1. 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

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”? 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

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. 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

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 7 0.5*** 0.4** 2.2 Increased Credits Earned in the Targeted Subject

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

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

10. 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

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 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

15. 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

16. 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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18. Metro Academies Program Design 18

19. 7 Essential Elements of Metro 19 1. 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

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