Underprepared students often need assistance building writing skills and maintaining confidence in their abilities and potential. The authors share the philosophy, pedagogy, and experience of freshman developmental education and the writing center at a four-year, private, not-for-profit urban college. They describe high-impact educational…

This article makes the case for a new framing of liberal education based on several decades of research emerging from the learning and developmental sciences. This work suggests that general knowledge stems from acquiring both the habits of mind and repertoires of practice that develop from participation in knowledge-building communities. Such…

This overview introduces "Right from the Start: An Institutional Perspective on Developmental Education Reform," a series of three practitioner briefs on developmental education. Created by Achieving the Dream and MDC, the briefs spotlight successful reform efforts in developmental education at seven Achieving the Dream colleges. [The…

Massachusetts is one of a handful of states that is often recognized as a leader in public education, and for good reason. The Commonwealth consistently outperforms most states on national reading and math tests and often leads the pack in education innovations. "Starting Young: Massachusetts Birth-3rd Grade Policies that Support Children's…

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.…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

As a bright and ambitious youngster growing up poor in Southside Chicago, Deval L. Patrick won a scholarship to Milton Academy, a private Massachusetts boarding school, courtesy of the acclaimed "A Better Chance" initiative. Attending the prestigious and rigorous prep school altered the course of Patrick's life. He flourished at Milton…

Project CAREER is a federally funded program to develop computerized behavioral objectives which will have relevance for career education in the 15 Office of Education occupational clusters for a multi-faceted approach in teaching marketable skills. The computerized data bank will be made available to all Massachusetts school systems. One element…

Characteristics and perceived training needs were studied for 173 educators working with nontraditional students and other high-risk students in developmental education in the Massachusetts community college system. Most respondents spend their time working directly with students. Classroom and counseling skills are areas in which respondents most…