Developmental Education Learning Communities: What Works? What Doesn’t? What’s Next?

1. Developmental EducationLearning Communities:What Works? What Doesn’t?What’s Next? Evan Weissman, MDRC Alexander Mayer, MDRC Audrey Yamagata-Noji, Mt. San Antonio College Mary Beth Love, SF State/CCSF Metro Academies Strengthening Student Success: October 3, 2012

2. Overview • Introductions • Research Findings: What works (and what doesn’t)? • What’s Next? Program descriptions and responses to the research from Mt. SAC and the Metro Academies • What’s Next? Ideas, questions, and answers from the audience 2

3. What Are “Learning Communities”? • Co-Enrollment: Groups of about 25 students are co-enrolled in two or more courses. • Instructor Collaboration: Instructors collaborate on curriculum and helping students. • Curricular Integration: Courses are thematically linked and include joint syllabi and assignments. • Additional Supports: Students get enhanced academic support and/or counseling. 3

4. Theory of Change • Students form stronger relationships with each other and instructors • Students become more engaged through inter-disciplinary learning • Students benefit from extra support 4

5. Queensborough Community College: Linked developmental math with a college-level course Merced College: Linked developmental English and a variety of courses Community College of Baltimore County: Linked developmental English, a college-level course, and seminar Hillsborough Community College: Houston Community College: Linked developmental reading with a student success course Linked developmental math with a student success course Evaluations of Six Programs • Kingsborough Community College: • Linked English with a college-level course and a student success course 5

6. Implementation Findings • Program components were implemented with reasonable fidelity, but with considerable variation in how tightly courses were integrated. • Variation within colleges more than variation between colleges • Programs operated at a fairly large scale: • Over 170 learning communities in the study • Nearly 7,000 students participated in the study • Average cost of learning communities about $500 per program group member, above base costs. 6

7. Dev-Ed Students – Average Impacts Across the Six Colleges: Credits Earned in Targeted Subject Increased Credits Earned in the Targeted Subject 0.4** 0.5*** 0.5*** 2.2 7

8. Dev-Ed Students – Average Impacts Across the Six Colleges: Total Credits Earned (cumulative) Initially Increased Total Credits Earned 0.6* 11.9 11.4 0.5*** 6.4 8

9. Dev-Ed Students – Enrollment in Program and Post-Program Semesters (Persistence) Did Not Impact Persistence 9

10. Long-Term EffectsKingsborough Program • Kingsborough had large short-term estimated impacts • 1.6 credits in the targeted sequence for dev-ed students • 2.8 total credits after 2 years (including college-level students and credits earned at other colleges) • Six years after entering the study, compared to the control group, students in learning communities: • Earned 4.0 more credits; and • Were more likely to earn a degree (4.6 percentage points) • The program was cost-effective 10

11. Kingsborough:Earned a Degree at Any College 11

12. The Kingsborough Difference • Linked 3-courses • Recruited students intending to enroll full-time • Included students in college-level as well as developmental English • Built in strong academic and counseling support • Gave out book vouchers • Received strong support of college leaders 12

13. Evaluation Conclusions • On average, learning communities for developmental education students produce only a modest impact on credits earned • However, one-semester learning communities can have a long-term impact and even boost graduation. • Implementing learning communities at scale is challenging but possible. Establishing high levels of curricular integration is particularly difficult. 13

14. Mt. San Antonio College • Partnership between Student Services and Instruction • Focus on first time freshmen, low income, first generation college students assessing at the basic skills level • Link basic skills class with a counseling class; links are formed into cohorts enrolled in a community class • Began Summer Bridge Learning Community in 1997; current Summer Bridge Program 2012 “graduated” over 350 students with over 1,000 applicants • Academic year program continues with the English Academy and Math Academy serving almost 1,000 students • Have expanded to offering transfer level courses in English and Math at students’ request and with faculty interest • Successful pass rates show that students in learning communities basic skills classes consistently outperform students in other classes by as much as a 27% difference in successful pass rates 14

15. Core Components • Faculty integrate curriculum including class projects, study group assignments and teaching styles • Faculty trained in “On Course” pedagogical strategies for more engaged learner-centered teaching • All students complete educational plans with counselors • Academic support provided by Tutors in the Classroom and Supplemental Instruction, Tutoring, Study Groups, Peer Mentoring, Computer Lab and “Study Hall” location • Community building is the core: student:student, faculty:student, faculty:faculty through the Community Class, program activities (workshops, field trips), and internal classroom assignments and activities 15

16. Ah-ha Moments • Students pass core, sequential classes on first attempt – savings to the college, confidence-building for the student • Students need to feel a connectedness to the college – a continued sense of community and belonging Students can transition from a basic-skills focused learning community to the honors program • Program uniqueness: Intentional effort to create a community for students to which they “belong” – a family support system. Students feel “less lost” • Student exiting without another community – “Everything else is not enough.” • Successful students exit the program with transferrable skills to use in other classes and confidence due to having a sense of direction (educational plan) 16

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18. Metro Academies Program Design 18

19. 7 Essential Elements of Metro • Targeted outreach • General education course pathway • Long-duration student learning community • Curriculum design • Student support tied to courses • Tracking student success and program performance • Faculty development 19

20. All MDRC reports available free of charge at www.mdrc.org Evan.weissman@mdrc.org Alex.mayer@mdrc.org AYamagata-Noji@mtsac.edu Love@sfsu.edu