Roxbury Community College
Roxbury Community College (RCC) improved completion rates in developmental math courses by 13 percentage points as enrollments in those courses grew.
RCC not only added math labs, acceleration, and supplemental instruction, but will also scale modular delivery in Spring 2012.
RCC encourages students to take math during their first semester, and stopped requiring the pre-calculus course except for science and math majors.
- 25% of Fall 2009 students enrolled in developmental math courses progressed to college-level math by their third semester, compared to 11% of the Fall 2006 developmental math cohort
- 56% of the 892 newly enrolled students in Fall 2010 took math compared to 49% of 958 new students in Fall 2009
RCC is located in an urban section of metropolitan Boston. In Fall 2010, it had 2,700 students; 48% percent of students were African American and 16% were Hispanic. The race-ethnicity of 29% of students was listed as unknown by the National Center of Education Statistics.
The college reports that its students have the lowest incomes and greatest number of dependents in Massachusetts. In 2009-2010, 53% of RCC students received Pell grants.
Achieving the Dream goals and student outcome benchmarks are integrated in the college’s new strategic plan. The College’s cabinet is guided by a policy checklist provided by the college’s Achieving the Dream data coach to maintain attention on key challenges.
RCC data did not find significant discrepancies in student performance by ethnicity. Therefore, the college’s Achieving the Dream work targets the one-third of students who start their coursework with developmental English, and the one-half of students who start with a developmental math course. Interventions include:
- Professional Development
- Learning Communities
- The Reading Apprenticeship Initiative
The college’s other student success efforts include the Commonwealth Dual Enrollment Program, planning a STEM Early College High School, the Success Boston city-wide collaboration to help Boston Public School students transition to college, and the Math Intervention Workshop that brings high school students to RCC for math classes.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges
Leader Colleges are demonstrating the power of the Achieving the Dream Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. They show us it is possible to raise persistence and graduation rates, close achievement gaps, and change lives. Leader Colleges embody the ultimate goal of Achieving the Dream, and as such, serve as mentors within our community of learners.
To be eligible for Leader College distinction, colleges must show three or more years of improvement on one or more of these five measures:
- Course completion
- Advancement from developmental to credit-bearing courses
- Completion of college-level math and English courses
- Term-to-term and year-to-year retention
- Completion of certificates or degrees
