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Background
Broward Community College (BCC) is the principal provider of undergraduate higher education for the residents of Broward County. More than 60,000 students attend this three campus institution in any given year. Through a wide variety of degree and certificate programs and continuing education courses, the college attracts a great diversity of students with different academic goals. BCC’s three-year graduation rate is among the lowest in Florida's community college system according to state accountability reports.
College leaders have attempted to address the complex needs of the many under-prepared students who enroll at the college. Data gathered during the Achieving the Dream planning grant year provided new insights into the magnitude of the challenge. Researchers found that academically-deficient students are disproportionately students of color; that nearly one-third of the entering class needs remediation in all three of the basic skill areas of reading, English and math; and that students who need multiple levels of remediation are at the greatest risk of academic failure.
Achieving the Dream Goals
BCC aims to increase the success rate of the “3/2 prep group” — students who need remediation in all three areas of developmental education at least two of which involve multiple levels of remediation. Approximately 500 of the first-time-in-college students are in the “3/2 prep group,” which is 44 percent African-American, 29 percent Hispanic and 18 percent White, non-Hispanic.
The college plans a case-management intervention program that includes changes in institutional processes, a prescriptive curriculum, an invasive support system, and faculty development. Students in the “3/2 prep group” will be tracked and their progress will influence the curriculum. They will be assigned a Success Coach. They will also be required to attend orientation and will take a prescribed curriculum taught in a learning community.
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