“It’s all about the ganas”: Incorporating a Multicultural Curriculum in Developmental Education

Abstract

Despite the overrepresentation of students of color in developmental education, there is a lack of research on programs that promote the success and transfer of these students beginning in developmental education, especially Latinx students. Since 2012, the Dream Catchers program in Texas has targeted the recruitment, retention, and completion of Latinx and other historically underrepresented students through a literacy-based program that targets students in developmental education in community colleges. This study draws primarily from interview data gathered from 14 Dream Catchers faculty across the 10 institutions that have participated in the program. Through the lens of a multicultural developmental education curriculum, we investigate how the Dream Catchers program provides intensive, long-term professional development for its faculty in order to prepare them to work in a high-touch, holistic program. This article describes some of the professional development activities faculty undergo, what this multicultural curriculum looks like in practice, and how faculty incorporate cultural understanding of their students into developmental courses

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