Introduction

Learning Communities at Napa Valley College have taught students a wide range of skills and helped them to build important bonds with peers and professors. Students who typically dropped out of college within the first few weeks, learned how to navigate the college environment, gained confidence as a student, made new friends, gained a deep sense of belonging, all while learning basic skills in reading and writing. Collaborating on a weekly basis, English and Counseling faculty recognized that it is not just reading and writing that students need at the basic skills level.  They also required soft skills as how to manage themselves and the college environment.
What has contributed to these significant improvements with students who traditionally fail at alarming rates? Well designed learning communities based on many of the effective practices outlined in the Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in CA Community Colleges (Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges, 2007). These practices provide students the needed support to learn and succeed in the college environment.  

Background

Under the leadership of Vice President of Instruction, Sue Nelson, and Project Director and faculty member, Rebecca Scott, Napa Valley College received a Title III grant on Critical Interventions of Student Retention and Success.  One of the primary intervention activities was to develop learning communities for underprepared students.  After many centering meetings and faculty surveys, the Counseling and English Faculty created the English/Counseling Learning Communities. Six sections of learning communities were taught each semester in both day and evening. Students who were assessed into the basic skills writing course (two levels below college English) and who wanted to enroll in English were required to enroll in the English/Counseling Learning Community. Counseling and English faculty collaborated to create an eight-unit community that includes courses in college success (2 units), basic skills reading and writing (5 units) and a writing lab (1 unit).

Professional Development for Faculty

Professional development is critical when preparing faculty for their role as Learning Community Instructors. Learning Community faculty were recruited on a volunteer basis, and given financial incentives to participate.  In addition, many of the faculty were master teachers in their divisions and provide mentoring relationships for the new participating instructors. Faculty members attended a retreat and three specialized professional development workshops on how to teach to the underprepared basic skills student. The workshops were offered throughout the semester. The teaching partners, from the Counseling and English Divisions, met weekly to discuss curriculum and student issues. They also attended bi-monthly “brown bag lunch” meetings, informally structured to allow faculty to share best practices, discuss student and classroom problems and to provide collegial encouragement.

Students in Learning Communities

Students were guided into the Learning Communities after reviewing their English and reading placement results with a counselor.  As mentioned, the English course was two classes below college writing. Many students were resistant to participating in a basic skills course let along one with an eight-unit requirement.  Promotion played an important role in the success of the learning communities. Counselors and advisors, along with Testing Center Staff, did an excellent job marketing the benefits of the Learning Communities to students.   The instructors also invited students from past semesters to share their success stories and enthusiasm for the program, thus creating a positive message to students about the learning communities. 
Student satisfaction in the learning communities was very high as a result of this collaboration of Instructional and Student Services staff members.  The results of student satisfaction surveys:

• 99% would recommend learning communities to other students
• 96% state that learning communities helped them feel supported and welcomed at NVC
• 96% learned about NVC support services available
• 88% stated they increased their motivation and improved their study skills
• 88% plans to take classes next semester at NVC
• 77% completed an Educational Plan this semester

Faculty Satisfaction is Surveyed

Faculty members were surveyed on their experiences teaching in the learning communities.  Below is a sampling of their short-answer written responses.
What were the most meaningful experiences teaching in the Learning Communities?

• Partnership and collaborations with instructors
• The shared experience of teaching
• Seeing students move through the basics skills sequence to college level English
• Hearing students testify they finished reading a novel for the first time
• Meaningful connections with students
• Professional development opportunities

What do you see as the greatest benefits to students enrolled in Learning Communities?

• Development of team building skills, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Increased self esteem, motivation, confidence and self-reflection
• Seeing students connect with other students, form study groups, make friends, socialize
• Seeing the group act cohesively, not just as individuals coming to class
• Students connect to other services, especially financial aid and learning disability services

Student Retention, Course Completion and Persistence

Before learning communities at NVC, English courses two-levels below college level English had only 49% of their students complete the next course in the English sequence.  After participating in learning communities, the persistence rate for students from fall 2006 to fall 2007 increased to 70%. Students who participated in the English/Counseling Learning Communities were retained and successfully completed their courses at rates of 85% and 86%, respectively. This is in comparison to students from the general population at NVC whose retention and course completion rates were 70% and 61%, respectively.

Pre/Post LASSI Assessment

The LASSI (Learning and Student Strategies Inventory) assessment was used in the Counseling courses to assist students with their own self-knowledge on ten indicators for college success: anxiety, attitude toward college, concentration, information processing, motivation, self-testing, selecting the main ideas, study aids, time management, and test strategies.    In addition to helping students learn their areas of strength and areas needing improvement, the assessment was given as a pre and post test to measure improvements on the ten indicators.  These ten indictors also measured the student learning outcomes for the Counseling and English courses.  Students improved their average percentile ranking in all 10 areas ranging from 6 to 17%.  The highest improvements were in the areas of anxiety (17%), information processing (15%), and test strategies (15%).

Summary

Community Colleges across the State of California are faced with the growing need for students to become educated and trained for today’s competitive, diverse and information-driven workforce.   The California Community College system recognizes the need to strengthen basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics.  Students also need additional support in the classroom and through student support services.  Students, faculty and the Napa Valley College administration have benefited from institutionalizing learning communities for basic skills students.  Student success, retention, course completion and persistence rates have increased.  Faculty satisfaction, professional development and participation have grown, and other departments and divisions are exploring and implementing learning communities.  The collaboration between divisions and faculty members, combined with administrative support and financial resources, has produced results that empower students to achieve their goals through education. I’ve been teaching classes and counseling students for over 20 years, and never have I found a more challenging and rewarding student group than teaching in the English/Counseling learning communities. Recently watching the first group of learning community students graduate and/or transfer was rewarding beyond a paycheck.

About the Author

Lauralyn Bauer

Lauralyn Bauer is a Professor of Counseling, and has been the Coordinator of the Learning Communities for the past 2 years at Napa Valley College. In this role, she mentors faculty members, facilitates professional trainings, solves problems and teaches in the learning communities. In addition, she is the Coordinator of the Career Center and Coordinator of the Human Services Program. She is passionate about helping students discover their strengths and equipping them with tools to reach their goals.