Historically, college students needing additional academic preparation have been assigned to developmental/remedial courses. In 2013 Florida took a drastic departure from this model by passing Senate Bill 1720, which prohibited institutions from requiring placement tests and made developmental education optional for many students, regardless of…

Postsecondary education enrollment and completion disparities exist for Minnesota's Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) and lower-income students. One outcome measure demonstrating the impact of systemic disparities in K-12 education is a student's level of readiness for college-level courses following high school graduation. Given…

Background: This multiple case study explores the self-determination needs of academically underprepared students. The context for our study was a sweeping redesign of developmental education (DE) in Florida's community colleges, state-level legislation Senate Bill 1720 (SB 1720), which made DE optional for many students. Purpose of Study: The…

Background: This multiple case study explores the self-determination needs of academically underprepared students. The context for our study was a sweeping redesign of developmental education (DE) in Florida's community colleges, state-level legislation Senate Bill 1720 (SB 1720), which made DE optional for many students. Purpose of Study: The…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of new developmental statistics-based courses to traditional algebra-based developmental courses. The study used extant data from eight institutions and a matched sample of 2,041 students (Treatment, N = 748; Comparison, N = 1,293). All students enrolled in a treatment or…

This study examines the impact of a "natural experiment" that gave students the choice to place into or out of developmental math because of an unintended mistake made by a community college. During self-placement, more students chose to enroll in gateway college- and transfer-level math courses, however, greater proportions of female,…

Student placement test records, course enrollments, and other student-level data collected by community colleges are vital for evaluating the outcomes of students in developmental education (dev-ed) courses. Researchers and policymakers rely on this information to examine the impact of existing programs and assess ongoing reforms to dev-ed -- the…

This paper asks whether placement recommendations for a developmental math course at an elite public institution impact students' future academic performance, course-taking, and college outcomes. Researchers use these specific outcomes to measure whether developmental courses help students develop the skills necessary to succeed in college,…

"Getting Prepared 2020" examines patterns of developmental education for Minnesota public high school graduates from the classes of 2012 to 2019 who enrolled in Minnesota postsecondary institutions. This report provides insight into the academic readiness of Minnesota public high school graduates. Developmental education adds to the…

Until recently, the vast majority of students, entering California community colleges were placed in developmental courses, and relatively few went on to complete transfer-level courses in English and math. Several colleges responded to this longstanding challenge by experimenting with placement and curricular reforms. In 2017, new legislation (AB…

The relationship between high school mathematics curricula and the likelihood of students who enroll in a developmental (non-credit bearing) course in college taking additional mathematics courses was studied. The results showed that high school mathematics curriculum, years of high school mathematics completed, and ACT mathematics scores were…

Objective: Changing how community colleges deliver developmental education has become a key policy lever to increase student achievement. Alternative development education models reduce the amount of time a student spends in remediation, provide students with supplemental instruction and support, and contextualize content to align with student…

This document is intended to be a companion piece for a report entitled "What Happens When Colleges Broaden Access to Transfer-Level Courses? Evidence from California's Community Colleges." It contains the technical appendices as follows: (1) College Profiles; (2) Additional Insights from our Interviews; (3) Data and Methods; (4) Caveat…

This report summarizes key findings and recommendations from a Community College Research Center (CCRC) study designed to help community colleges develop strategies for improving the rate at which academically underprepared students take and pass initial college-level (or "gatekeeper") courses in math and English. CCRC conducted the…

United States schools are not providing students with the mathematical background necessary to compete on an international level and become successful adults. Recently, educators and researchers have focused on learning what factors might attribute to this lack of mathematical knowledge. However, few studies have searched for answers from the…