Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

This study analyzed the effect of mathematics courses on a cohort of students at a 4-year university in order to compare the effect of mathematics on adult students, those 25 and older, and traditional-age students. The transcripts of the 118 adult students and the 3,747 traditional-age students who were freshmen in the fall of 1999 were compared.…

As open-door institutions of higher learning, community colleges should continue to increase their understanding of the characteristics, needs, and satisfaction of underprepared students. Understanding the satisfaction levels of underprepared students provides a foundation upon which to build support for student success and retention for…

This study investigates how the impact of developmental education is moderated by classroom composition. Drawing on a regression discontinuity design, we used data from 3,429 community college students, nested within 223 classrooms, to explore the extent to which classroom and instructor characteristics moderated the effect of developmental…

The purpose of this study was to assess how a comprehensive precollege intervention and developmental program among low-income high school students contributed to college enrollment outcomes measured in 2006. Our focus was on the Fifth Cohort of the Washington State Achievers (WSA) Program, which provides financial, academic, and college…

The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of learning communities for underprepared first-year students. The topic was examined by synthesizing data collected on a cohort of first-year college students participating in a "developmental" (special admittance) program. A quasi-experimental design evaluated the effectiveness of…

Many students graduate from high school academically unprepared for college. When such students enroll in college as first-time freshmen, they are commonly placed in non-credit-bearing developmental English and math courses to develop the skills necessary to complete freshman-level credit-bearing courses. Understanding students' college readiness…

State legislation launched the California Partnership Academies (CPAs) in 1984. CPAs exemplify the career academy model for preparing high school students to succeed in both college and careers. Career academies are small learning communities within larger high schools, usually enrolling students in grades 10-12. Each year students take classes…

Developmental education has been cited as one of the most difficult issues facing community colleges. Despite the controversy and changes to educational policy regarding developmental education, there is a notable dearth of rigorous research measuring the causal effect of remediation on community college student outcomes. The present study uses…

The introduction of an outcomes-based curriculum in South Africa together with a new syllabus for physical sciences for grades 10-12, prompted the development of an instrument to monitor conceptual understanding in chemistry at the secondary-tertiary interface. This instrument was used to evaluate placement within different programmes at tertiary…

Nationwide, close to 40 million adults lack a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) credential. About a quarter of high school freshmen do not graduate in four years, and while many high school dropouts eventually do attend GED preparation classes, too few ever pass the GED exam or go on to college. Students with only a…

A significant challenge in higher education is to narrow the educational attainment gap between academically prepared and unprepared students. To this end, developmental or remedial education is intended to improve the academic skills and knowledge of students who are unprepared for undergraduate coursework, particularly in the areas of…

In this study, the authors examined the college-ready graduate rates of all students (n = 1,099 high schools) in the State of Texas for the 2006-2007 school year. Data were analyzed for students' scores in reading, in math, and in both subject areas combined. Approximately one-third of all students were determined to be college-ready in both…

Each year millions of young people graduate from high school and enroll in colleges and universities across the country, and many of these students are underprepared for the demands and academic rigor of college-level courses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were significant differences in graduation rates between students…

Equality and quality in higher education (HE) are frequently juxtaposed in the literature. This paper presents evidence to contest deficit assumptions about widening participation, particularly the belief that entering HE with "non-traditional" entry qualifications lowers standards. Drawing on a three-year constructivist grounded theory…