High School Interrupted: A Case Study of Postsecondary Pathways and College Choices Following the Covid-19 Pandemic
College of Education, Northern Illinois University
How they used Delve
A doctoral candidate at Northern Illinois University used Delve to code Upward Bound students' interviews line by line against a deductive frame, writing analytic memos as he coded, in a case study of how the pandemic changed their postsecondary pathways.
“To assist with the coding process, I used Delve qualitative coding software. I reviewed the transcripts line by line and assigned codes to sentences and phrases. I used analytic memos during coding to reflect on the data and conceptualize my thoughts.”
- Field
- College access and postsecondary transition; how COVID-19 reshaped the college choices of students in a federal Upward Bound program
- Data
- Interviews with participants in an Upward Bound program at a pseudonymised high school, transcribed with Sonix AI and verified against recordings and field notes, plus four scholarship essays and the school's COVID-19 protocol documents as artifacts
- Approach
- Instrumental case study guided by the Iloh model of college-going decisions and the college-conocimiento framework. Interviews were transcribed with Sonix AI and checked against the recordings and field notes. Coding began deductively from five anticipated codes - COVID-19, college process, influence factors, support resources and feelings - with transcripts reviewed line by line in Delve and codes assigned to sentences and phrases. Analytic memos were written during coding to reflect on the data, following Huberman et al. Scholarship essays and school COVID-19 protocol documents were de-identified and analysed as artifacts alongside the interviews.
- Data types
- Interviews, Documents
Abstract
This instrumental case study explored how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced post-secondary pathways and college choices of participants in an Upward Bound Program. In the aftermath of the pandemic, community college enrollment was projected to increase, instead two-year institutions experienced significant declines. Prevailing assumptions about college enrollment may not be accurate, and existing college decision models do not account for the effects of a worldwide pandemic. The study was guided by the Iloh model of college going decisions and trajectories, and the college-conocimiento framework. The findings suggested students’ academic engagement and mental health declined during the pandemic. This in turn impacted their resolve to attend college, and influenced the factors they considered when selecting a college. Additionally, the findings suggested students relied on Upward Bound as their primary postsecondary planning resource.
Citation
Robert L. Cook (2023). High School Interrupted: A Case Study of Postsecondary Pathways and College Choices Following the Covid-19 Pandemic. Huskie Commons (Northern Illinois University). https://doi.org/10.58933/jkbp7281