The corequisite model is a promising developmental education reform effort that is helping students transition into college-level coursework more quickly. The purpose of this Brief is to offer recommendations to college leaders, faculty, and staff involved with implementing the corequisite model at their institution. Our recommendations are from a…

We present findings from a study about obstacles that Black students who succeeded in developmental mathematics in community college reported having endured in those mathematics classrooms. To understand the types of obstacles that can arise for students in these classrooms, we analyze data using two frameworks: mathematics identity and dimensions…

This study aimed to synthesize and critically analyze 24 empirical studies that focused on Students of Color (SOC) in Integrated Reading and Writing (IRW) classrooms in U.S. community colleges. Our review, through the cultural and community practices framing, examined IRW studies and how SOC, curriculum/institutional reform, and wise pedagogical…

Community colleges are often considered an affordable entry point into postsecondary education for many students with a goal of earning a degree. As open access institutions, they accept any student who applies, including those considered to be below college level and in need of some level of remediation in the subjects of reading, writing and…

Learning communities, a small cohort of students enrolled together in two or more linked courses, have become a popular intervention to help underprepared students succeed in college. Though learning communities abound in practice, the key structural feature of a learning community--the cohort--may not be fully understood. Authors posit that a…

Christine McPhail formerly served as president at Cypress College in California and is founder and professor emeritus of the Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Morgan State University in Maryland. She is the Managing Partner for The McPhail Group LLC and currently serves as a Leadership Coach for more than a dozen community colleges…

In the next decade, community college English departments will expand their developmental course offerings. The students who take these developmental courses generally have higher incidence of diagnosed learning disabilities, bleak economic circumstances that require them to work full time, greater dependence on public transportation, and some…

The view that community college developmental studies educators have about the space in which they teach, any renovated or new spaces they were involved in designing, and the type of space in which they would like to teach is examined. The developmental studies educators are experts in their field, having completed The Kellogg Institute at…

Discusses seating arrangements in small developmental classes, suggesting that having students sit in a semi-circle or work in small groups can be effective ways to keep students from attempting to disappear in the back of the class. Also offers ways to deal with this issue in a computer classroom. (NB)

"Involvement in Learning: Realizing the Potential of American Higher Education," the 1984 federal study group report on excellence, identifies three conditions vital to the improvement of undergraduate education: student involvement, high expectations, and assessment and feedback. Of these, student involvement was judged most important…