Linked learning communities show no overall effect on progress in developmental education, with a statistically significant but non-substantive gender interaction at Houston¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? None of the six studies showed a statistically significant or substantively important effect on progress through developmental education. → What Works Clearinghouse 2014 q3 i? At Houston, a statistically significant gender-by-condition interaction emerged on passing the second required developmental math course: 19% of intervention women versus 15% of comparison women passed both courses, while men passed at about 16% in both conditions. → What Works Clearinghouse 2014 (2)

Evidence¶

What Works Clearinghouse 2014¶

What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2014). Linked Learning Communities. WWC Intervention Report. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/630

q3 · i? · review · r3

WWC synthesis of six RCTs (about 7,374 students). Individual contrasts were null or marginally significant only: Sommo et al. 65% versus 60% (p < .10), Hillsborough 60% versus 59%, Queensborough 10% in both groups, Baltimore 27% versus 30%, Merced 5.0% versus 5.1%.

"Thus, for the progress in developmental education domain, none of the six studies that met WWC group design standards showed either a statistically significant effect or an effect large enough to be considered substantively important."

What Works Clearinghouse 2014 (2)¶

What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2014). Linked Learning Communities. WWC Intervention Report. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/630

q3 · i? · causal · r3

Houston RCT (Weissman et al., 2011; 1,273 students). The report states the interaction is statistically significant but that "the difference in pass rates between men and women in the intervention group is not large enough to be considered substantively important."

"Men passed the second of two required developmental math courses within two semesters at about the same rate regardless of condition (about 16% in both the intervention group and the comparison group). However, about 19% of women in the intervention group passed both courses, whereas 15% of women in the comparison group passed both courses."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effects on academic achievement — related
• Linked learning communities show no discernible effects on any of five outcome domains for community college students in developmental education — a broader claim this one bears on
• Linked learning communities show no overall enrollment effect, but statistically significant gender-by-condition interactions on registration at Houston and substantively important differences at Hillsborough — related
• Developmental education is a major loss point: 60 percent of community college students are referred to developmental education but only 30 percent ever take subsequent college-level courses — related