“Fiesta Oak Cliff: Cultural Studies 2370” is a transfer community college course that was offered for the first time in spring 2001, exclusively at Mountain View College. The course focuses on the cultures and ethnicities of Oak Cliff, a large, predominantly Latino community in southwest Dallas. The course accelerates Latino students' academic achievement by teaching basic techniques of active reading, academic writing in English, and critical thinking, along with research skills in the social and behavioral sciences, which are needed to succeed at both the community college level, where the students taking the course are enrolled, and the university, where the students are expected to transfer.
Institution:
Mountain View College
Academic Level:
Community College
Issue Area:
Outreach
Issue Area:
Retention
Year:
2006
Designation:
Examples of Excelencia
Designation:
Finalist
Key Personnel:
Grimes, Geoffrey
Address:
Mountain View College
Address 2:
Div of Communications and Div of Arts & Humanities
Address 3:
4849 West Illinois Ave
City:
Dallas
State:
TX
Zip:
75211 Goal/Mission:
“Fiesta Oak Cliff: Cultural Studies 2370” meets the three critical needs of access, persistence, and retention of Latino students who enter Mountain View College. To address these three needs, the course emphasizes the involvement of key family members as an integral component in the student’s success and the completion of a two-year Associate degree. It incorporates research in the social sciences to class activities, builds on skills in organization, group planning and teamwork, and develops critical thinking.
Outcome:
Since fall 2004, "Fiesta Oak Cliff: Cultural Studies 2370" has enrolled 251 students. Rates of retention for these students were significantly higher than for those not enrolled in the course: 71% vs. 54.6%. Rates of success (earning the grade of A, B, or C) and graduation rates were high as well. Two years ago, staff were able to track 33 out of 96 students who had gone to four-year and graduate programs.
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