While most community colleges admit all students who apply for admission, the vast majority have required students to demonstrate specified levels of literacy and numeracy before they can take college-level courses. Typically, students have been assessed using a single placement test, such as the College Board's ACCUPLACER. Colleges--or sometimes…

In Fall 2020, the VCCS [Virginia Community College System] will begin implementing the Direct Enrollment Pilot, building upon lessons learned in prior reforms and successes of reforms in other states. In the new corequisite model of developmental education, students at the margins of college preparation are placed directly into the college…

This chapter identifies some of the challenges surrounding data collection and analysis regarding development students, including testing and identifying academic needs, placement determination, and measuring student outcomes.

This Policy Brief captures some of the challenges for students' math education trajectories, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, and it highlights three ways states can strengthen math pathways to improve student access and success. Specific policy options that states can consider include: (1) aligning high school math courses with postsecondary…

College completion rates are low--nearly 40 percent of students do not earn a degree within six years of enrolling in college. Community college students face the highest hurdles--about 60 percent are without a degree six years after matriculating. Research has identified strategies that institutions can use to improve student success and degree…

This article details the efforts that the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) office at a large research university made toward piloting, refining, and scaling corequisite courses for students who require developmental education. House Bill 2223, passed by the Texas Legislature in June of 2017, requires public institutions to increase the percentage of…

Postsecondary institutions and systems across the nation have demonstrated remarkable progress since the first "Core Principles for Transforming Remediation Within a Comprehensive Student Success Strategy" was published in 2015 (see ED561279). Building on this progress, the Summary Details Education Commission of the States (ECS) has…

For many students, developmental education is the largest obstacle to college success, hindering progress before they ever enroll in a college-level course. Postsecondary practitioners and researchers have been re-examining and challenging many traditional elements of developmental education from placement strategies to the sequence of courses…

This resource, released in collaboration with the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness, explains the importance of developmental education, its current challenges and how policymakers can contribute to improving outcomes.

Research suggests that far more students are referred to developmental education courses than necessary, and that developmental education presents a barrier to students' success. As a result, many in the field have called for reforms to developmental education to address these challenges. This report documents developmental education practices…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings where the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, and state legislators sought evidence of the effects of state-funded programs for students to earn college credit during high school. Using data on the 2013/14 statewide grade 9 cohort, this…

The Math Remediation Task Force is comprised of faculty from two-year, four-year comprehensive, and four-year flagship higher education institutions throughout the state of New Mexico. Its members have varying levels of experience with designing/implementing multiple math remediation programs including traditional, co-requisite and acceleration…

Early college high school models are designed to encourage and assist traditionally underrepresented groups of students- low income, Latino, and African-American- to persist in and graduate from high school while earning college credit. Some of the models target high school dropouts, with the aim of helping them acquire the education and training…

This paper describes the development, results, and future directions of the mathematics component of the EMERGE Summer Program at Northeastern Illinois University. Initiated summer 2014, EMERGE offered English and mathematics sessions for incoming freshmen. The mathematics session aimed to strengthen participants' mathematical foundations,…

Why is "remedial" or "developmental" education such a hot issue? Partly because it costs time and money and casts doubt on the elementary and secondary education systems that we assume will prepare students for college. The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) explored solutions to the problem at a recent forum in…