From Setback to Success: A Restorative Momentum Model of Success for Students Returning From Academic Dismissal

Objective: While much research has been conducted on retention, attrition, and college completion among those who voluntarily withdraw from college, few studies have focused on involuntary withdrawal in the form of academic dismissal. Even less scholarship has examined the subsequent restoration of academic momentum for returning students. Furthermore, the lack of appropriate theoretical models directed at readmitted students with past records of academic failure has created a dilemma for institutions. Particularly, when trying to assess readmission policies and establishing programs or interventions to promote academic success and persistence to graduation. This study explores factors that influence restoration of academic momentum among students returning from academic dismissal. Method: Using a sequential, partial mixed methods approach, descriptive and qualitative data was collected through a survey ( N = 171) and student interviews ( N = 11) at a large, public community college. Results: Findings disconfirmed past research that academically dismissed students are primarily underprepared scholastically while confirming life events as a key contributor to dismissal. Results also demonstrated the importance of faculty support and active learning as well as the value of advisors as contextualized change agents in the academic restoration process. Finally, it was evident that returning students possessed motivational attributes conducive to restoring academic momentum, including a strong growth mindset, academic resilience, and high self-determination. Contributions: This study affords a Reconceptualized Restorative Academic Momentum Model of Success to guide and understand the academic and psychosocial experiences of students returning from academic dismissal centered on pre-college influences, classroom teaching and learning experiences, support services, and student motivational attributes.