THE POWER OF ACADEMIC LEARNING COMMUNITIES

<p>Kingsborough Community College's Intensive ESL Program, a collaborative, interdisciplinary program, was designed to help entering ESL students acquire proficiency in academic English while at the same time succeeding in credit-bearing college courses. Corollary to this primary goal, other important objectives of this program are to improve the retention and graduation rates of ESL students and to facilitate their integration into the social and academic life of the college as a whole. We have found that students who become part of an active, student-centered learning community have a greater chance of succeeding in college than those who do not. This article will explore the nature and structure of learning community programs and what makes them so effective in contributing to the success of entering college students, ESL and non-ESL alike.</p>