The number of incoming college students who require development mathematics coursework is a national problem. This is an enormous area of concern for a number of reasons--such as the monetary cost to students who must take courses for which they are not granted credit, and colleges and universities who must pay instructors to teach such courses.…

The University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez (UPRM) has found that there are disadvantages to a semester long remedial mathematics course that is administered during the freshmen year to students with mathematics deficiencies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs. Correspondingly, the UPRM designed and implemented an…

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…

Until recently, most colleges required students to pass a college-level algebra course in order to earn a degree. As many as 50 percent to 70 percent of community college students enter college unprepared to take these courses, and fewer than 20 percent of such students ever successfully complete a college-level math course; the rest are…

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…

Math preparedness is a barrier to completion for many community college vocational students. With President Obama's (2010) challenge to produce more graduates in order to ensure our nation succeeds in the 21st century, community colleges across the country have an increased focus on graduation or completion. This study was conducted to provide…

The Early College High School (ECHS) initiative developed in response to calls to significantly decrease the number of first-generation college and underserved students of color and from poverty who are high school dropouts or marginally graduates (i.e., ill prepared for college). The ECHS model is different from other educational reforms in that…

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…