The Impact of Contextualized Curriculum on the Academic Outcomes of Developmental Reading Students

In
recent
years,
there
has
been
an
expansion
of
research
to
identify
effective
and
high-­‐impact
strategies
and
practices
to
improve
developmental
student
success.
Of
these,
the
contextualization
of
teaching
and
learning
(CTL)
appears
to
hold
promise.
CTL
enhances
the
learning
of
basic
reading,
writing,
and/or
mathematics
skills
by
linking
these
skills
to
authentic
content
areas.
It
enjoys
strong
theoretical
support;
however,
empirical
studies
on
its
effectiveness
while
promising
are
limited.
This
dissertation
study
adds
to
the
existing
body
of
empirical
research
on
CTL
by
analyzing
the
impact
of
contextualized
curriculum
on
the
academic
outcomes
of
first-­‐
year
developmental
reading
students
at
a
Midwest
community
college.
It
utilized
a
mixed
method
approach:
statistical
analysis
was
applied
to
compare
the
attainment
of
outcomes
by
students
in
contextualized
reading
classes
and
those
in
non-­‐contextualized
sections.
The
qualitative
portion
used
focus
group
interviews
to
explore
the
experiential
impact
of
contextualized
curriculum
on
student
perceptions
of
course
content,
academic
engagement,
and
motivation.
Findings
indicate
that
the
contextualized
curricular
intervention
correlates
with
higher
attainment
of
outcome
measures
by
students
throughout
their
first
year
of
college.
Students
in
CTL
sections
completed
the
required
reading
class
at
higher
rates,
attempted
and
earned
more
credit
hours,
attempted
and
completed
more
college-­‐level
courses,
and
showed
higher
next-­‐term
persistence
than
developmental
reading
peers
in
ii
non-­‐CTL
sections.
However,
the
momentum
toward
success
generated
by
the
first-­‐term
CTL
intervention
was
insufficient
to
improve
persistence
into
the
second
year.
Qualitative
analysis
of
factors
that
influenced
the
positive
outcomes
reveals
the
key
role
that
the
CTL
intervention
played
in
enhancing
the
social
dimension
of
the
classroom
experience,
the
perceived
relevance
of
reading
skills
and
strategies,
and
the
nurture
and
preservation
of
student
motivation.
This
study
affirms
that
contextualization
is
a
viable
curricular
strategy
in
the
reform
of
developmental
education.