A Random Assignment Evaluation of Learning Communities Seven Years Later: Impacts on Education and Earnings Outcomes
Author: Weiss, Michael J.
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Community Colleges,Two Year College Students,College Curriculum,Longitudinal Studies,Outcomes of Education,Income,Enrollment,College Credits,Graduation Rate

Empirical evidence confirms that increased education is positively associated with higher earnings across a wide spectrum of fields and student demographics (Barrow &amp; Rouse, 2005; Card, 2001; Carneiro, Heckman, &amp; Vytlacil, 2011; Dadgar &amp; Weiss, 2012; Dynarski, 2008; Jacobson &amp; Mokher, 2009; Jepsen, Troske, &amp; Coomes, 2009; Kane &amp; Rouse, 1995; Marcotte, 2004). College degree holders earn higher salaries and experience unemployment less frequently than those who do not have college degrees (Dadgar &amp; Weiss, 2012), and those who attended college, regardless of degree receipt, report higher rates of job satisfaction, promotion opportunities, increased work responsibilities, and improved work performance (Hoachlander, Sikora, &amp; Horn, 2003). For many low-income students, the pathway to higher education and increased earnings begins in community colleges, which currently enroll about one-third of American degreeseekers (Digest of Education Statistics, 2012). However, community college students' persistence and completion rates leave much room for improvement. Among students beginning at public two-year colleges, fewer than half earn a credential or transfer to a four-year institution within six years after their initial enrollment (Radford, Berkner, Wheeless, &amp; Shepherd, 2010). Many community college students stop or drop out long before graduation day, losing out on the full complement of higher earnings and employment outcomes associated with higher education. One factor contributing to these low success rates is the fact that many students arrive on campus only to find that they are required to take non-credit-bearing courses, called &quot;developmental&quot; or &quot;remedial&quot; education courses, prior to enrolling in college-level courses (Duke &amp; Strawn, 2008). One estimate of the prevalence of students required to complete developmental coursework suggests that among students whose first institution attended was a community college, around 60 percent took a remedial course at a postsecondary institution (Adelman, 2004; Bailey, Jeong, &amp; Cho, 2009). Unsurprisingly, degree or certificate attainment rates among students who need developmental education are even lower than those of the general population (Attewell, Lavin, Domina, &amp; Levey, 2006). Students in need of developmental education are not just failing to earn a credential -- the majority never complete the developmental course sequence to which they are referred (Bailey 2009). One popular strategy aimed at addressing the issues of students referred to developmental courses (as well as students in college-level courses) is called &quot;learning communities,&quot; or LCs. The LC evaluated in this study produced positive short-term impacts on academic outcomes including credits attempted and credits earned and students' progression through the developmental reading sequence of courses. Given these positive results, similar learning communities for developmental reading and math students in community colleges were replicated and evaluated at five other schools. Tables and figures are appended.