Fifteen community colleges, all early participants in the Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count initiative, are taking part in the Developmental Education Initiative. To see a description of the work they're doing, click on their names.
Coastal Bend College, Beeville, TX
Coastal Bend College joined Achieving the Dream with the first round of colleges in 2004. Much of its Achieving the Dream work focused on improving outcomes for developmental math students and faculty are seeing promising results. With funds from the Developmental Education Initiative, CBC will coordinate teaching innovations such as modular math with mandatory case management while aligning developmental and credit bearing courses to accelerate students toward college-level work.
Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, OH
Cuyahoga is a Round II Achieving the Dream school, joining the initiative in 2005. It will combine elements of Achieving the Dream pilot programs and studies to implement a new model for academic support services and faculty professional development—the Teaching and Learning Integrated Team (TLIT). The TLIT model incorporates mentoring, online and in-person tutoring, supplemental instruction, and collaborative learning. Cuyahoga also will provide the faculty development and staff training necessary to integrate these supportive services into course design.
Danville Community College, Danville, VA
Over almost five years as an Achieving the Dream college, Danville Community College has applied the ATD model of institutional improvement to modify instructional practices, course offerings, and student supports. It will continue down this path in the Developmental Education Initiative by expanding successful Achieving the Dream interventions to more developmental education students, aligning developmental and college-level entry and exit standards, and connecting students to community resources. Danville also will incorporate DEI into its governance structure with a Developmental Education Advisory Committee that will include people both inside and outside the college. The school will employ the Faculty Inquiry Group professional development model, a research-based approach from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Eastern Gateway Community College, Steubenville, OH
Eastern Gateway Community College joined Achieving the Dream in 2004. The college took developmental education as its focus and has seen marked improvement in pass rates for students taking advantage of a developmental math lab and a significant increase in the GPAs of developmental students in general. Developmental Education Initiative efforts will include integrating Adult Basic Education into the developmental education department and a developmental math and English course redesign following the National Center for Academic Transformation model. Eastern Gateway also will expand professional development offerings through Faculty Inquiry Groups and a student success series for their Board of Trustees.
El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX
On joining Achieving the Dream in 2004, El Paso Community College identified developmental education as the greatest opportunity for increasing student success. The college responded by creating a College Readiness Initiative, reaching out to local high school juniors and seniors. Following efforts with high school students, summer bridge programs, and test preparation for graduates, EPCC is beginning to see a decline in the number of students requiring developmental work (or multiple levels of developmental courses) when they arrive on campus. The college will institutionalize recognized best practices (mandatory assessment, placement, and enrollment for students needing developmental education) and align developmental and college exit/entry standards at all four campuses. EPCC also will provide case management for all developmental education students through their first 30 credit hours and expand successful ATD interventions like modular math, supplemental instruction, and learning communities, which link two or more classes for a unique group of students, building stronger relationships between students, teachers, and course content.
Guilford Technical Community College, Jamestown, NC
After almost five years as an Achieving the Dream college, Guildford Tech’s data are showing the importance of appropriate placement and targeted interventions, especially for students needing developmental education. With DEI funds, Guilford will provide intensive advising and case management for developmental education students that begins with orientation and registration, continues through intervention placement, and provides advocacy throughout developmental course work, with much of the service provided in a new Learning Assistance Center. Guilford will also expand promising Achieving the Dream interventions, including a student success course, learning communities, peer-led instruction, and accelerated developmental courses.
Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, CT
Housatonic, a Round II ATD college, focused much of its Achieving the Dream work on improving outcomes for developmental math students. They have seen increases in the number of students who stay in school (persistence rates) and attribute much of this improvement to an open-entry/open-exit (OE/OE) math course that allows students to progress to the next course level when they demonstrate content mastery. Building on that success, they will expand the OE/OE math offerings and launch a similar program for developmental English students. To reduce the number of students needing developmental education when they arrive on campus, HCC will expand its early placement program in local high schools and implement an accelerated math refresher course that was piloted last year with promising results.
Houston Community College, Houston, TX
Two of Houston’s Achieving the Dream interventions—a student success course and learning communities—are having positive effects on student persistence. In addition to institutionalizing recognized best practices (mandatory assessment, placement, and enrollment for students needing developmental education), HCC will require all entering students to take the student success course. With DEI funding, HCC will focus on developmental curricular alignment and align developmental math learning outcomes with college-level courses. The college will expand modular math offerings, learning communities pairing math and student success courses, and provide supplemental instruction in all developmental math courses. HCC also will offer professional development for all full-time and adjunct faculty to prepare them to use these various instructional methods.
North Central State College, Mansfield, OH
North Central State is a Round II college that has incorporated Achieving the Dream into planning, evaluation, and instructional practices; it is already seeing improvements in both developmental and gatekeeper course completion rates and student persistence. In addition to an assessment and placement review, their Developmental Education Initiative efforts will include expanding several successful ATD interventions: a self-paced learning lab, a campus bridge program for adult GED students, accelerated math boot camp, intensive advising, and the creation of a dedicated developmental education tutoring center. The college will also continue outreach efforts to local high schools by conducting placement test workshops for high school faculty.
Norwalk Community College, Norwalk, CT
Norwalk joined Achieving the Dream with the second round of colleges in 2005. It has recorded promising results for student outcomes in its learning community initiative and through the Student Success Center, which provides case management and support for students on academic probation. The Developmental Education Initiative will expand these two initiatives to reach more developmental education students and other at-risk populations. Norwalk also will require an IT literacy course in conjunction with developmental learning communities and the implementation of ePortfolio, a software package that connects student work to curricular competencies and allows faculty to review student information. These portfolios will guide the establishment of consistent entry and exit standards for developmental and college-level courses.
Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VA
Patrick Henry’s Achieving the Dream work has focused on the students’ first-year experience. The college has developed significant expertise in the use of collaborative learning techniques and has seen increased persistence rates with this strategy. An award-winning developmental education program will undergird their DEI work, with strategies like accelerated courses, skill-focused modules, simultaneous enrollment in developmental and college-level courses, contextualized instruction, and a math lab requirement. The college will further refine a diagnostic tool that identifies risk factors in developmental students and guides placement in appropriate interventions. PHCC will also expand a promising Achieving the Dream case management initiative.
Sinclair Community College, Dayton, OH
With participation in Achieving the Dream, Sinclair Community College, a Round II school, has integrated a number of student success initiatives and strengthened its capacity to make data-based decisions. This capacity will support their Developmental Education Initiative work, which will include a policy and practice review that will guide the design of a modular pathway for developmental students. In an effort to increase the number of local students who arrive at Sinclair prepared for college-level work, the college will expand its Student Success Plan initiative to nine Dayton-area high schools in Sinclair-operated College and Career Resource Centers; the Student Success Plan includes individual learning plans, coaching, and case management, as well as online math modules with diagnostics.
South Texas College, McAllen, TX
A Round I Achieving the Dream school, South Texas College has developed a culture of evidence and engagement focused on increasing student success. With the Developmental Education Initiative, STC will expand its Beacon mentoring program to all developmental education students. In addition to increased coordination of developmental offerings, program chairs in reading, English, and math will lead a task force to focus use of their subject areas on students’ career goals and integrate curricula across all three developmental disciplines
Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL
Valencia has been a part of Achieving the Dream since 2004; through steady growth of a supplemental instruction program, learning communities, and a student success course, it has narrowed or closed achievement gaps in student performance in a number of gatekeeper courses. The Developmental Education Initiative funding will facilitate the centralization of developmental education across Valencia’s four campuses, the alignment of high school, developmental education, and college-level outcomes, and the expansion of successful Achieving the Dream interventions, including the student success course and developmental education learning communities. Valencia also will embed reading skills into its developmental math courses and incorporate supplemental instruction into all levels of developmental math, reading, and writing.
Zane State College, Zanesville, OH
Zane State has followed the Achieving the Dream model of institutional improvement since 2005, changing the way it makes decisions and the way it serves students, and is seeing increases in developmental education student persistence and completion rates. Therefore, Zane has chosen to expand its Achieving the Dream developmental math intensive advising program to all developmental disciplines. The college will incorporate supportive technology into developmental education courses with a mobile lab. Zane also will provide faculty professional development on advising and culturally sensitive instruction to further improve the classroom experience.