Welcome to the MCAEL Program Administrator Toolkit - NEW data has been added!  

  • You are here

    Home»RETAINING STUDENTS»Chapter 15: Retention and Building a Community of Learners

    Chapter 15: Retention and Building a Community of Learners

      Retaining Students- Chapter 15

       

      How can we do a better job at retaining students? 

      ►There are a number of things that both instructors can do and program managers can do. Although you may not have control over some of the reasons students stop coming to class, a proactive approach to retaining students will likely have results. (See the next two chapters on Transition and Support Services for additional ideas for learner retention.)

      Retention and Building a Community of Learners

      Adult learners have a multitude of obligations, so even well-established programs can have difficulty keeping students coming to class. Very few adult ESOL classes have a 100% retention rate. If events outside your control happen, such as their job schedule changes or a new family obligation arises, there may not be a lot you can do to keep them in the class they started. Nevertheless, many students stop coming even when their life is not getting in the way of attending
      class. This chapter discusses ways we can avoid losing those students.

      ♦ What tips can I give instructors to help student retention? 

      There are simple things teachers can do to show that they care:

      • Learn students’ names and show interest in their lives, interests, goals, experience, and culture. 
      •  Make sure students know they should talk to the teacher if they think they have to drop the class. The instructors should be aware of what resources are available to students to help them overcome barriers.
      • Create a learning environment that is a safe one. Students should be able to come to a place where they can try out new things and make mistakes without concern about the risks to their self-esteem or judgment. Find ways to praise success in the class.
      • Recognize differences in your students without stereo- typing and treat everyone fairly. Be careful not to play favorites or just focus on the students in the front row or the ones who are the most vocal.
      • Students should do lots of group and pair work to keep them engaged. Listening to the teacher and watching other students answer questions one by one gets pretty dull. And switching the partners and groups up is an easy way to keep the class feeling fresh.
      • Have students set goals—both long and short term. Remind them throughout the class how what is being done in class and the outcomes of the lesson will help them meet those goals.
      • Have students talk about whether they met those outcomes in class so that they leave aware that the class taught them something and is helping them reach their goals every time.
      • Have students monitor their progress so they can see it. They can fill in charts, write progress journals or do portfolios so they have something concrete to know they are moving forward. 
      • Do lessons connected to time management and organization. 
      • Instructors can also do lessons on the local community to encourage students to want to learn English to be more involved.
      • Watch videos from successful students or have guest speakers come in who can help students see where they are going and that they can be successful in meeting their goals.
       

      ♦ What can we do in our program to keep students? 

      • Call/text students who have missed a few classes to encourage them to return.
      • Have materials available that will help them overcome the barriers to attending. Have a ready list of referrals to local organizations based upon common barriers (employment, legal, health, etc.).
      • Have students pay a bit of money. They can pay a materials fee or even buy their books. That money can often help since nobody likes “losing” money.
      • Be sure your orientation is clear about the program’s objectives, when the class meets, and what the expectations are.
      • Make sure you know the students’ names.
      • Consider focus groups to let them tell you how things are going and what they want more of. This can help them to feel ownership in their program.
      • Use the feedback gathered and check your data. If times, the number of hours, or days are not working for students, consider changing them.
      • Help them identify what the barriers to coming to class are.

       

      ♦ What do I do if the student has to leave?

      • Adult students with their many obligations may find they can’t keep coming. That doesn’t mean they won’t return at a later date. Adults will often “stop out,” essentially meaning they may have to take a break but will come back when their situation changes. There are things you can do to help to ensure they return, though.
      • Make sure in your orientation and at the beginning of class students are told they should talk to their instructor if they can’t come anymore.
      • Talk to them about returning when they have ways to overcome that barrier.
      • Make sure they know when and where to return.
      • You can suggest other places with alternate schedules they can go to until they can come back to you.
      • Give them contact information and collect theirs—you could text them registration dates or post on their social media feeds. Whatever you can do to make it as easy as possible to come back, you’ll want to do!
      • Give them ways to do self-study—having things available on your social media that students can go to are a good way to keep them engaged with you even though they can’t come to class.
       
       
      KEEPING STUDENTS COMING: What is a Community of Learners?

      Common definitions indicate that these are practices that ensure students feel as though they are members of something and that they are having their needs met while making emotional connections with others. They are provided with support from the program and from fellow students. There is also an expectation that students will participate in determining what they do and how they do it.

      How does it help us to keep students?

      Students stick with the program because they feel like they belong and have some say in what and how they learn.

      How do we build a Community of Learners?

      • Within the class, students can work on long-term group projects. 
      • Give lots of opportunities for students to provide feedback and give suggestions for ways to improve the program.
      • Have a buddy system between classes, so students can talk to people in other classes.
      • Having whole-site “fairs” can work to have students work with others on their site. It can be a mock job fair with role play interviews, resume reviews, etc. You can also do education/transition fairs with students in pairs visiting stations to talk with people about various options. You can do something similar with other services. It can also be a cultural fair, with students making presentations to give to others in other classes.
      • Celebrate holidays as a whole site. For example, you can have classes create door decorations for Valentine’s Day and then go around to talk about what they see. Determine the best ones to celebrate based on some criteria.

      Retention and Building a Community of Learners

      ♦ NOTES FROM THE FIELD

      Rockville Senior Center English Program StatisticsAmoke Alakoye, MHS, MSM, ESOL program coordinator for the Rockville Senior Center English Program, and instructor at Community Reach, suggests a few ways an instructor can create a welcoming environment in the classroom, to better retain students.

      “In addition to the usual warm and exciting welcome of the first day of class, I work to intentionally maintain that environment throughout the semester. My goal is to have a comfortable, respectful/safe, nurturing, familiar yet fun and dynamic learning space.” 

      Respectful/safe: 

      “I teach adults; more than half of the learners are working outside of their homes. Most of them come straight from work and a couple leave my class and go to their shift. So in addition to being respectful to their person, I am mindful to be respectful to their time. The safe part of this component manifests itself in the control of the classroom. This is a safe area to try things one may be unsure of, a safe place to volunteer answers, to offer ideas because we have some established rules. One of the rules is we do not talk or have side conversations when another learner or I am speaking.”

      Familiar:

      “I provide homeostasis, which is a state of balance, in the classroom by having some routines. For example, I have a warm-up exercise on the board at the start of every class which learners are expected to copy into their notebooks as soon as they arrive. Once class begins, I read the warm-up and they repeat. After week three, I begin calling upon random learners to be
      the professor and use my pointer to lead the reading and reciting. As the weeks progress, I use the warm-up in different ways, but keep the learner role intact.” 

       
      Fun and Dynamic:

      “While my classroom has rules of conduct, routine, and lesson plans we also have humor and laughter. For instance, when I begin omitting words, misspelling words, writing the wrong parts of the date, or crazy weather patterns in the warm-up, students usually get a big kick out of the fact that the teacher can make such blatant mistakes or that I think they will not notice the mistakes. My humor is almost always directed at myself with something I have done or observed, or I point at something societal that is relatable to them.”

      Building community in the classroom:

      “I use name tents as one of the tools in building community. Early in the semester, I leave the name tents at the front of the classroom and allow learners to take their names and sit where they choose. I observe their choices and watch that dynamic during the class. Despite where people sit, I often mix up the pairs and groups for various activities. This makes it easier to assign seats later in the semester. When I want to assign seats, I place the name tents before the learners arrive. Usually, by the third or fourth class, there has been so much interaction between learners because of repetitive introductions, interviews and pairings they begin to demonstrate caring for one another.”

      Recognizing and rewarding progress and persistence:

      “I recognize and support the learning in my classroom often and randomly. That is, of course, I recognize folks when they get the big wins, but I
      also recognize them when they are not expecting it with the little wins.”

       
       
      Spanish Catholic Center ESOL Program StatisticsLaura Irwin, Supervisor of the Spanish Catholic Center ESOL program for Catholic Charities in Gaithersburg, discusses steps their program has taken to better retain students. 
       
      “Our retention efforts can be overwhelmed by outside forces, particularly employment. The majority of learners who withdraw from the class are those who find themselves dealing with issues of schedule changes, part-time employment opportunities, commuting issues to and from work, and unemployment. These are some ways we have found to keep students coming:
       

      • One way we encourage students to stay, and stay for more than one session, is through our ‘cohort’ system. Learners stay with the same instructor for two academic cycles. This allows them to complete the necessary work within one full level, builds a cohort experience, and encourages continuous enrollment. The learners become advocates for their classmates, and they find comfort in seeing familiar faces in the classroom.

       

      • Some students may drop if they find the class too easy or difficult. To avoid this, we offer learners the equivalent of a college model for a ‘drop/add’ period. During this period, learners have the opportunity to attend their assigned class/level (based on the results of their placement test). However, if within the first 10 days of class they find that the level does not really match their skills, they can request to transfer to another level. It can be higher, or it can be lower. Offering the learners this type of control over their learning experience has proven to be very positive. It is empowering for learners and they advocate for themselves in the learning process.

       

      • To keep students in class who may be finding it challenging, our ‘Academic Achievement’ program provides learners with support outside of class where they receive individualized instruction and
      can fully participate in their assigned level with ease. The program gives students the necessary skills to work individually and in their own class. 

       

      • The program supervisor works with instructors to monitor attendance and contacts students who miss class. For the class that meets only one day (Saturday), we contact learners immediately following the missed class. For the weekday students, we call after a consistent absence (two days of missing class). It is through this followup that we are able to receive anecdotal data on employment issues (changes in schedule), family and health concerns, and all other challenges that prevent them from attending class regularly. Depending on the student’s need we
      connect them to several resources within the agency. The response to the followup calls has been very positive. Learners are encouraged to return to class, or they are able to communicate the challenges and needs they may be facing.”

      Learner Persistence

      18 MCAEL grant recipients reported on persistence for the year 2017–18, defined as the percentage of learners who attended at least 70% of classes in one session. This chart shows the wide range of rates reported; the average was 61%. The highest persistence rates were reported by programs for seniors. Without these, the average rate falls to 57%. Along with other measures of learner progress, providers keep track of how well learners are able to “persist” in their studies, rather than the program’s ability to “retain” learners.