Many higher education institutions offer drop-in tutoring programs hosted by writing specialists to support struggling students while others may also/alternatively embed tutors directly into courses. In this quasi-experimental study, we compared survey results from 100 students in basic/developmental courses that featured embedded peer tutors with…

In this second column regarding research approaches, we continue our discussion of qualitative and quantitative research focusing on the specializations of developmental education, learning assistance, and student success. Whereas the previous column discussed mixed methods as an underutilized method, similarly, design research has the potential…

Qualitative and quantitative research focusing on the specializations of developmental education, learning assistance, and student success have generated impactful findings that provide a greater understanding of both the theory underlying the psychology of learning and the development of praxis. Yet there are underutilized research methods that…

This is a testimony from Michael Weiss, a senior researcher at Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization that is dedicated to learning what works to improve policies and programs that affect the poor. Founded in 1974, MDRC evaluates existing programs and develops new solutions…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if students' participation in the ALP co-requisite developmental English program relates to the likelihood of passing gateway college-level English. Data was collected to allow for analysis of gateway college-level English passing probability for all students who participated in gateway…

Limited research is available on student-athlete development and its effectiveness on the lives of student-athletes. In 1991, the NCAA created an optional program to further support the student-athletes: Challenging Athletes' Minds for Personal Success (CHAMPS/Life Skills Program). By creating this program, the NCAA admitted that student-athletes…

Recent reform efforts in developmental education have led to model-development of college literacy instruction without being informed by institution-specific investigations of whether, how, and to what extent new models align with the literacy rigors of next-level courses across pathways. Such work is essential to informing literacy programming at…

Developmental Education reform has been a vital topic in the field of higher education for decades. There have been several initiatives to further engage under-prepared college students and move them through gateway courses like freshman-level English and Math. One of the more emergent instructional models is referred to as co-requisite…

Developmental education has been in the hot seat for several decades with its critics calling for reform and its practitioners asserting its effectiveness given time. Wedged in the middle of this highly debated topic are the students who place into developmental education; students who should have a voice in the debate. This practitioner action…

The higher education (HE) sector in Australia is in a state of flux due to a range of social, political and economic factors. Increased competition, greater student diversity, tautening of industry exigencies, reduced funding, and rapid technological advances are key drivers of change in this environment. Within this period of transformation, HE…

Florida State University researchers spent the last year collecting and analyzing data on corequisite developmental education (DE) models in Texas as part of a four-year study that received a $1.5M grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. This study was proposed in response to Texas House Bill (HB) 2223, which…

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…

In the past decade, a variety of political and economic issues have contributed to changing the landscape of American higher education. Among these issues is a shortfall of college educated laborers for the workforce, the increasing costs of college attendance, and the subsequent expansion of student debt. State politicians and decision makers…

As an instructor of the developmental reading and writing course at Texas State University, Barrie McGee is required per state mandate to design a course as an accelerated version of an integrated reading and writing (IRW) course. Furthermore, she is uniquely positioned as a student enrolled in the program in developmental education to access…

Anywhere from 40 to 68% of first-year students, over 1.7 million, enroll in at least one or more remedial or developmental course for reading, writing, or mathematics before being able to continue into the mainstream of college coursework (Barnett, 2018; Complete College America, 2016; Logue, 2018 WV HEPC Academic Readiness Report, 2019). An…