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

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

What Are “Learning Communities”? 1)Co-Enrollment: Groups of about 25 students are co-enrolled in two or more courses. 2)Instructor Collaboration: Instructors collaborate on curriculum and helping students. 3)Curricular Integration: Courses are thematically linked and include joint syllabi and assignments. 4)Additional Supports: Students get enhanced academic support and/or counseling. 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

Long-Term Effects Kingsborough 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

Kingsborough: Earned a Degree at Any College 11

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

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

Mt. San Antonio College 14  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

Core Components 15  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

Ah-ha Moments 16  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)

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Metro Academies Program Design 18

7 Essential Elements of Metro Targeted outreach 2. General education course pathway 3. Long-duration student learning community 4. Curriculum design 5. Student support tied to courses 6. Tracking student success and program performance 7. Faculty development

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