Background
Danville Community College (DCC) serves residents of the small city of Danville, Va., and two rural counties—Pittsylvania and Halifax—in the region known as Southside Virginia. DCC’s enrollment is just over 4,000 students. Since 1987, when it began promoting higher education through the region’s African-American churches, the college’s minority enrollment has grown from 13% to 35%.
Despite this substantial improvement in access, the college’s data analysis revealed that students of color advance from developmental math to college-level math at alarmingly low rates. The data also revealed low retention rates among students of color and low-income students.
Achieving the Dream Interventions
DCC’s ATD goals include increasing the percentage of students of color who advance from all developmental math to college-level mathematics from 2% to 20%, and to increase the percentage of low-income students who advance from all developmental math to college-level mathematics from 7.8% to 20%.
Developmental Math
DCC began offering Developmental Math students three options for course completion. Students could choose between traditional semester-long courses, taking half a course in a full semester (with a slower rate of instruction), and modules that allow for fast-tracking or course repetition (1-credit course rather than 5-credit).
Additionally, DCC focused on creating more interactive environments by integrating technology into developmental math courses. In 2009-2010, MyMathLab is being used in all math modules, and the developmental learning community will integrate online supplemental learning.
When data showed that students were not taking advantage of free tutoring, DCC decided to embed mandatory tutoring into almost all developmental math courses.
Results
DCC surpassed its ATD goals and improved math advancement significantly for students of color and low-income students.
*Cohort data averaged for 2005, 2006, and 2007
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