Case Study: University of Alabama at Birmingham achieves 30-point increase in Spanish retention (23% to 53%) with McGraw Hill's Connect® Spanish

University of Alabama at Birmingham - Customer Case Study

The University of Alabama at Birmingham faced a major retention challenge in its Spanish program: only 23% of students who took Spanish 101 continued to Spanish 102, and faculty wanted to produce more proficient speakers. To address this, instructor Krista Chambless adopted McGraw Hill’s Connect® Spanish (with the Conéctate textbook and LearnSmart assignments) integrated into Canvas to create a proficiency-focused, structured course sequence.

McGraw Hill’s Connect and LearnSmart were used to deliver weekly assignments, Integrated Performance Assessments, and reporting tools that streamlined grading and informed instruction. As a result, departmental retention rose from 23% to 53% (a 30-point increase), all assessed students reached Intermediate Low on the STAMP 4S, course pass rates reached 95%, and instructor grading time dropped from about 5–7 hours to 2–3 hours per week.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Krista Chambless

University of Alabama at Birmingham