The problem addressed in this study was the retention and completion rates at community colleges leave room for significant improvement, particularly with underprepared students who tend to be at a disadvantage and contribute to low graduation rates. A learning community designed to further engage students and improve retention was implemented at…

Effective professional development for course instructors in higher education has long been a point of interest in terms of how not only ongoing training can benefit instructors but also how those benefits could possibly improve student experiences and learning outcomes. This qualitative case study specifically examines a population of teachers…

This study explores the impact of a first-semester learning community (LC) program on the experiences of developmental students in community college. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, students shared four central benefits of beginning their college careers in an LC program, including: (1) access to a supportive social and…

Community colleges are increasingly important places for language minority students to access higher education. Unfortunately, this group of students is the least likely to persist in terms of re-enrollment, degree completion, or transfer to four-year institutions. In this study, we used structured equation modeling with a sample of 10,637…

This article examines transdisciplinarity in developmental education and Basic Writing in the context of externally-driven developmental education reforms. We report on a pilot study survey of 143 developmental educators regarding their professional identity, engagement, and resilience. Respondents identified professional roles and interactions…

As one of the 30 community college presidents taking part in the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Pathways Project, El Paso Community College (EPCC) President William Serrata is learning from coaches and national experts at each of six Pathways Institutes run by AACC. He also has a key state-level resource that allows him to…

Colleges and universities across the United States are still enrolling students who are underprepared for college-level courses of study. Tinto (1998) stated at the Conference on Replacing Remediation in Higher Education: "Students are entering college with no more than a sixth-grade education in basic skills such as reading, writing, and…

Developmental courses help academically underprepared students to succeed in college. Classroom learning community programs aid intellectual growth through academic and social support. The current study examined whether developmental students in classroom learning communities differed with respect to college GPA and retention from their peers not…

Community colleges play a vital role in higher education, enrolling more than one in every three postsecondary students. While their market share has grown over the past 50 years, students' success rates remain low. Consequently, community college stakeholders are searching with mounting urgency for strategies that increase rates of success. We…

Community colleges play a vital role in postsecondary education, enrolling more than one in every three postsecondary students. While their importance has grown over the past 50 years, their students' success rates remain low. Consequently, community college stakeholders are searching with mounting urgency for approaches that increase students'…

This two-year case study summarizes the views of students, instructors, and administrators toward a learning community program that served first-year developmental reading students at a public two-year college. One-on-one interviews and focus groups revealed that semester-long learning communities helped students overcome obstacles toward academic…

One of the most important topics for faculty in public higher education, especially at community colleges, is how to help developmental students succeed. Students requiring basic mathematics and English courses are the most at-risk college students in public education today. The authors received a grant from the Kresge Foundation that funded the…

The learning community as a classroom structure and as a teaching technique started in the early 1900s, experienced a slow but consistent growth, and in 2010 was in use in over 500 colleges (Smith, 1991). However, as in all of higher education, the methods being used must demonstrate effectiveness. An important question is how to demonstrate…

Providing ninth-graders with academic and social support can put more students on the graduation path, but it can be challenging for schools and school systems to implement that support routinely and effectively. This brief describes how Broward County Public Schools adopted a community of practice (CoP) approach to improve school-based teams'…

This case study tracks the application of project-based learning (PBL) during four separate college terms at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Each term follows a different learning community of first-term college students enrolled in a program of developmental education (DE), reading, writing, math, and college survival and success…