Across the U.S., an estimated 60% of incoming community college students require developmental courses to be ready for college-level work, according to estimates by experts. As these courses act as a gateway to further studies, those who fail are most often lost to higher education: Less than a quarter will earn a degree or certificate within…

Discusses the Gateway Program at New Jersey's Rutgers University, in which departments administer their own developmental classes. Describes reasons for the program's success, including small class sizes, providing students with gradual increases in autonomy, frequent assessment and feedback, and teaching strategies that require participation.…

Developmental education programs can use innovative ways to improve minority learning and persistence.

Factors are examined which should be considered in the development of academic advising systems that contribute to institutional holding power. The report first presents seven axioms, developed through an analysis of related literature, which are vital to the advisement process and then provides a bibliography of the materials surveyed. Then, four…

Presents seven statements synthesizing the literature on the relationship between educational advising and student retention. Provides an advisement model designed to increase institutional holding power through ethical recruitment, honest orientation, continuous dissemination of information, and a developmental approach to the advising process.…

A number of sources have focused upon the lower socio-economic category of community college students and their success in completing a four-year college program. Some are pessimistic, claiming that very low percentages of two-year college students ever graduate from four-year college programs, and that most who drop out are from low income…

This examination of the issues of reform pertinent to adult and developmental education focuses largely on the activities and recommendations of the Learning, Assessment, Retention Consortium (LARC) of California with respect to these concerns. The first sections of the paper address the problem of underprepared college students, and the policy…

Argues for the academic performance and retention benefits of Supplemental Instruction (SI). Among other things, SI increases retention, increases final course grade averages, increases overall GPAs, improves thinking and study skills, and increases graduation rates. Compares a list of Chickering's 7 Principles to the practices of SI programs.…

Presents an interview with Edward Morante, Dean of Student Services and Learning Resources at College of the Desert (California), regarding the needs of high-risk community college students. Morante focuses on assessment, placement, basic-skills courses, student-support services, the learning-community concept, student involvement, and evaluation,…

The presence of high-risk students has forced schools of nursing to analyze instructional processes and develop skills in helping students help themselves. Developmental programs increase student success without minimizing educational quality. Attention must be refocused from predictive selection to effective retention of candidates. (JOW)

Argues that retention statistics indicate that developmental students have the best chance for success when they attend four-year institutions. Discusses the data relative to a new and more successful model for developmental education that eliminates stand-alone remedial courses and instead embeds remedial education in core curriculum. (Contains…

Investigates the impact of developmental coursework on student retention and grade point average. Describes a six-year longitudinal study of 625 students who tested into developmental courses in English, mathematics, and reading. Results indicated that developmental students can succeed in a community college setting, particularly if they take…

Discusses major issues facing the community college: the need to provide, along with open admission, adequate supportive services to ensure student success; the need for appropriate assessment of students' skills and careful placement in responsive educational programs; and the need to provide effective developmental education. Offers…

In July 1986, a colloquium was convened to develop a position paper on access, assessment, and developmental education. This colloquium report contains the keynote speeches presented at the event, along with a statement developed by the participants regarding the issues. First, introductory material describes the purposes, sponsorship, and group…

A project is described that was undertaken by the Developmental Studies Department at Wayne Community College (Michigan), an urban multi-campus institution of 25,000 students serving an entire county involving research in the psychology of the new adult learner. The approach used was to systematically build a classroom environment that responded…