Research conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and others was criticized in an article by Alexandros M. Goudas and Hunter R. Boylan (2012) published in the "Journal of Developmental Education," Volume 36, Issue 1. They raise specific contentions related to the methodology applied in the CCRC studies, the review of…

This Brief reviews evidence on students who enter community college with weak academic skills, and it summarizes study findings on the effectiveness of developmental education. It suggests that, on average, developmental education is not very effective in overcoming student weaknesses. The report concludes with recommendations for a reform…

Originally designed for students who test into at least two levels of developmental education in a particular subject area, FastStart is a compressed course program model launched in 2005 at the Community College of Denver (CCD). The program combines multiple semester-length courses into a single intensive semester, while providing case…

In this Brief the authors first report on evidence about the effectiveness (or, unfortunately, in too many cases, the ineffectiveness) of remediation and then provide information about the progression of students through the developmental sequence. They discuss problems associated with the crucial assessments and make a brief statement about…

Developmental education is one of the most difficult issues confronting community colleges. Community colleges are charged with teaching students college-level material, yet a majority of their students arrive with academic skills in at least one subject area that are judged to be too weak to allow them to engage successfully in college-level…

In the paper, I review evidence on the number of students who enter community colleges with weak academic skills and on the incidence of developmental education. I then report on what happens to developmental students and review the research on the effectiveness of programs at community colleges designed to strengthen weak academic skills. I…

Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough--students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. In practice, developmental…

Dual enrollment programs enable students to take college courses and earn college credit while in high school. Once limited to high-achieving students, these programs are now seen as a means to support the postsecondary preparation of average-achieving students. Moreover, though dual enrollment programs typically have been reserved for…

Community colleges play an important role in the U.S. economy, providing access to higher education for low-income young people, a path to higher-earning employment for low-income workers, and a supply of well-trained employees for local industry. In order to remain competitive with other major economies, however, the U.S. must sharply increase…