Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Reading

"This report presents results from a rigorous random assignment study of a basic learning community program"--in which a cohort of students is co-enrolled in two classes together--"at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa Bay, Florida. Hillsborough is one of six community colleges participating in the National Center for Postsecondary Research’s Learning Communities Demonstration. The demonstration’s focus is on determining whether learning communities", which may contain other aspects such as integrated curricula and instructor collaboration between classes," are an effective strategy for helping students who need developmental education. Hillsborough’s learning communities co-enrolled groups of around 20 students into a developmental reading course and a 'college success' course. Three cohorts of students (fall 2007, spring 2008, and fall 2008) participated in the study, for a total of 1,071" (p. iii). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

"The findings show that: • The most salient feature of the learning communities implemented at Hillsborough was the co-enrollment of students into linked courses, creating student cohorts. • The learning communities at Hillsborough became more comprehensive over the course of the study. In particular, curricular integration and faculty collaboration were generally minimal at the start of the study, but increased over time. • Overall (for the full study sample), Hillsborough’s learning communities program did not have a meaningful impact on students’ academic success. • Corresponding to the maturation of the learning communities program, evidence suggests that the program had positive impacts on some educational outcomes for the third (fall 2008) cohort of students” (p. iii). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2010
• Author(s): Weiss, Michael J.; Visher, Mary G.; Wathington, Heather; Teres, Jed; Schneider, Emily
• Organizational Author(s): MDRC
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
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• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies