Despite the many benefits associated with obtaining a college degree, many of our nation's public-school students, particularly marginalized students, remain ill-equipped to pursue their desired post-secondary goals (Morgan et al., 2014). The researcher uses published literature to define and substantiate the systemic challenges that lower…

In response to soaring developmental education enrollments in Texas, the Pioneer Prep Program at Texas Woman's University (TWU) was designed as an alternative pathways-to-placement program for students who neither passed the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA) nor met other college-readiness benchmarks needed to enroll in college-level…

Judged to be academically underprepared, millions of students must take developmental education in college, and more than half never make it through or graduate. Experts argue that there are two main problems: Too many students are being placed unnecessarily into developmental courses, and the structure and traditional instructional practices in…

Two-year colleges provide access and opportunity for students with various academic backgrounds to pursue a post-secondary education. While two-year colleges take pride in admitting any student with a high school diploma or equivalent, in recent years colleges have been under scrutiny for low completion and graduation rates. Particular attention…

Developmental interventions for reading and writing often take place at community colleges during the winter or summer. These brief, intersession workshops are examples of compressed acceleration, as they give students the opportunity to exit developmental coursework and enroll in credit bearing courses the following semester. As college readiness…

The growing number of underprepared students entering two- and four-year colleges and universities is the number one challenge currently facing the field of higher education. According to the American Association of Community Colleges, 41% of all undergraduates and 39% of first-time freshman consider community college their "go-to"…

Developmental education reform has shown promising evidence toward improving short-term outcomes, yet questions remain about whether these early gains contribute momentum toward mid-term and longer-term postsecondary success. In 2014, Florida implemented one of the nation's most comprehensive developmental education reforms. Many students became…

This qualitative study explores how students navigate discourses in an undergraduate government class. To understand how content area literacy instruction may support a corequisite government course, qualitative data was collected over two semesters. Analysis revealed three prevalent themes: (1) Students struggle with developing a habit of mind as…

The purpose of the study was to understand how faculty and counselors perceive student persistence, retention, and college readiness in relation to student academic success. The qualitative approach was utilized to obtain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of the participants. Purposeful sampling was utilized to select faculty and…

Drawing inspiration from two foundational publications that put forth "Ten Recommendations" for supporting students' reading and learning, this manuscript provides an updated list of ten recommendations tailored for professionals in learning assistance centers. Given the ever-changing landscape of developmental education and academic…

Early colleges are intended to serve students from populations typically underrepresented in college and to prepare those students with the academic skills and dispositions to succeed in college. Another important attribute of early colleges is that they help students earn college credit during their high school years. Many such early colleges are…

Twenty-six states or systems have authorized the use of innovative developmental education instructional methods and interventions. This resource provides data on the use of instructional methods, and which ones are used or allowed per state. [View the full "50-State Comparison: Developmental Education Policies" here:…

Developmental education reform has shown promising evidence toward improving short-term outcomes, yet questions remain about whether these early gains contribute momentum toward mid-term and longer-term postsecondary success. In 2014, Florida implemented one of the nation's most comprehensive developmental education reforms. Many students became…

This study was conducted to better understand the difficulties faced by underprepared college readers, including those enrolled in Developmental Education (DE) programs. The Reading Systems Framework was used as a theoretical motivation. Participants (n = 258) completed a measure of component reading skills (Study Aid and Reading Assessment, word…

We examine the impact of remedial and developmental courses on college students with varying levels of academic preparedness, thus focusing on a wider range of students than previous studies. Using a regression discontinuity design, we provide causal estimates of the effects of placement in different levels of remedial courses on short-,…