Goal Development of Latina/o Students in a Developmental Learning Community at a Community College

Community colleges benefit from a diverse population with various reasons for attending. For example, 23% of Latina/o students that earned a PhD between 1990 and 2000 began their education in a community college (Rivas, Perez, Alvarez, & Solorzano, 2007). However, there are a number who often do not persist toward their goals. To begin with, half the students who manage to graduate from high school in Southern California enter community college with widely varying degrees of academic preparation. Many academically unprepared Latina/o high school graduates enroll in U.S. community colleges as the first critical point of access (Fry, 2004). However, Latina/o student retention remains a serious matter, as reflected by 7% baccalaureate degree attainment after six years (Adelman, 2005; National Center for Education Statistics, 2008a). What can be done to discourage attrition and encourage retention? The learning community construct, lauded for its contribution to teaching and learning reform (Commander & Ward, 2009), attempts to improve academic achievement through curricular connection and building community. In this article, I present the ways in which the Developmental Learning Community assists Latina/o community college students in achieving their self-defined goals.