The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

The 2015 Minnesota Legislature enacted a state postsecondary educational attainment goal: 70 percent of Minnesota adults (age 25 to 44) will have attained a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2025 ("Minnesota Laws 2015 Chapter 69, Article 3, Section 6"). To achieve this goal, Minnesota must address disparities across the educational…

The intentions were noble. It was hoped that remediation programs would be an academic bridge from poor high school preparation to college readiness. Sadly, remediation has become instead higher education's "Bridge to Nowhere." This broken remedial bridge is travelled by some 1.7 million beginning students each year, most of whom will…

High schools are a cornerstone of America's rural communities. When they are strong, rural secondary schools provide twenty-first-century students with the high-level knowledge, skills, and technology they need to succeed in college, careers, and life. In too many rural communities, however, high schools are in trouble. In fact, more than one…

Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") initiative works with more than 1,100 schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia to improve school and classroom practices and prepare more students for success in postsecondary studies, training and careers. This brief report analyzes student…

Placement exams are high-stakes assessments that determine many students' college trajectories. More than half of entering students at community colleges are placed into developmental education in at least one subject, based primarily on scores from these assessments, yet recent research fails to find evidence that placement into remediation…

The Technical Panel on 12th Grade Preparedness Research, convened by the Governing Board, consists of seven members with expertise in a variety of measurement and policy areas related to preparedness. The purpose of the Panel was to assist the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) in planning research and validity studies that will enable the…

To develop a perspective for assessing the effectiveness of developmental education, we must develop definitions, values, and criteria that permit consistency in analyzing students' learning needs and educational outcomes and in comparing research on developmental education. Research literature shows that a lack of consistent perspectives for…

This paper focuses on the need for increased sensitivity and responsiveness in international education and training project evaluations, particularly those in Third World countries. A conceptual-theoretical framework for designing and developing models appropriate for evaluating education and training projects in non-Western cultures is presented.…

Information systems can play a vital role in supporting the planning and management of development programs and, as such, they are fundamental to improving people's health, education, training, and enhancing the transparency of decisions and actions taken by public and private agencies in these and other domains. This paper examines how…

The Breaking Through (BT) initiative promotes an expanded and enhanced role for community colleges in providing access to college for low-skilled adults. BT is uniquely important in its systematic integration of adult education, developmental/remedial education, professional-technical education (PTE), and career planning and preparation in…

A Task Force of developmental education professionals in New York was convened to consider issues related to the evaluation of developmental programs from a statewide perspective. This report provides a summary of the two Task Force sessions and resulting recommendations and plans for action. Introductory material provides background on the…

The primary purpose of this postsecondary developmental mathematics curriculum evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the Center for Occupational Research and Development's (CORD) Mathematics Foundations for Introductory College Mathematics. A contextually based, hands-on developmental mathematics curriculum, Mathematics Foundations is…

Reports on the efforts of one developmental education program to seek faculty input regarding the provision of services. Provides a look at faculty questionnaire results, and presents recommendations for expanding the use of the program, including publicity, courses and adjunct seminars, workshops, and classroom presentations, group and individual…

This Policy Brief takes a first look at a newly identified national population of GED holders, who are compared with their counterparts who received a high school diploma as well as with their counterparts who have no high school credential. The focus of these comparisons is on long-term postsecondary education outcomes. Because these…