A Case for Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Developmental English Classrooms at Hispanic-Serving Community Colleges

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Perspectives on Policy and Inclusion

Abstract

Developmental English (DE) courses in U.S. higher education institutions intend to address underpreparedness for college-level writing (Boatman & Long, 2018). DE courses have low completion rates and disproportionately affect Students of Color, particularly Latine students (Chen, 2016). Despite a strong intention to transfer, many Latine students do not complete DE (Scott-Clayton & Rodriguez, 2015). To address this, we advocate for the use of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in DE classrooms at Hispanic-serving community colleges (HSCCs). In our theoretical paper, we argue that DE educators at HSCCs should include CRP to improve Latine students’ outcomes. Our paper highlights issues of acculturation as negatively impactful to Latine students’ success in DE and extends CRP beyond the k-12 context to post-secondary DE classrooms.

Authors

• Delaney Rood, Michigan State University

• Adrienne Hill, Michigan State University