Impact of Learning Communities in Developmental English on Community College Student Retention and Persistence

Abstract

This investigation was a case study to measure the retention and persistence effects of a learning community in developmental English at an urban community college. The study used student demographic and course outcome data to quantify the extent to which learning community participation could contribute toward remedying the historically low retention and persistence rates among a diverse student population in community colleges. The learning communities in this study consisted of developmental reading and writing courses linked in pairs at the same level, considered to be either one or two levels below college level English. Findings revealed a relationship between learning communities and improved retention in developmental writing courses for all ethnic groups. In addition, retention and persistence was improved for Latino students. The study also revealed that learning communities were most effective when utilized at the higher developmental English level courses compared to the lower level courses.

Depicting the Ecosystems of Support and Financial Sustainability for Five College Promise Populations

“…The study found that students who received both financial and academic interventions earned more credits and had a significantly lower rate of academic probation at the end of the academic year. Additional research has shown that student retention is positively impacted when students who enrolled in the same developmental writing and English courses also participated in course‐specific learning communities with their peers (Barnes & Piland, 2010). A synthesis of six randomized control trials of learning communities in community colleges found small, positive effects on students attempting and earning credits in the designated subject area and on their overall academic progress (Weiss et al, 2012).…”

Are students really connected? Predicting college adjustment from social network usage

“…Academic entry level, age (Schofield & Dismore, 2010), need for achievement and autonomy (Friedman & Mandel, 2012) have been found to be important variables in this regard. As of late, the discussion of retention has broadened to examine the persistence of students enrolling in on-line academic programmes (Heyman, 2010), studying internationally (Bista & Foster 2011) and participating in learning communities (Barnes & Piland, 2010). Thus, exploring the possible connection between social network usage and college adjustment could prove beneficial in fully understanding retention in higher education.…”

Black male community college students : a narrative study of their success

“…The four-semester case study compared students who were in developmental English learning communities with students who were also in developmental English but not in learning communities. The research found that even though retention was higher for students in the learning communities than for those who were not, it was not significantly higher (Barnes & Piland, 2011).…”

“…They particularly saw this correlation among Black men and women (Hotchkiss et al, 2006). Barnes and Piland (2011) focused on retention and the effects learning communities had on developmental English in community college. The four-semester case study compared students who were in developmental English learning communities with students who were also in developmental English but not in learning communities.…”