Developmental Reading Learning Communities in the First Year Experience

Abstract

The University of Texas at El Paso offers over seventy learning communities to firstyear students from extremely diverse socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Ninety percent are Hispanic, 54 percent are first-generation college students, and 59 percent must participate in developmental classes before moving forward with collegelevel courses. The following article offers a descriptive snapshot of the successes and foibles of developmental reading learning communities at an urban commuter university with a nontraditional student body.