Background Resources

Achieving the dream: Community Colleges Count. (2011). Scaling up interventions. Author.

Institute for Higher Education Policy (2011). Supporting first-generation college students through classroom-based practices. Washington, DC: Author.

Tinto, V. (2002). Enhancing student persistence: Connecting the dots. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from https://traditions.ou.edu/content/dam/HousingFood/Documents/PDF%20-%20Research/Connencting%20the%20Dots%20-%20Tinto.pdf
This article focuses on the ideas of access and support that equals to success. It then gives an introduction to the persistence concept. The article talks about the five conditions that Tinto refers to later which is turned into four in his later work. End of article is most about institutional policy. This article is appropriate for individuals new to Tinto /retention.

Tinto, V. (2005). Student retention: What's next? Presented at the 2005 National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention, Washington, D.C. Retrieved on August 6, 2012, from http://faculty.soe.syr.edu/vtinto/Files/Student%20Retention-What%20Next_.pdf
This is a (10 page) speech transcript that Tinto presented at a conference. It was later turned into an article a year later that is Tinto (2006) below. While these two documents are fairly similar, this one breaks down the "then" to "now" and then talking about "What next" which is an effective way to look at it.

Tinto, V. (2006). Research and practice of student retention: What next? Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 8(1), 1-19.
This article mainly describes the need to translate research and theory to practice. It gives a history of retention in the past 40 years and how the perspectives have changed as far as how to best serve students. It begins by discussing the knowledge that institutions have on students from various backgrounds. It includes the difference between two and four year colleges, as well as residential and non-residential colleges. It discusses the limits of early models of retention and the importance of involvement (now referred to as engagement). Furthermore, the article goes into what we can do next, including what needs to be implemented for effective action.

Tinto, V. (2011). Taking student success seriously in the college classroom. Downloaded on Feb. 1, 2013 from: http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/Executive/StudentSuccessTaskForce/Tinto%20-%20Taking%20Student%20Success%20Seriously%20in%20the%20College%20Classroom.pdfa

Tinto, V. (2012, June 8). Isaac Newton and college completion. Inside Higher Education. Downloaded Feb. 1, 2013 from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/06/08/gaining-and-maintaining-momentum-key-student-completion-essay

Yeager, D. S., & Walton, G. M. (in press) Social-psychological interventions in education: They're not magic. Review of Educational Research.

(With thanks to Kingson Leung, USU Wellness Initiatives and College Counseling/Student Services advanced masters student for summarizing many of the resources listed on this page)

Link to Tinto's latest book:
Tinto, V. (2012). Completing College: Rethinking Institutional Action: http://library.calstate.edu/northridge/books/record?id=b2818612 (e-book)

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