 2006). The recommendation might be for the SSP program to
establish a community of practice among parent-students for student child care needs.
Ezra and Deckman (1996) surveyed 28,329 Federal workers, half were women, to
determine their satisfaction rating with their child care arrangements. At the time, the
government offered a flexible schedule, a compressed schedule, and on-site child care (Ezra &
Deckman, 1996). Those parents whose offices offered on-location child care centers showed the
highest satisfaction ratings above a flexible or compressed schedule (Ezra & Deckman, 1996).
Additionally, 79% of women preferred to have their children enrolled at the on-site child care
center whereas 21% of men showed the same preference (Ezra & Deckman, 1996). According
Ezra and Deckman, (1996) it seems that mothers are typically the primary caregivers, which can
make it difficult for them to balance the work and family aspects of their life. Given that the
satisfaction rating for students translates into retention and success, the recommendation is to
establish a community of practice for student child care needs.
SSP students know how to manage their financial obligations and where to find
financial support services in order to achieve educational success. Mayer (2011) explained
that effective observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing modeled
behaviors, then enacting them overtly. Mayer’s (2011) theory recommends providing students
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 180

the opportunity to think about and practice a behavior before they actually try it will increase
effectiveness. The recommendation might be to provide training to show SSP students how to
manage financial obligations and where to find financial support.
Norvilitis, Szablicki, and Wilson (2003) showed that over 75% of the 227 students in
their study had at least one credit card with an average debt of $2,738 and average income of
$10,246. Although the sample was small, there were single parents included whose average debt
was more than three times the average at $8725 (Norvilitis, Szablicki, & Wilson, 2003).
Norvilitis, Szablicki, and Wilson (2003) strongly recommended that all college students should
receive training on how to manage money and interventions on debt education. Given this
information, the recommendation is to provide training to show SSP students how to manage
financial obligations and where to find financial support.
SSP students know how to manage stress. Kirshner, Kirshner, and Paas (2006) showed
that learning is enhanced when the learner’s working memory capacity is not overloaded. The
researchers’ explain that a student should be better equipped to learn more if they are not
overwhelmed and, as a result, their mind can allow additional input. The recommendation might
be to teach SSP students how to organize their time.
Häfner, Stock and Oberst (2015) showed a positive correlation between a training
program that explicitly showed college students how to manage their time and decreased stress.
A small sample of twenty-three undergraduate students attended a time management training
and reported their life demands, perceived stress, and perceived control of time directly before,
2, and 4 weeks after training (Häfner, Stock & Oberst, 2015). Häfner, Stock and Oberst (2015)
used perceived stress and perceived control of time as dependent variables, which should be
influenced by the training and life demands as the control variable, which were unchanged. The
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 181

result showed that the perceived stress decreased and perceived control of time increased after
the training, whereas the students’ life demands did not change (Häfner, Stock & Oberst, 2015).
Therefore, time management training might be beneficial to lower undergraduate students’
stress. As a result, the recommendation is to provide training that shows students how to
manage their time wisely to avoid being overwhelmed.
SSP students know how to manage mental health needs. Pajares (2006) explained that
models who are credible and similar (gender, culturally appropriate) can foster positive values.
Accordingly, a learner would benefit from having access to a mentor who has the same
background as them because the mentor would understand and may push accepted cultural
boundaries to help the learner reach personal goals. The recommendation might be to provide
mental health training to SSP students and allow them to be mentored.
Holland (2016) surveyed 342 college student respondents using a self-administered
survey that was completed with paper and pencil. Researchers were stationed at tables in several
places at Purdue University during one week in April 2009 and they requested passersby to
complete the survey (Holland, 2016). The sample reflected the student body of the college and
were 52% female and 48% male (Holland, 2016). The survey measured academic stress, coping,
depression, self-esteem, social support, used the appropriate scales of measurement (Holland,
2016). Holland (2016) found that students who used mental health services were more likely to
implement healthy coping mechanisms. In addition, students were more likely to avoid using
mental health services if they felt the provider would be judgmental and discriminatory as the
background and culture of the providers did not often match those of the students (Holland,
2016). Given the findings of this research, the recommendation is to have teaching models with
similar backgrounds and cultures provide training to help SSP students manage their mental
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 182

health needs. In addition, weekly check-ins with mental health professionals who have similar
backgrounds will support SSP students to support student wellness and avoid developing
chronic mental health issues.
SSP students know how to access mental health support and services. Eccles (2006)
explained that activating personal interest through opportunities for choice and control can
increase motivation. Eccles’ (2006) argument proposes that when learners are provided with
several options to choose from they are more likely to take control and make informed choices
on their own and, as a result, they might be more interested and motivated. The
recommendation might be to provide SSP students with information about multiple options for
mental health support and services.
Eisenberg, Golberstein, and Gollust (2007) studied 2785 students attending a large,
public university in an effort to quantify mental health service use and estimate how various
factors were associated with help-seeking. A Web-based survey was administered to a random
sample and non-response bias was accounted for (Eisenberg, Golberstein, & Gollust, 2007).
Eisenberg, Golberstein, and Gollust’s (2007) results showed that of students who screened
positive for depression or anxiety, 37%- 84% did not receive services. One of the main
predictors of not receiving services was unawareness of existing services (Eisenberg,
Golberstein, & Gollust, 2007). Given these findings, the recommendation is to provide a job aid
containing information regarding the various mental health services that the community
provides, as well as the college.
SSP students are able to monitor their needs and recognize when they need help.
Multiple researchers have shown that self-regulatory strategies, including goal setting, enhance
learning and performance (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2009; Smith,
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 183

2002). The self-regulatory hypothesis suggests that learners who know how to set goals and
how to control their motivation and surroundings are able to perform and learn at an enhanced
level (Dembo & Eaton, 2000). The recommendation might be to explicitly teach SSP students
self-regulation strategies and how to set goals.
Lee, Lim, and Grabowski (2010) studied the effect of self-regulation training on 223
undergraduate volunteers while they learned about the human heart system. Students were
divided into the control group, which received no training, and the training group, which
received explicit training on self-regulation strategies (Lee, Lim, & Grabowski, 2010). In
addition, the training group also received metacognitive feedback to enhance the learners’
ability to learn how to regulate, monitor, and refine their self-regulation strategy use and, as a
result, improve their use of self-regulation (Lee, Lim, & Grabowski, 2010). The discovery
showed the training group outperformed the control group in recall and comprehension (Lee,
Lim, & Grabowski, 2010). Given the performance, the recommendation is to provide training
and job aids to teach SSP students strategies to set goals, manage their motivation, time,
learning strategies, control their physical and social environment, and monitor their performance
so they can be self-aware and control their needs.
Metacognitive knowledge solutions, or description of needs or assets. SSP students
reflect on the impact of and control their social and physical environments as essential
components of self-regulation. Effective observational learning is achieved by first organizing
and rehearsing modeled behaviors, then enacting them overtly (Mayer, 2011). Mayer’s (2011)
observational approach recommends that before learners attempt to practice and learn a behavior,
they first must study that behavior in order to understand it and then mimic it. The
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 184

recommendation might be to show SSP students how to control their environments and then to
reflect on the impact.
Orange (1999) tested the effectiveness of peer modeling on study strategies, including
control of environment, distractions, help-seeking, and self-monitoring among others factors.
Orange’s (1999) research design included a nonequivalent pretest and posttest control group with
63 undergraduate volunteer participants (52 women and 11 men). The experimental group
received self-regulation training through a video tape (Orange, 1999). In addition, a peer-
advocate presented each individual with a personalized action plan to improve their study
strategies, decrease distractions while studying, increase help-seeking behavior, and increase
self-monitoring (Orange, 1999). The control group received no training or peer-advocate action
plan (Orange, 1999). As expected, the experimental group that received training and a peer-
advocate action plan performed significantly better than the control group as was evidenced in
their final course grades (Orange, 1999). Given this, the recommendation is to provide training
and a job aid for students to teach time management and environmental control strategies.
Motivation Recommendations
Introduction. Active choice, persistence, and mental effort are the three dimensions of
motivation (Clark & Estes, 2008) and they will be explored in this section. When a person
decides to pursue something, they are making an active choice. Also, making a choice not to
pursue something is an active choice as well. It is more likely that a person will choose to pursue
something when they see it as relevant and useful to their lives (Eccles, 2006; Pintrich, 2003).
Persistence is not allowing distractions, whether they be people, ideas, obligations, or anything
else stand in the way of achieving the set goal. Pajares (2006) showed that if a learner has a
positive model of the desired behavior, it is more likely that the behavior can be replicated. The
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 185

same is true of the reverse. If the positive model is absent, the desired behavior is less likely to
be replicated, which explains the idea of mental effort as measured on a sliding scale. It is not an
exact measurement. If a goal is very important and a person is highly motivated to achieve that
goal, they are likely to invest a lot of mental effort. On the other hand, if the goal is not very
important and the person is not motivated, they are likely to invest very little mental effort. Also,
if a person feels that they have a low possibility of achieving the goal, they are less likely to
invest time and effort (Pajares, 2006). Table 10 displays the influences that SSP students showed
a gap in motivation for, based on the survey results and interview findings. Also included are the
priority status of the influence and the recommendations for these influences based on theoretical
principles.

Table 10
Summary of Validated Motivation Influences and Recommendations
Assumed Motivation
Influence: Cause,
Need, or Asset*

Priority
(High,
Medium,
Low)
Principle and
Citation
Context-Specific
Recommendation
SSP students value
the opportunity to
attend
extracurricular
events with their
children. (GO)

Low Designing
learning tasks that
are interesting,
novel, and varied
promotes mastery
orientation
(Yough &
Anderman, 2006).

Inland College and
the SSP program
should support self-
directed learning by
offering many more
extracurricular events
for the students to
attend with their
children.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 186

SSP students value
the ability to know
how to balance
work/life/student
demands to
maintain academic
success for their
health and the
welfare of their
family. (GO)

High Self-regulatory
strategies,
including goal
setting, enhance
learning and
performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler,
Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009;
Smith, 2002).

Provide training,
mentoring,
checklists, and create
a community of
practice regarding
work-life balance,
including goal-
setting, self-
regulation, and
academic success.
SSP students value
the ability to know
the necessary study
skills; they value
the ability to know
how to study. (GO)

Medium Learning and
motivation are
enhanced if the
learner values the
task (Eccles,
2006).

Provide a community
of practice, training,
on-the-job training,
and encourage self-
monitoring.
SSP students value
the ability to know
how to manage
their financial
obligations and
where to find
financial support
services in order to
achieve
educational
success. (GO)

High Rationales that
include a
discussion of the
importance and
utility value of
the work or
learning can help
learners develop
positive values
(Eccles, 2006;
Pintrich, 2003)
Provide financial
training to show
students how to
manage obligations
and provide a job aid
containing
information about the
various financial
support services that
the community and
the college offers
students.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 187

SSP students value
the ability to know
how to manage
stress. (GO)

High Managing
intrinsic load by
segmenting
complex material
into smaller parts
and pre-training,
among other
strategies, enables
learning to be
enhanced
(Kirshner,
Kirshner, & Paas,
2006).

Provide training that
shows students how
valuable it is to
manage their time
wisely to avoid being
overwhelmed. In
addition, students
should be trained in
the value of self-
monitoring
techniques and be
provided with
handouts that contain
directions for
continued self-
directed learning.
SSP students value
the ability to know
how to manage
mental health
needs. (GO)

High Positive
emotional
environments
support
motivation (Clark
& Estes, 2008)
Teaching models will
provide powerful
positive thinking
techniques to SSP
students to manage
their daily mental
health needs. In
addition, coaches will
hold weekly check-
ins and reinforce
these techniques.
SSP students value
the ability to know
how to access
mental health
support and
services. (GO)

High Activating
personal interest
through
opportunities for
choice and
control can
increase
motivation
(Eccles, 2006).

Provide an online
mental health
management system,
including tele-
counseling, and
training on how to
use it.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 188

SSP students value
the ability to
monitor their needs
and recognize
when they need
help. (GO)

Low Focusing on
mastery,
individual
improvement,
learning, and
progress
promotes positive
motivation
(Yough &
Anderman, 2006)
Provide students self-
regulation training
and with monetary
rewards (vouchers to
the campus cafe or
bookstore) for
seeking help.
SSP students value
the ability to reflect
on the impact of
and control their
social and physical
environments as
essential
components of
self-regulation.
(GO)

Low Self-regulatory
strategies,
including goal
setting, enhance
learning and
performance
(Dembo & Eaton,
2000; Denler,
Wolters, &
Benzon, 2009;
Smith, 2002).
Provide job aids for
SSP students to self-
assess the impact of
their social and
physical environment
in relation to their
learning.
SSP students
believe that when
they delay their
gratification to
focus on
homework, their
grades rise in
correlation. (GO)

Low Behavior that is
reinforced is
strengthened
(Daly, 2009).
Provide monetary
rewards to SSP
students who earn
higher than a 3.0
GPA.

Goal orientation. SSP students value the opportunity to attend extracurricular events
with their children. Yough and Anderman (2006) pointed out that designing learning tasks that
are interesting, novel, and varied promotes mastery orientation. The researchers’ theory of
mastery holds that learners focus on acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and mastering those
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 189

skills when they care about what they are learning. The recommendation might be to provide
opportunities for students to attend events with their children.
Miller and Tatum (2008) used a mixed methodology to investigate the association
between family history knowledge, persistence, and cultural change in low-income, first-
generation college students. Through survey data and interview findings, one of the major
predictors of success was the level of parent involvement. This one factor was seen as a
component of family support, as it has the potential to enhance persistence to graduation of low-
income, first-generation college students. Given this, the recommendation is that Inland College
and the SSP program should support current, and future, students by offering many more self-
directed learning, extracurricular events for students to attend with their children.
SSP students value the ability to know how to balance work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their health and the welfare of their family. Multiple
researchers have shown that self-regulatory strategies, including goal setting, enhance learning
and performance (Dembo & Eaton, 2000; Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2009; Smith, 2002).
Training learners on self-regulatory strategies would increase their ability to perform these tasks
and, thereby, support motivation. The recommendation might be to provide SSP students with
training and job aids to promote value of balance.
Perels, Dignath and Schmitz (2009) explored the value and effectiveness of self-
regulation training for 53 sixth grade students. The researchers used a pretest and posttest to
measure effectiveness and value. All students, thought they were in two different classes, were
taught the same math unit. One teacher taught the control group only mathematical topics while
the experimental group was taught mathematical topics as well as self-regulative strategies. The
results revealed that the experimental group achieved higher grades by using self-regulation
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 190

strategies and therefore valued the ability to know the self-regulative strategies. Given the
conclusion, the recommendation is to provide training, mentoring, checklists, and create a
community of practice regarding work-life balance, including goal-setting, self-regulation, and
academic success.
SSP students value the ability to know the necessary study skills; they value the ability
to know how to study. Eccles (2006) explained that learning and motivation are enhanced if the
learner values the task. The importance level of the lesson directly correlates to the level of
interest for the learner, so the key is to ensure the necessity of the lesson for the learner in order
to increase learning and motivation. The recommendation might be to engage the learners in
skills they find necessary to their personal and academic success.
Jensen and Worth (2014) conducted an ethnographic study in a required general
education literature classroom of twenty-five community college students in their fourth
semester and their instructor. The researchers investigated how the students saw themselves as
learners. After the class, the researchers interviewed the students and asked how they felt about
studying for the course. There were two opposing student viewpoints that resulted from the
interviews. One aspect was that students felt more well-rounded and prepared for their life
journey. The opposing motivation was the need to connect their learning and study skills to
something practical. Given this, the recommendation is to provide a community of practice,
training, on-the-job training, and encourage self-monitoring.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage their financial obligations and
where to find financial support services in order to achieve educational success. Eccles (2006)
and Pintrich (2003) showed how rationales that include a discussion of the importance and
utility value of the work or learning can help learners develop positive values. In order to gain
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 191

buy-in from learners they need to understand how the lessons they are learning can be put to use
immediately to improve their well-being. It is imperative to examine and talk with learners
about how and why lessons are significant and how they can be utilized in order to increase the
value for learners. The recommendation might be to hold a workshop for SSP students about
how to balance a monthly bank account.
Iwai and Churchill (1982) studied 1849 students at Arizona State University who dropped
out by sending a survey through the mail. The questionnaire included items relating to family
background, high school experiences and achievements, educational experiences at ASU, and
reactions to campus services and facilities. The educational expenses section of the
questionnaire showed that the sources of financial support most frequently cited were parental
support, part-time work, personal savings, and summer work. A closer look revealed that
women relied more on parents and spouses, but when those sources were absent were more
likely to drop out. The researchers recommended financial education for college students. Given
this, the recommendation is to provide financial training to show students how to manage
obligations and provide a job aid containing information about the various financial support
services that the community and the college offers students.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage stress. Managing intrinsic load
by segmenting complex material into smaller parts and pre-training, among other strategies,
enables learning to be enhanced (Kirshner, Kirshner, & Paas, 2006). Teaching learners how to
break down overwhelming tasks into manageable segments and organizing them empowers
them to improve their learning. The recommendation might be to help SSP students understand
the importance of managing their stress by learning how to manage their responsibilities.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 192

Brint and Cantwell’s (2006) research explored the experiences of more than 6,000
students through the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES).
While controlling for students’ socio-demographic backgrounds, previous academic
achievements, and social psychological stressors, the researchers found that the students’ time
management skill was positively related to their grade achievement. When students were able to
schedule the time necessary to study and flourish in their courses, they earned higher grades than
students who did not have the skill to explicitly schedule their study time. The researchers
recommended university administrators to provide training on the value of scheduling study time
as it correlates directly with higher grade point average. Given this finding, the recommendation
is to provide training that shows SSP students how valuable it is to manage their time wisely to
avoid being overwhelmed. In addition, students should be trained in the value of self-monitoring
techniques and be provided with handouts that contain directions for continued self-directed
learning.
SSP students value the ability to know how to manage mental health needs. Clark and
Estes (2008) show that positive emotional environments support motivation. This theory
discloses the considerable importance of the learner’s surroundings and how a small change in
positive or negative climate, circumstance, office or classroom setting, home life, and
relationship with a companion, colleague or family member can drastically affect the learner’s
motivation. The recommendation might be to train students on how to turn negative situations
into positive opportunities.
Rayle and Myers (2004) wanted to determine whether acculturation, mattering, defined
as a sense of belonging in relation to others or a feeling that one is important to others (Pearlin &
LeBlanc, 2001; Rosenberg & McCullough, 1981; Schlossberg, Lynch, & Chickering, 1989;
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 193

Taylor & Turner, 2001) or ethnic identity most influenced mental wellness. The researchers
solicited 500 volunteers in their own classrooms and provided five instruments for students to
complete. They received 462 completed and those were used as the sample. They found
mattering to be the strongest predictor of wellness among the three factors. Wellness
encompassed spirituality, self-direction, schoolwork, leisure, love, and friendship. Additionally,
the strongest subcategory between mattering and wellness was self-direction, which was defined
as the component of wellness that allows one to be intentional in meeting the remaining major
life tasks. Given this, the recommendation is to for teaching models to provide powerful positive
thinking techniques to SSP students to manage their daily mental health needs. In addition,
coaches will hold weekly check-ins and reinforce these techniques.
SSP students value the ability to know how to access mental health support and
services. Eccles (2006) shows activating personal interest through opportunities for choice and
control can increase motivation. This theory suggests providing learners with a wide variety of
opportunities and choices would allow more motivation than if they were only provided with one
option. The recommendation might be to provide SSP students with a choice between several in-
person providers and online mental health support services.
Chiauzzi, Brevard, Thurn, Decembrele, and Lord (2008) sought to examine the mental
health support of college students across the United States. To enhance student stress
management and mental health promoting behaviors, an online stress management intervention
called MyStudentBody–Stress was developed and tested. 240 college students at six U.S.
colleges were randomized to one of three conditions: MyStudentBody–Stress, a control health
information website, or no intervention. Students were measured several times throughout the
study and at the outset showed no difference. However, at the end of the study, the intervention
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 194

group exhibited decreased anxiety and family problems as they utilized specific mental health
management techniques. The researchers recommended access to an online stress management
system for all college students. Given this, the recommendation is to provide SSP students with
an online mental health management system, including video-counseling, and training on how to
use it.
SSP students value the ability to monitor their needs and recognize when they need
help. Yough and Anderman (2006) explain that focus on mastery, individual improvement,
learning, and progress promotes positive motivation. When learners are intrinsically motivated to
learn a task because they care about it, they want to perform at their best. The recommendation
might be to motivate SSP students with a valuable reward for seeking help.
Fabriz, Dignath-van Ewijk, Poarch, and Büttner (2014) sought to gather information on
the practice of keeping a learning diary. They recruited 77 students who were enrolled in a
teacher training program. The treatment group completed a daily learning diary and enrolled in a
16-week self-regulated learning course. The control group did not complete a diary and enrolled
in an English grammar course that did not discuss self-regulation at all. The researchers
concluded that keeping a learning diary had no significance on the treatment group’s academic
performance, but the practice of self-monitoring did. The students reported that the
consciousness of their attention, progress, and behavior heightened their awareness and allowed
for enhanced performance. Given these outcomes, the recommendation is provide SSP students
with self-regulation training and with monetary rewards (vouchers to the campus cafe or
bookstore) for seeking help.
SSP students value the ability to reflect on the impact of and control their social and
physical environments as essential components of self-regulation. Multiple researchers showed
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 195

that self-regulatory strategies, including goal setting, enhance learning and performance (Dembo
& Eaton, 2000; Denler, Wolters, & Benzon, 2009; Smith, 2002). Their findings suggest that
learners who know how to self-regulate and set goals outperform learners who do not possess
self-regulatory skills. The recommendation might be to train students in the importance of self-
regulation and how those skills can enhance their grade point average.
Kormos and Csize (2014) studied the interaction of motivation and self-regulatory
strategies on autonomous learning behavior in English as a Foreign Language classes in
Hungary. To investigate, the researchers provided their self-created survey to high school
students, university students, and adults who were enrolled in a course at a local community
center. Their data showed that a strong drive to meet future goals coupled with a prominent self-
view as an international element determined their use of effective self-regulatory strategies in
autonomous learning behavior. The students who employed these strategies outperformed those
who did not. Given this, the recommendation is to provide job aids for SSP students to self-
assess the impact of their social and physical environment in relation to their learning.
SSP students believe that when they delay their gratification to focus on homework,
their grades rise in correlation. Daly (2009) explained that behavior that is reinforced is
strengthened. The reinforcement concept suggests that if learners are rewarded with something
valuable to them for positive behavior, they will continue performing that behavior to earn the
reward. The recommendation might be to reward SSP students for delaying their gratification to
focus on their homework.
Kitsantas and Zimmerman (2009) studied 223 college students, 75% female and 25%
male, who were enrolled in a teacher credentialing program to determine their experiences and
influences on completion of homework. The level of responsibility the student believed they held
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 196

for their learning and self-efficacy were the main variables in this research. The researchers
surveyed the students with six scales and tested kurtosis and skewness to verify the normality.
The kurtosis index for the perceived responsibility scale fell to -1.60 which is acceptable, but not
excellent. The other five scales fell between + and - 1.00. The results showed a statistically
significant links between final grade expectation and perceived responsibility. The researchers
recommended that educators should encourage students to focus on homework as it leads
students to take responsibility for their academic outcomes. Given this data, the recommendation
is to provide monetary rewards to SSP students who earn higher than a 3.0 GPA.
Organization Recommendations
Introduction. An organization’s mission and goals often do not align with the
availability of resources, time, and money and therefore the stakeholder goals are not often
achieved (Clark & Estes, 2008). Cultural settings represent the beliefs and values of people in a
group while cultural models represent the activity or setting where the action takes place
(Gallimore & Goldenberg, 2001). In order to realize an organization’s mission, cultural models
and settings, as well as resources, all must be in place and be set in motion to accomplish the
same goals. Both of the organizational influences below were validated, as shown in Table 11.
Recommendations based on theoretical principles are also shown in Table 11.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 197

Table 11
Summary of Validated Organization Influences and Recommendations
Assumed
Organization
Influence:
Cause, Need, or
Asset*

Priority
(High,
Medium
, Low)
Principle and
Citation

Context-Specific
Recommendation
The SSP program
has the resources
to provide
affordable,
accessible, safe
child care so the
SSP students can
focus on academic
success.
(CM)

High Effective change
efforts ensure that
everyone has the
resources
(equipment,
personnel, time,
etc.) needed to do
their job,
and that if there are
resource shortages,
then
resources are
aligned with
organizational
priorities (Clark and
Estes, 2008).
The SSP program
should provide child
care for parenting
students.

The SSP program
ensures that SSP
students are
supported with
intellectual
tutoring.
(CS)

Medium Effective change
efforts use
evidence-based
solutions and adapt
them, where
necessary, to the
organization’s
culture
(Clark and Estes,
2008).
The SSP program
should create a
family-friendly
learning center
where students,
their children, and
tutors can work and
learn together.

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Cultural models. The SSP program has the resources to provide affordable, accessible,
safe child care so the SSP students can focus on academic success. Clark and Estes (2008) show
that effective change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources (equipment, personnel, time,
etc.) necessary to do their job, and that if there are resource shortages, then resources must be
aligned with organizational priorities. Following this idea, it is necessary for the organization to
provide learners with all of the well-rounded support necessary to succeed and if the organization
falls short, the organization is responsible to provide crucial resources for the learner to aid their
achievement. The recommendation might be to provide babysitting for SSP students while they
are in class.
Estes (2011) sought to investigate the role of child care in the lives of graduates and
undergraduate students with at least one child, who was not yet school age, to see how the dual
roles of parent and student affected them. The researcher recruited participants through flyers,
word of mouth, and snowball sampling and held interviews with five fathers and twenty-one
mothers. The interview findings showed that the students were required to rely on more than one
type of child care (center-based, in-home, family, friends) to manage their schedules. Because of
the difficulty and heightened level of stress this caused the students, the researcher explained that
child care could be more easily managed if it were accessible to all parenting students and
recommended that all colleges have at least one child care center on campus set apart for the
children of students. Given this recommendation, the SSP program should provide child care for
parenting students.
Cultural settings. The SSP program ensures that SSP students are supported with
intellectual tutoring. Clark and Estes (2008) explain that effective change efforts use evidence-
based solutions and adapt them, where necessary, to the organization’s culture. Any change in
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 199

the organization must take the culture into consideration when planning because if the change
does not match the culture, it must be revised to avoid failure. The recommendation might be to
provide tutoring for SSP students with tutors who match the organization’s culture.
Blanch, Duran, Valdebenito, and Flores (2013) wanted to determine the effects of family
tutoring on reading comprehension of 303 primary school students. The researchers determined
the sample’s performance based on standardized pre- and post- reading comprehension tests. Of
the total sample, 223 students had family members (61.5% mothers, 15% fathers, 17% both
parents, 6.5% siblings) who were trained by the researchers and acted as tutors at home. The
remaining 80 students had no familial tutoring support at home. The study revealed the
effectiveness of family involvement for the development of academic skills and reading
comprehension. The evidence indicates that students with difficulties in reading comprehension
find good support for further learning with familial support. The researchers recommended that
schools find ways to involve families in their children’s learning. Given these findings, the
recommendation is for the SSP program to create a family-friendly learning center where
students, their children, and tutors can work and learn together.
Integrated Implementation and Evaluation Plan
Implementation and Evaluation Framework
The implementation and evaluation plan will be informed by the New World Kirkpatrick
Model (2016). This model emphasizes that the organization must work backwards from the
desired results the organization wants to be at the forefront of the plan. To bring about the
results, the organization must work from Level 4 to Level 1 to identify the steps to take in order
to create and carry out the a fruitful plan. In this model there are four levels of focus. In Level 4,
the focus is on the internal and external outcomes that will result as a product of the
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 200

organization’s change efforts. Level 3 targets the stakeholder exhibiting critical behaviors and
the required drivers that are necessary to accomplish the internal and external outcomes. Level 2
describes the learning goals and program information. Level 1 measures the stakeholder
reactions to the change initiative as well as their degree of buy-in to the change. The New World
Kirkpatrick Model (2016) justifies the absolutely necessary for all four levels to be planned in
advance for a successful organizational change and to ensure a lasting, meaningful
transformation.
Organizational purpose, need and expectations. The purpose of the SSP program is to
support the goal of earning a college degree for single parent students who receive government
benefits. The program collaborates with multiple campus and community entities to assist
students to achieve their highest educational potential. The SSP program provides
compassionate, innovative, above and beyond services to students facing economic and
educational challenges. To aid in their objective, this project evaluated the knowledge and skills,
motivation, and organizational influences in the SSP program to investigate the extent to which
SSP students are meeting their goal of executing 100% of the strategies they need to maintain at
least a 3.0 overall GPA by May 2018. To reduce the gap between the goal and the actual
performance, the recommended program includes five asynchronous online modules, three face-
to-face workshops, and a five-day retreat with the student-parents and their children. This
recommended program does not include the ongoing trips to universities and monthly workshops
that are also necessary for the student parents. With the knowledge and motivation gained from
the recommended program, the student-parents should meet their performance goal.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 201

Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators
Level 4: Results and Leading Indicators for the external and internal outcomes are
presented. If the internal outcomes of increased access to family-friendly study centers and
mental health services are met, they will cause the external outcomes of increased GPA and
graduation rates at Inland College.

Table 12
Outcomes, Metrics, and Methods for External and Internal Outcomes
Outcomes Metrics Methods
External Outcomes
1. Increased GPA at
Inland College.
Review the GPAs of
single parent students
at Inland College.
Request GPA history
from the Information
Services Department at
Inland College.
2. Increased
graduation rates at
Inland College.
Review the number of
single parent student
graduates.
Request graduation rates
of single student parents
from previous years and
compare them.
Internal Outcomes
1. Increase access to
SSP family-friendly
study centers.
The number of visits. Request data from the
SSP centers.
2. Increase access to
SSP mental health
services.
The number of visits. Request data from the
SSP program service
provider.

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Level 3: Behavior
Critical behaviors. The metrics, methods, timing, and critical behaviors are focused on
the SSP students in Table 13. The first critical behavior that they must carry out is to visit the
mental health center. Without actually going, there is no chance that they will receive services.
The second critical behavior is that the SSP students must make use of the family-friendly study
center. When a single parent student does not have child care, their time to study and finish
homework is non-existent. At the study center, SSP students are welcome to bring their children
with them. Children can accompany their parents and be occupied with their own age-
appropriate activities. School-aged children can receive homework help and tutoring services
while the youngest children play in the exercise area. Again, these are critical behaviors because
if they don’t take place, the outcomes are not met.

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Table 13
Critical Behaviors, Metrics, Methods, and Timing for SSP Student-Parents
Critical
Behavior
Metrics Methods Timing
1. Students
visiting the
mental health
center
The number
of visits.

The mental health
center’s
receptionist will
keep track of the
number of visits by
each student.
During each
semester.
2. Students
utilizing the
family-friendly
study center.
The frequency
of use.
The receptionist
will ask students to
sign-in/out and note
whether they have a
child with them
when they enter the
study center. The
sign-in/out sheets
will be given to the
SSP office and the
Supervisor will
calculate the
number of hours
each student has
used the center.
During each
semester.

Required drivers. Table 14 shows the required drivers that are necessary to support the
critical behaviors. SSP students must have support in order to carry out critical behaviors. In
order to visit the mental health center, their knowledge should be reinforced and they should feel
confident that they know how to find it. Encouragement is essential as the lives of SSP students
are stressful. Mentoring and collaboration encourages students and helps them feel that they have
the support and backing of the SSP community. Receipt of a monetary reward for earning high
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 204

grades or checking to ensure mental healthiness is an excellent way to keep the motivation
flowing. Required check-ins with mental health and educational counselors can encourage SSP
students to keep their level of effort elevated because they know that their performance will be
monitored.
Table 14
Required Drivers to Support SSP Student- Pare nts’ Critical Behaviors
Methods Timing Critical Behaviors
Supported

Reinforcing
Job Aid including a map of the
campus labeled with all
locations on campus that
provide services for students
(on paper and online).
Ongoing. 1, 2
Job Aid containing
information regarding the
various mental health
services that the community
provides, as well as the
college (on paper and
online).
Ongoing. 1
Encouraging
Collaboration and peer
modeling during monthly
workshops.
Monthly. 1, 2
Mentoring between faculty
and students.
Ongoing. 1, 2
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Rewarding
Corresponding monetary
awards for high or low GPA.
End of semester. 2
Gas, groceries, or clothing gift
cards for mental health checks.
Three times each
semester.
1
Monitoring
Required check-ins with
educational counselors.
Three times each
semester.
2
Required check-ins with
mental health counselors.
Three times each
semester.
1

Organizational support. In order to support the critical behavior of students using the
mental health center, the SSP program will have an effective communication process to ensure
that SSP student-parents, as whole people, are taken into account and programs and services are
created to serve them. As a new measure, all SSP students will be invited to attend weekly SSP
staff meetings to include their insight into programs and workshop topics. They will also be
invited to provide feedback on the services currently provided and ideas they would like to
develop. This group of students will also be invited to ensure that Inland College considers the
needs of SSP students when policies and procedures are created and/or amended.
To support the critical behavior of using the family-friendly study center, the SSP
program will create an environment of acceptance, inclusion, and belonging and will host events
where all SSP students and their families are welcome to attend. In addition, the SSP program
will have procedures in place to increase the sense of worth and importance of the SSP students
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 206

by making individual connections when they sign in and out of the study center, which will meet
their educational needs as well as being personally meaningful. When students sign out, The SSP
program has a review process in place to receive anonymous feedback from the students who
visit the study center in order to maintain a valuable program experience.
Level 2: Learning
Learning goals. To establish that learning took place, it must be evaluated. Following
completion of the recommended program, the stakeholders will be able to complete the learning
goals in Table 15 when they are evaluated to prove that they learned the required behaviors and
are motivated to complete them.

Table 15
Learning Goals for SSP students
Stakeholder Goal Type of
K or M
1. Know their educational goals. Factual
2. Know the institution’s academic expectations of them. Factual
3. Know where to find assistance. Factual
4. Understand that accessing educational services can help
strengthen academic skills in order to achieve
educational success.
Conceptual
5. Know how to set goals. Procedural
6. Know how to create and implement an educational plan
to achieve their goals.
Procedural
7. Know how to balance work/life/student demands to
maintain academic success for their health and the
welfare of their family.
Procedural
8. Know how to manage childcare needs. Procedural
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 207

9. Know the necessary study skills; they know how to
study.
Procedural
10. Know how to manage their financial obligations and
where to find financial support services in order to
achieve educational success.
Procedural
11. Know how to manage stress. Procedural
12. Know how to manage mental health needs. Procedural
13. Know how to access mental health support and services. Procedural
14. Know how to manage their transportation needs. Procedural
15. Know how to access educational services in order to
achieve educational success.
Procedural
16. Know how to access a computer. Procedural
17. Know how to register for customized courses in order to
avoid extraneous learning.
Procedural
18. Monitor their needs and recognize when they need help. Procedural
19. Reflect on the impact of and control their social and
physical environments as essential components of self-
regulation.
Metacognitive
20. Understand that when they delay their gratification to
focus on homework, their grades rise in correlation.
Metacognitive
21. Understand that in order to be academically successful,
they need to actively maintain their motivation.
Metacognitive
22. Know how to assess their academic progress. They know
when they need help.
Metacognitive
23. Value their ability to assess and monitor their academic
success.
Goal
Orientation
24. Value the effort they put into their work which allows
them higher accomplishments.
Goal
Orientation
25. Place value high on persistence as they do not give up
when faced with challenges.
Goal
Orientation
26. Be confident in their ability to implement study strategy
interventions in order to raise their level of self-efficacy.
Goal
Orientation
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27. Value their ability to create mental pictures of successful
scenarios in order to visualize their success.
Goal
Orientation
28. Believe that engaging with faculty will solidify
instructional help and encouragement.
Goal
Orientation
29. Value the opportunity to attend extracurricular events
with their children.
Goal
Orientation
30. Value the ability to absorb information at an expert level. Goal
Orientation
31. Believe in the importance of their role as students
because they are single parents.
Goal
Orientation
32. Believe that engaging in self-monitoring behavior and
being persistent when faced with a challenge brings them
closer to their educational goal.
Goal
Orientation
33. Value the ability to know the institution’s academic
expectations of them.
Goal
Orientation
34. Value the ability to know where to find assistance. Goal
Orientation
35. Value the ability to know how to set goals. Goal
Orientation
36. Value the ability to know how to create and implement
an educational plan to achieve their goals. (GO)
Goal
Orientation
37. Value the ability to know how to balance
work/life/student demands to maintain academic success
for their health and the welfare of their family.
Goal
Orientation
38. Value the ability to know how to manage childcare
needs.
Goal
Orientation
39. Value the ability to know how to implement the
necessary study skills; they know how to study.
Goal
Orientation
40. Value the ability to know how to manage their financial
obligations and know where to find financial support
services in order to achieve educational success.
Goal
Orientation
41. Value the ability to know how to manage stress. Goal
Orientation
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42. Value the ability to know how to manage mental health
needs.
Goal
Orientation
43. Value the ability to know how to access mental health
support and services.
Goal
Orientation
44. Value the ability to know how to manage their
transportation needs.
Goal
Orientation
45. Value the ability to know how to achieve educational
success.
Goal
Orientation
46. Value the ability to know how to access a computer. Goal
Orientation
47. Value the ability to know how to monitor their needs and
recognize when they need help.
Goal
Orientation
48. Value the ability to know how to reflect on the impact of
and control their social and physical environments as
essential components of self-regulation.
Goal
Orientation
49. Value the ability to know how to delay their gratification
to focus on homework and see their grades rise in
correlation.
Goal
Orientation
50. Value the ability to know how to understand that in order
to be academically successful, they need to actively
maintain their motivation.
Goal
Orientation
51. Value the ability to know how to assess their academic
progress and know when they need help.
Goal
Orientation

Program. In order to achieve the stakeholder goal of 100% of the SSP students
implementing 100% of the strategies necessary to maintain at least a GPA of 3.0 or higher, a
comprehensive program that focuses on the student’s many roles is necessary. The learning
goals, listed above, will be met by offering five asynchronous online learning modules that focus
on information about Inland College’s resources, three face-to-face workshops that will provide
peer coaching and mentoring, a five-day retreat for the students and their children, a debriefing
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workshop to discuss the retreat, and ongoing trips to universities. The total time for the program,
not including the ongoing trips to universities, is 5 days, 14 hours, and 45 minutes.
Each of the asynchronous online modules will be completed by the students on their own
time before the beginning of the semester. In the first module, students will be taken through the
process of how to register for courses by the SSP Specialist. They will be provided with a job aid
that contains key terms and specific step-by-step directions that they can follow during the
registration process.
The second learning module introduces them to Inland College and provides a recorded
walking tour of the campus, led by the SSP Director. This module also contains a color map (job
aid) of the campus and a direct link to the map that they can bookmark it into their phone’s
browser for quick access when they arrive on campus. Also included in this module are the
expectations of a college student as far as goals, plans, and grades.
The third module will introduce the students to various educational services at Inland
College. In the first part, the SSP Specialist will discuss the where to find these services, why it
is important to ask for help, what to expect, and how to sign in fro services. The second, third,
and fourth parts will introduce the actual locations on campus where students can receive help
with academics, which are the Learning Academics Center, Math Help Center, and the Writing
Right Center. In addition to inviting the students, the respective directors and employees will
show their facilities, where they are located, and what services they offer. The fifth section of
this module will show an example of a peer walking into one of these locations and signing up
for the first time.
The first section of the fourth module will feature a video of a conversation between one
of the SSP Counselors and an SSP student talking about study skills. Their dialogue will include
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the student talking about problems she is experiencing with balancing her school work, family,
and job. In addition to managing a busy schedule, the counselor and study will discuss the best
time and place to study, how to start excellent study habits, successful study skills, and why it is
important to study. The last section will include a downloadable, printable job aid of the
important tips from the conversation between the counselor and the student as well as contact
information.
The fifth learning module will examine the importance of mental health and its role in
education. The first section will address Mexican-American cultural beliefs about mental health.
The next section will include mental health myths v realities. The last part of the module will
provide downloadable, printable resources that encourage students to take advantage of
confidential, on and off campus, mental health services.
When the modules are complete, the next part of the program includes three in-person
workshops designed to instruct, coach, and model behavior for the students. The first will discuss
balance of work, family, school, and outside life. The second topic will be stress management.
The third will be how to maintain motivation.
The third section of the program is a 5-day mental health retreat for the students and their
children. The students and children will work together and separately to maintain or improve
their mental health by working with therapists, group therapy, having adventures together,
spending uninterrupted time together, and bonding with one another. In addition, there will also
be a workshop for students to debrief on their retreat experience.
Also included in the program are ongoing trips to universities that support single parent
students. This is a motivational factor so students can picture themselves as a university student
living in university housing with their children. Trips will not be limited to the surrounding area
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of Southern California, but spread throughout the United States. In addition, California State
Universities, University of California schools, and private universities will be equally considered
for visits. The only criteria that will be considered is the level to which the university supports
single parent students and their children.
Components of learning. It is important that trainers be able to assess the level of
learning that their trainees have obtained as a result of their teaching to determine how effective
their instruction was. In order to evaluate if a learner knows how to apply their knowledge, the
trainer must first possess the knowledge. Therefore, it is important that declarative and
procedural knowledge are evaluated. Not only is this information valuable for the trainer, it
should be of value to the trainee as well. The learner should feel that, as a result of the training,
they benefited because they were able to apply what they learned to their work and feel confident
in doing so. Table 16 lists the evaluation methods and timing for these components of learning.

Table 16
Components of Learning for the Program
Method Timing
Declarative Knowledge “I know it.”
Knowledge checks using multiple
choice.
In the asynchronous portions of the
course at the end of each module.
Knowledge checks through discussions. Periodically during the in-person
workshops.

Procedural Skills “I can do it right
n ow .”

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Action planning how they will use three
strategies when they return home.
During the workshops.
Demonstration in groups and
individually of using the job aids to
successfully perform the skills.
During the workshops.
Teach back to their children one
behavior that will change when they
return home.
During the workshops.
Attitude “I believe this is
w or thwhi le.”

Observation of participants’ statements
and actions demonstrating that they see
the benefit of the retreat.
During the debrief workshop.
Observation of participant discussions
of the value of stress management
tools.
During the workshop.
Retrospective pre- and post-retreat
assessment item.
During the debrief workshop.
Confidence “I think I can do it on the
job.”

Survey items using scaled items. Following each workshop.
Discussions following practice.

During the workshop.
Retrospective pre- and post-retreat
assessment item.
During the debrief workshop.
Commitment “I will do it on the
job.”

Discussions following practice and
feedback.

During the workshop.
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Create an individual action plan.

During the workshop.
Retrospective pre- and post-retreat
assessment item.
During the debrief workshop.

Level 1: Reaction
Table 17 shows the method and timing of how participants’ reactions to the program will
be measured. The level of their engagement with the program, how relevant they feel the
program is to their life, and how satisfied they are with the program will be addressed.

Table 17
Components to Measure Reactions to the Program
Method Timing
Engagement
Completion of asynchronous online
modules.
Ongoing during asynchronous portion
of the course.
Observation by facilitator. During the workshops.
Leaving early. During the workshops.
Attendance. During the workshops.
Participation. During the retreat.
Relevance
Brief pulse-check with participants. During each workshops.

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Retrospective pre- and post-retreat
assessment item.
During the debrief workshop.
Observation of participant
conversations.
During the workshops.
Participant feedback. Before, during, and after workshops,
ongoing.
Customer Satisfaction
Comprehensive Survey. At the end of the semester.
Retrospective pre- and post-retreat
assessment item.
During the debrief workshop.

Evaluation Tools
Immediately following the program implementation. During the last session of the
five-day family retreat, student-parents will be given a clipboard, pencil, and survey (Table 18).
They will be directed to spread throughout the property so they are alone, find a quiet place that
would provide quiet time to reflect, and complete the survey. Because the survey performs as a
reflection exercise for the student-parents, as well as a tool for feedback, the survey will be
administered on paper. The survey will provide data about student engagement with the
facilitators, the relevance of the workshop topics to their lives, and the level of transfer of mental
health strategies to help them be more healthy and successful student-parents. In sum, the
quantitative portion of the survey will measure their feeling about their immediate reaction to the
five-day retreat with their children.
During the five-day retreat, the following are some of the methods that will be used to
measure Level One Reaction. In order to measure customer satisfaction and relevance, it is
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necessary to gain immediate feedback from the student-parents. Therefore, the instant each
workshop ends, an employee of the retreat facility (the “feedback gatherer”) will come in, thank
the facilitator, show them the door, and then have a whole-group feedback session. The feedback
gatherer will ask the student-parents to speak freely about the setup of the workshop, how
relevant it was to their lives, and how the next workshop could be improved. This personal
attention to the student-parents will help the facility provide a positive experience and it shows
the student-parents that the applicability of the topics is paramount. In order to determine
engagement, workshop facilitators will observe the participants’ behavior as well as conduct
individual pulse checks while they are working alone and group checks if they are in a large
group. In order to measure learning (Level Two) the following methods will be used. Participants
will be asked to produce a short scene to prove their confidence and procedural knowledge. The
workshop facilitators will observe the student-parents’ discussions of the workshop topic to
determine understanding (declarative knowledge). Also, while they are working in pairs,
facilitators will ask participants to pair share in order to exhibit their procedural knowledge.
Their declarative knowledge will be assessed with games and fun prizes for the participants and
their children.

Table 18
Feedback Item Breakdown by Levels: During and immediately following the program
implementation
Declarative Knowledge (L2) Item
Survey using a scale about their
knowledge.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I know when I am stressed.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 217

Procedural Knowledge (L2) Item
Survey using a scale about their
ability.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I can talk to my children about our
behavior.
Attitude (L2) Item
Survey using a scale about how
they feel.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I believe this retreat was worth my time.
Confidence (L2) Item
Survey using a scale about how
they feel.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I am confident in my ability to use mental
health strategies when I need them.
Commitment (L2) Item
Open ended question about how
their future plans.
Please describe how you plan to
implement what have learned here into
your daily life.
Engagement (L1) Item
Survey using a scale about their
participation.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I was able to fully participate in each
workshop.
Relevance (L1) Item
Survey using a scale about how
useful the workshops were.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
The workshops focused on the areas of
my life I need help with.
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Survey using a scale about their
connection to the facilitator.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly
Agree
I was able to relate to the facilitator in
each workshop.
Customer Satisfaction (L1) Item
Open ended question about the
likelihood of recommendation.
Please explain the likelihood that you are
to recommend this retreat to others.
Please include details and examples.

Delayed after the program implementation. All participants who attended the five-day
retreat will be asked to complete a reflective survey at their monthly meeting held six weeks after
the retreat. The survey, shown in Table 19, will contain four follow-up question to the previous
scaled questions and three open ended questions that request information about the retreat and
the participants’ personal challenges. All four of Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2018) levels are
represented in the scaled questions as they attempt to measure the value of the retreat (Level 1),
the knowledge that was gained (Level 2), how their behavior has changed (Level 3), and the
result of the changes (Level 4).

Table 19
Feedback on Levels 1-4 Delayed 6 Weeks after the Five-Day Retreat
Declarative Knowledge (L2) Item
Survey using a scale about their
knowledge.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly Agree
I have a better idea of how I can improve my
situation since the retreat.
Behavior (L3) Item
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 219

Survey using a scale about
using strategies.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly Agree
I have been able to use mental health
strategies more often since the retreat.
Results (L4) Item
Survey using a scale about their
relationship.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly Agree
The relationship between my child/ren and I
has improved since the retreat.
Relevance (L1) Item
Survey using a scale about how
useful the workshops were.
Scale: 1 Strongly Disagree -6 Strongly Agree
What I learned at the retreat has been
valuable to me.
Results (L4) Item
Open ended question Describe any challenges you are facing and
how you are dealing with them.
Open ended question Reflecting on the retreat, what was the most
beneficial part?
Open ended question Reflecting on the retreat, what was the least
beneficial part?

Data Analysis and Reporting
The Level 4 goal for students is to maintain or increase the level of visits to the mental
health center. Visits to the mental health center will be measured weekly by the Mental Health
Center Division Secretary (MHCDS) and emailed to all SSP personnel at the end of each
calendar month. The emailed information will be used by the SSP Counselors to encourage
students who may be experiencing difficulty at home or with classes to visit a counselor. In
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 220

addition, the MHCDS will create a bar chart to display on the wall just outside the mental health
office as an advertising tool to let all students know just how many other students are coming in
for services. Seeing how many other students receive mental health services may be needed
encouragement for SSP students who have not felt comfortable enough to seek out guidance
from a mental health counselor yet.
The Level 4 goal for the family-friendly study center is for students to increase their
usage of the center. Visits from students and their children will be measured by the Dean of
Student Success (DSS). The DSS will implement a program that captures when students sign in
and out, how many children they have, and what facilities they make use of. The DSS will report
these statistics at the end of each calendar month, along with any important information such as
holidays, mid-terms, or campus events that may affect study center attendance, for analysis.
These results will be publicly displayed on campus for our donors, in the local newspaper, on the
local news, and at charity events.
Table 20 shows the dashboard for the Level 4 goals. Levels 3, 2, and 1 will also be
monitored by their respective divisions and similar dashboards will be created and maintained.

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Table 20
Level 4 Goal Dashboard
Action Target Immediate
Survey
(Actual)
Fall 2018
6 Weeks
Delayed
(Actual)
Spring 2018
Rating
Students
visiting the
mental health
center.
50% 90% 65%

Students
utilizing the
family-
friendly study
center.
70% 45% 65%

Summary
The New World Kirkpatrick Model (2016) was used to frame the recommended program,
strategies, and evaluation tools so the SSP students may reach their goal of implementing 100%
of strategies that would allow them to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Kirkpatrick and
Kirkpatrick’s (2016) model focuses on the micro level, the participant’s reaction during and after
the training, first and then works toward the macro level, the results that the organization is
trying to achieve by providing the training. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2018) four levels of
training and evaluation gives added direction to Clark and Estes’ (2008) model of knowledge and
skill, motivation, and organization and provides the SSP program with a culmination of follow-
up activities to ensure a successful program and continued commitment from students.
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Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2018) three key data analysis questions will be addressed
in Table 21 using the data that was gathered from the immediate and delayed surveys as well as
qualitative data gathered from conversations recorded in the feedback gatherer’s memos shortly
after each discussion and meeting.

Table 21
Three Key Questions
Level Analysis Question Answer If not, why not? OR
If so, why?
Level 1:
Reaction
Does participant
engagement during
the program meet
expectations?
Yes. Workshop facilitators
reported a very high level
of engagement in topics of
discussion and participation
in activities.
Level 2:
Learning
Does participant
knowledge
demonstrated
during the program
meet expectations?
Yes. Participants reported their
knowledge of their personal
triggers and were able to
demonstrate their
knowledge by explaining
their triggers to a small peer
group.
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Level 3:
Behavior
Does performance
of students visiting
the mental health
center meet
expectations?
Yes. The target was 50%, but
90% of students
immediately after the
retreat reported that they
would visit the center. The
results of the 6-week
delayed survey showed that
65% of students reported
that they visited the mental
health center.
*The reported numbers will
be cross-referenced with
the actual sign-in log from
the center’s secretary.
Level 4:
Results
Does increased
access to mental
health services
meet expectations?
Yes. Since Inland College has
opened the Mental Health
Center for the SSP
program, the number of
students served has been
astounding.

By opening the mental health center for the SSP program, the changes in the students
have been palpable. The students who initially received services have spoken to one another
about their experiences and encouraged others to come by, which explains the rise in student
visits to the mental health center. The SSP program is looking to expand its services by including
a daily Yoga course and another in personal meditation. There are also group counseling classes
held and empowerment strategies being taught. The response from students has been so
positively overwhelming that the mental health center is looking to expand.
Limitations
Due to the inherent imperfections of the study, there were several limitations. The first
was the partial attendance at the “Mandatory Orientation Workshop” on August 18, 2017 when
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the Single Student Parent Survey was administered to thirty-eight students out of a total eighty-
five active students in the program. Less than half of the total population was surely not a
representative sample of the SSP program. Also, the population will change the following year as
the current students graduate and new students begin their college journey so the results of the
survey are only a snapshot in time and cannot be applied to a larger population. Another element
that most certainly affected the validity was the level of truth that students revealed on the survey
and during the interviews. Also, the timing of the interviews was very limited as the researcher
scheduled each student for one hour; however, the actual interview time ran between 1 hour and
30 minutes and 2 hours. There was not enough time to have a complete conversation about all of
the assumed influences and follow-up with the additional issues that the students brought up
during the interview. In retrospect, two or three interviews may have covered the necessary time,
but that would have been excessive and it would have been difficult to get a student to commit to
that amount of time. As it was, the initial plan for interview recruitment did not work. At the
Orientation Workshop when students completed the survey, they were asked to contact the SSP
Specialist, Faith, if they were interested in being interviewed by the researcher about their
experiences as single parents. When two weeks went by without response, the researcher
requested permission to provide compensation of $35 to the students for their interview time.
When no responses were received, Faith added a $25 gas card and then the students responded. It
began with one student and she spread the word to her SSP program cohort and others came
forward. Even though a snowball sample is not the best recruiting method, the researcher was
able to ensure a representative sample of student age, number of children, and the age of the
youngest child.

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Delimitations
One delimitation of this research was the study’s restricted population to students in the
SSP program at Inland College because they were a sample of convenience. It could have been
expanded to include all parenting students at Inland College instead of only single parents who
are low income with at least one child under the age of 14. The study was also limited to
investigating the role of learning strategies in order to earn a GPA of 3.0. To gather more
complete information, the researcher could have used documents and artifacts from the SSP
program. Additionally, past SSP students who have graduated could have been interviewed to
gain their retrospective view on what services or programs would have been helpful to boost
their success at Inland College.
A major flaw in the layout of the survey, unclear directions, and other unknown factors
was Question 12, at the end of the survey. Questions 7-12 were all structured similarly (See
Figure 4). They all began with a clear underlined title that showed the topic students would be
answering questions about. Then, there was an introduction to each section that provided
guidance, usually one or two sentences, and all prompts were followed by “There are no right or
wrong answers. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential and will not be identified by
name.” The labeled rating scale was under each prompt.

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Individual Strategies
These questions are designed to help us get a better understanding
of the strategies single parent students use. There are no right or
wrong answers. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential
and will not be identified by name.

Rate your degree of confidence by recording
a number from 1 to 7 using the scale given below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not at all Completely
Confident Confident

Figure 4: Question 10 from Single Parent Student Survey.

Questions 7, 8, and 9 were rated on an Importance scale, Question 10 was rated on a
Confidence scale, and Question 11 was rated on an Agreement scale. As students answered five
continuous questions with this structure, it should not have been a surprise that half of the
respondents continued to answer Question 12 in the same manner, using the same style of rating
scale with different labels as it was structured in the same manner (See Figure 5).

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 227

Personal Priorities

Reflect on the six priorities below. Which is the MOST important to
you and which is the LEAST? You will be asked to put them in
order of importance. There are no right or wrong answers. Your
responses will be kept strictly confidential and will not be identified
by name.

Please rank the priorities using the order of importance (1-6) below.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Least Most
Important Important

Figure 5: Question 12 from Single Parent Student Survey.
Even though the prompts look different to the researcher, the student parent respondents
would have to read carefully to see the difference. Perhaps the use of color to set apart the
difference in prompts or more careful explanation before the survey was given could have
mediated the confusion.
Future Studies
The single parent population in college deserves to be studied and provided the necessary
resources and services in order to have an equitable chance to succeed. Future studies will
include the CalWORKs program and how their determination for students to land a job can be
married to students earning an education first in order to have a career. In addition, the need for
mental health care cannot be ignored, yet unfortunately it remains an unstudied topic at Inland
College. Further studies focused only on mental health must be conducted and the results shared
with administration in an effort to serve students in all aspects of their lives.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 228

Conclusion
This research, although limited to the SSP population at Inland College, revealed most
SSP students need basic requirements to survive such as food, shelter, clothing, and sleep which
are included in Maslow’s (1987) base level of human needs. Even though many SSP students
lack these essentials, they choose to continue to enroll in classes and struggle with their studies,
work, and family balance because the desire to self-actualize and transcend (See Figure 6) is
passionately intense.
The SSP students exhibited extreme levels of stress with past and present events in their
lives that they needed professional help to resolve. These issues affect, not only the students but
their children and partners, so by not healing one member of the family unit, the entire family
suffers. Mental health care is an absolute necessity for safety, the second level of Maslow’s
hierarchy.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 229

Figure 6: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs (1990s Eight-stage Model). This figure
shows basic human needs for survival, beginning at the bottom, and increases to helping others
at the top.
Every SSP student who was interviewed chose a career path that would allow them to
help another person who had a similar background (domestic abuse, addiction, gangs, sexual
violence) to theirs. It was their hope, dream, and life-goal that they could guide a person who
was in their situation, in an effort to bring them up the hierarchy, just as another person did for
them. In defiance of all they have experienced, they are determined to succeed. Every college has
an undeniable responsibility to every single one of its students to provide an equitable education.

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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Support for Single Parent Program Survey

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 231

Single Parent Student Survey

What is your gender? Female

Male

What is your age? 17-19 20-22 23-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-50 51+

How many children do you have? 1 2 3 4 5 6+

How old is your youngest child? 0-2 3-4 5-7 8-11 12-14

Is this your first semester in SSP? Yes No Not Sure

Where will you sleep tonight?
At a
friend's
house
At a
place
I rent
In my
car
At a
shelter
I'm
not
sure
I
couch
surf Other

Academic Strategies

This questionnaire is designed to help us get a better understanding of the types of academic
behaviors that single parent students feel are important. Please rate how important you think
each of the behaviors, below, has been in contributing to your academic progress. There are no
right or wrong answers. Your responses will be confidential and will not be identified by name.

Rate your degree of importance by recording a number from 1 to 7 using the scale given below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not

Very

important

important

How unimportant or important is each of these strategies to your academic progress, in your experience?

Importance

School Preparation

( 1-7)

Organize my schoolwork

Plan my schedule for the week

Remember information presented in class and textbooks

To feel academically prepared for classes

Keep track of how I am doing in school

Visualize myself after graduation as successful

During School

Concentrate on school subjects during class

Take good notes during class instruction

Learn the most I can from each class

Meet and talk with my professors outside of class time

See the effort I put into my work reflected in my grades

Family

Attend extracurricular events with my family

Play an important role in my family

Be a positive role model for my children

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Individual Strategies

These questions are designed to help us get a better understanding of the strategies single parent
students use. There are no right or wrong answers. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential
and will not be identified by name.

Rate your degree of confidence by recording a number from 1 to 7 using the scale given below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Not at all

Completely

Confident

Confident

How unconfident or confident are you are that you can do each of the things described below?

Confidence

Strategies

(1-7)

Create and carry out my educational plan

Set goals for myself

Stay motivated to reach my goals

Balance all of my responsibilities

Manage my childcare needs

Make myself study even when I don't want to

Manage all of my financial responsibilities

Manage my stress

Manage my mental health needs

Access mental health support and services

Manage my transportation needs

Find help with my school work

Access a computer

Monitor my academic needs

Monitor my personal needs

Get myself to study when there are more interesting things to do

Arrange a place to study without distractions

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SSP Program

Please rate how much you agree with the following statements below by writing the appropriate

number. There are no right or wrong answers. Your responses will be kept strictly confidential and
will not be identified by name.

Rate your degree of agreement by recording a number from 1 to 7 using the scale given below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Strongly

Strongly

Disagree

Agree

Level of
Agreement
To what extent do you disagree or agree with the following statements? (1-7)

The SSP program makes me feel welcome.

The SSP program gives me an opportunity to become friends with other

SSP students.

The SSP program allows me to make meaningful connections with

educational counselors.

If I were to give feedback to the SSP program, it would be listened to.

The SSP program should provide child care so I can focus on school.

The SSP program provides helpful educational tutoring.

I believe the SSP program takes my needs into account when designing

programs and services.

I am satisfied with the information I receive about the services available

through the SSP program.

Personal Priorities

Reflect on the six priorities below. Which is the MOST important to you and which is the LEAST?
You will be asked to put them in order of importance. There are no right or wrong answers. Your
responses will be kept strictly confidential and will not be identified by name.

Please rank the priorities using the order of importance (1-6) below.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Least

Most

Important

Important

Assign each priority a different number (1-6). The number should reflect how important

each priority is in your own life. As a reminder, there are no right or wrong answers.

Priorities

Maintaining my physical and emotional health

Reaching my educational goal

Working to overcome all personal and educational challenges

Being a positive role model for my family

Balancing all of my responsibilities

Earning good grades in school

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Additional Comments

Please provide comments about being a single parent student.

Please provide comments about the SSP program.

Other comments?

Thank you for completing this survey.

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APPENDIX B: Administration of Surveys
Good afternoon, students. First, I want to thank you for allowing me to take a little bit of your
time today. My name is Angela Rhodes and I have been volunteering with Faith and this SSP
program for about 12 years now. We have built it to be what it is now and I want to keep
building. I am in school now and I have incorporated my love of students, children, and service
into my doctoral dissertation. I am trying to figure out what single parents really need to be
successful in college, so I came to you…the experts…for your help.

I am going to go about it a couple of different ways. First I am going to try and gather
information with a survey. Then, I would like to talk with some of you about the results of the
survey to get a little deeper information. Make sense? To be very clear, the survey will be
anonymous. No one will know that it is you filling the survey out. If you want to be interviewed,
you can contact Faith. Only she, I, and you will know it is you. On all of my reports, your name
will be changed.

To entice you to fill out and finish the survey, I am offering those who submit their completed
survey a chance to win a $35 grocery store gift card. When you come up to the take to submit
your completed survey in the box, I will give you half of the ticket and I will keep the other half.
Do not write your name on the survey or the ticket. Both are completely anonymous. At the end
of the orientation, Faith will draw the name of the winner!

If you don’t want to fill out the survey, it is not a problem. I don’t want to call anybody out, so I
will give everyone a survey and a pencil. If you don’t want to complete the survey, you can draw
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 236

on it, write your grocery list, make a paper airplane, it’s up to you. Again, you don’t have to fill
it out if you don’t want to. If you would rather go outside and clear your head, go for it. If you
want to make a phone call instead, go for it. I don’t mind and I won’t be mad. Also, if you
choose to fill out the survey and halfway through you decide you don’t want to finish it, you
don’t have to. It’s completely optional. When you are finish, bring the survey and the pencil to
the back table and collect your raffle ticket.

Thanks so much for your time!

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APPENDIX C: Receipt of Surveys

When a student walks to the desk to submit their survey, the Researcher will:

a. Say, “Thank you.”
b. Show the students how to submit their survey into the one-way locked box.
c. Rip a double ticket.
d. Keep one half and place it in the basket for the $35 gift card raffle.
e. Give the other half to the student.
f. Wish them luck or express gratefulness.

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APPENDIX D: SSP Student Interview Protocol
Thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me today. I feel it is so important to
understand the experiences and perspectives of single parents at Inland College. I really value
your time and point of view. Thank you for helping me with this research.
Before we begin the interview, I need to go over a few things.
First, I would like to take notes while we are talking. It helps me remember important
information and additional questions I don’t want to forget to ask. Is that ok?
Next, if it is ok with you, I’d like to voice record our conversation so I can go back and
listen to it. Our conversation will also be transcribed (someone will type out every word that we
say-if needed). Is this ok with you?
My first question to you when we begin the interview is to ask you what your
pseudonym, a fake name, is. This is important so your identity is protected, just in case the
transcripts are read by someone else. I will do everything in my power to be sure that doesn’t
happen, but the pseudonym is an extra measure of protection.
The last thing is before we begin, I want to remind you of your rights as a participant. If
you feel uncomfortable or want to stop at any time during our conversation, you have the right to
stop at any point. I will not be angry and you will not be in any trouble. I just wanted to make
sure you knew that you can stop at any time for any reason. Do you have any questions before
we begin?
I am going to push the Record button and let’s begin.

1. What is your pseudonym?
I’d like to ask about your educational goals, classes, and the SSP program.
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 239

2. What is your major? Probe: Have you met with a counselor to create an education plan?
What is in your educational plan? What makes you want to stay in school?

3. Describe the best time and place for you to focus on your school work.

ADDED: WHO WATCHES YOUR CHILD/REN WHEN YOU STUDY OR DO
HOMEWORK? PROBE: DO YOU HAVE A BACK-UP PERSON/PLAN?

4. How are you doing in your classes? Probe: How do you know you are doing well or not
doing well?

5. Please tell me about a time when you felt underprepared for a course – you didn’t
understand it or were worried that you would not do well. What did you do? Probe, if
needed: Have you ever sought out a tutor? (If no, “would you ever seek out a tutor?”
why/why not?)

6. How do you handle peer pressure? For example, if you have an important test to study for
and your friends ask you to go out, how do you deal with that?

7. Please tell me about the experiences you have had with your teachers at this school.
Probe: How useful is it to meet with a professor outside of class?
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 240

8. Do you have friends on campus? How did you meet? Where on campus, if anywhere, do
you feel like you most belong? Why?

9. If you wanted to find out if a class you have taken transfers to a university, where would
you go on campus for direction?

10. Do you have a computer at home? Probe: If not, where, if anywhere, have you gone to
use a computer for school work? I did not ask this question due to the survey results.

11. How do you do it? What do you do to attempt to maintain a balance between work,
family, and go to school? Probe: How well is that working? Probe: What about child
care, finances, transportation?

ADDED: WHAT WOULD HELP YOU TO BETTER BALANCE YOUR LIFE?

ADDED: HOW DO YOU HANDLE STRESS?

12. What is the last challenge you faced? Probe: How did you deal with it? Probe: Did it
affect your education/classes?
SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 241

13. How do you know when you are about to lose it? Probe: What signs do you see in
yourself? Probe: How do you handle yourself when you about to lose it?

ADDED: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A THERAPIST OR COUNSELOR? IF NOT,
WOULD YOU BE OPEN TO THE IDEA?
ADDED: IF THE SSP PROGRAM OFFERED MENTAL HEALTH CARE WOULD
YOU USE THE SERVICE? WHY/WHY NOT?

14. Please tell me about the role you play in your family. Probe: What does the rest of your
family think about you being in school? Your kids? Your parents?

14a. ADDED: 100% OF PEOPLE WHO TOOK THE SURVEY AT THE SSP
ORIENTATION MEETING IN SEPTEMBER FELT IT WAS “VERY IMPORTANT
TO BE A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL FOR THEIR CHILDREN. EVERY SINGLE
PERSON FELT THE SAME WAY. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT FEELING WAS
SO STRONG AMONG THE GROUP?

15. Please tell me about the experiences you have had with the SSP counselors.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 242

16. Are there any areas of your life that are especially difficult? What are some struggles you
have that are unaddressed? What services could the SSP program provide that would
allow you to focus on school? How could they help? What workshops or programs would
you create?

Thank you so, so much for taking the time to talk with me today. Your answers and insight will
help me understand the experiences of single student parents. I really appreciate your time and
willingness to let me interview you. I am so, so grateful to you. Thank you.
End recording.

SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PARENTS 243

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Asset Metadata

Creator Medina-Rhodes, Angela (author)

Core Title Support for single parents in college: a gap analysis

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 05/02/2018

Defense Date 03/07/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag academic skills,academics,access to child care,access to technology,Addiction,assessment,assessment of performance influences,Balance,California,CalWORKS,care of children,Child care,child care for students,childcare,children of single parents,college,community college,customized course,data analysis,data collection,Delayed gratification,domestic violence,Drug abuse,economic abuse,educational services,educational success,effective communication,emotional abuse,extracurricular event,faculty,faculty bond,faculty encouragement,faculty engagement,faculty support,financial abuse,financial education,financial health,financial management,financial obligation,financial wealth,food insecure,future studies,gap analysis,goal setting,goal-orientation,government programs,grit,holistic service,homework time,housing insecure, homeless,importance of role,incarceration,individual connection,instructional help,intervention,interview,Jail,KMO,knowledge and skills,limitations,low-income,manage stress,meaningful contact,mental abuse,Mental Health,mental health management,mental health needs,mental health neglect,mental health services,mental health support and services,mental picture,mixed methods,Motivation,OAI-PMH Harvest,organizational influence,Parent and child,partner abuse,persistence,physical abuse,physical environment,plan for change,plan for growth,Prison,program procedures,psychological abuse,psychologist, transportation,public assistance,qualitative,quantitative,quiet time,rape,recommendations,relationship abuse,researcher trustworthiness,results and findings,role of investigator,self-efficacy,self-monitoring,self-regulation,services,Sexual Abuse,single parent,social environment,stress management,student and program decision making,student decision making,student health,student mental health,student relationships,student stress,study opportunity,study skills,study time,survey,time to focus on study,tutoring,validation,verbal abuse,visualize,Welfare,work life balance

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sundt, Melora (committee chair), Brady, Melanie (committee member), Ott, Maria (committee member)

Creator Email amrhodes@usc.edu,arhodes@riohondo.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-498600

Unique identifier UC11267021

Identifier etd-MedinaRhod-6303.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-498600 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-MedinaRhod-6303.pdf

Dmrecord 498600

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Medina-Rhodes, Angela

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA