Recent research on entering college student assessment instruments and placement practices has been critical. Critics suggest that commonly used assessment instruments are inaccurate, misused, and lack predictive validity. This article describes valid criticisms and appropriate uses of assessment instruments. It also lists challenges and provides…

Qualitative and quantitative research focusing on the specializations of developmental education, learning assistance, and student success have generated impactful findings that provide a greater understanding of both the theory underlying the psychology of learning and the development of praxis. Yet there are underutilized research methods that…

"Remedial Trap." "Bridge to Nowhere." "Completion Divide." Such language used to describe the field of Developmental Education (DE), especially by those outside the field, is undeniably deficit oriented. In this manuscript, we initiate a dialog that critiques such portrayals of DE, particularly those that appear in…

Charlie Nutt has been an active member of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) since 1991 and currently is the NACADA Executive Director. NACADA promotes and supports quality academic advising in institutions of higher education to enhance the educational development of students. Nutt's current responsibilities as executive director…

Erin Severs believes that meeting the needs of underprepared students and supporting the faculty who do this work can only continue to be more central to the success of higher education in this country. With more and more students testing into developmental courses, and an unfortunately low completion rate for these students (25% complete a degree…

In this article, the authors describe an approach for embedding service learning into developmental reading and writing curricula to assist new college students in overcoming reluctance to write. The authors first present an overview of literature pertaining to the interrelated nature of motivation, reflection, and opportunities for student choice…

Boredom carries a significant weight: It is not often spoken within the academic environment. However, by ignoring how developmental and first-year students experience boredom, instructors are avoiding a topic that most students will encounter. We present information on the common causes of boredom, ways to detect boredom, and the outcomes of…

Marla Kincaid (Adjunct Instructor, Austin Community College M.A., Developmental Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction Texas State University-San Marcos) interviewed the following leaders in the field of Developmental Education: (1) Dr. Olatunde Ogunyemi, Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Grambling State…

In recent years, with support from the Texas Legislature, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has funded various developmental education initiatives, including research and evaluation efforts, to help Texas public institutions of higher education provide more effective programs and services to underprepared students. Based on evaluation…

Katie Hern is an English Instructor at Chabot College and Co-Founder of the California Acceleration Project (CAP), a professional development network that supports the state's 113 community colleges to transform remediation and increase student completion and equity. Hern speaks nationally on remediation reform and integrated reading and writing.…

This is the second iteration of the Developmental Education Radar Screen project. As with the first iteration, in 2011, the author uses a "radar screen" metaphor to discuss trends in developmental education based on responses to a series of topics and categories provided by a group of leaders in the educational field. The purpose of this…

The authors write here that they fundamentally believe that developmental education is about social justice. Professionals in this field are not only responsible to implement evidence-based best practices but also to ensure access to higher education. To meet this need, it is imperative that practitioners turn, as a supportive team, to…

This article describes elaboration in "literary letters" (Atwell, 1984, 1987) written by developmental reading students. Nineteen community college students received instruction in "elaborative thought patterns," or types of elaboration, to improve the quality of their responses to popular fiction. This instruction was part of…

Techtalk in Volume 33 has been addressing the digital divide in technology, first through the use of mobile phones and then through the development of digital literacies with digital storytelling. This third and final column in the series looks at bridging both the hardware/software divide and the digital literacies divide through the educational…

Developmental education is a pedagogical challenge, especially since students are grappling with academic material they have seen before (some recently). In this article, the author discusses developmental mathematics and describes the typical developmental mathematics sequence. She also proposes to build new pathways for developmental…