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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · causal r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 3 of 3 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Across the six studies, none showed a statistically significant overall effect on postsecondary enrollment. → What Works Clearinghouse 2014 q3 i? At Houston, a statistically significant gender-by-condition interaction emerged: women in the intervention registered at a higher rate (88% versus 80%) while men registered at a lower rate (78% versus 84%). → What Works Clearinghouse 2014 (2) q3 i? At Hillsborough, men registered at a lower rate in the intervention group (78%) than in the comparison group (83%), a non-significant but substantively important difference. → What Works Clearinghouse 2014 (3)

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 7,400 students) on registration and enrollment. Site-level registration comparisons were small and non-significant, e.g., Sommo et al. enrolled 87% versus 85% and Baltimore 85% versus 84%.

"Thus, for the postsecondary enrollment 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 · r?

Houston Community College RCT (Weissman et al., 2011; 1,273 students) using transcript registration data. The gender-by-condition interaction was statistically significant and "large enough to be considered substantively important" in the WWC's words.

"These authors did observe a statistically significant interaction between student gender and learning communities on registration rates. Women in the intervention condition registered at a higher rate (88%) than women in the comparison condition (80%), while men in the intervention condition registered at a lower rate (78%) than men in the comparison condition (84%)."

What Works Clearinghouse 2014 (3)¶

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

Hillsborough RCT (Weiss et al., 2010; 1,071 students). The report states this "difference in registration rates between men and women in the intervention group is not statistically significant, but is large enough to be considered substantively important."

"Women registered for courses at about the same rate irrespective of their condition (85% versus 84%), but men registered for courses at a lower rate in the intervention group (78%) than in the comparison group (83%)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Gender — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• GenAI function, intervention duration, publication year, and gender were not significant moderators of GenAI's motivational effect — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effects on academic achievement — related
• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effect on degree attainment — 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 effect on progress in developmental education, with a statistically significant but non-substantive gender interaction at Houston — related