This overview introduces "Right from the Start: An Institutional Perspective on Developmental Education Reform," a series of three practitioner briefs on developmental education. Created by Achieving the Dream and MDC, the briefs spotlight successful reform efforts in developmental education at seven Achieving the Dream colleges. [The…

For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

As described in this brief, Tacoma Community College and South Texas College each focused on contextualization as a cornerstone of developmental education reform, albeit with different approaches. With a comprehensive look at the experience at Tacoma Community College and a supplementary example from South Texas College, we begin to understand how…

Initially drawing from, yet then expanding on the research discussed in this volume, this article discusses specific measures that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can take to support purpose among youth. Strategies for educators include utilizing practical purpose teaching tools, such as purpose interviews, purpose-related…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

This paper reports on the planning of a pilot developmental kindergarten program for a school district that traditionally emphasized an academic kindergarten program. Background information is presented which explains the reasons for initiating the change. Steps taken to plan the program are explained, and a list of possible impediments to…

The Children's Developmental Play Program at Jacksonville State University (Alabama) encourages fine and gross motor skills in developmentally disabled children while simultaneously improving self-concept and optimizing risk taking behaviors. (SB)

Discusses reforms of the traditional elementary school curriculum in the "History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve" (1987). Emphasizes a history-centered curriculum drawing widely on the social sciences and humanities and involving students in developmentally appropriate…

Community colleges, which serve almost half of postsecondary students in the United States, are receiving ever-increasing attention from policymakers and researchers. Although these institutions have always served a wide range of people in their communities, the number of students who enter community college requiring additional preparation before…

The portrait of the American college senior is a mix of economic pressures and shifting choices. Understanding that the senior year represents another critical transition point for college students, many U.S. colleges and universities are taking intentional steps to help students bring closure to their collegiate experience and accomplish the…

In 1984, Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky) intitiated a preschool program emphasizing before- and after-school care, multi-age grouping, a developmental curriculum, actively involved parents, and integration of special needs children. Other than district support with space, administration, and bookkeeping services, this successful program…

This book is a product of a research effort to identify exemplary elementary school guidance and counseling programs and practices across the United States. It consists of program descriptions from 134 programs in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Section 1 gives the background of how programs were identified and selected.…

While supervision is recognized as a crucial aspect of organized education, it has received less attention than it deserves. This book treats educational supervision as a cooperative problem-solving process, rather than an aversive inspection for staff deficiencies. Part I describes benefits of the developmental approach. Part II focuses on the…