Learning Expectations and Academic Preparation (LEAP) was a two-year pilot offering a cohort (20 students) of our lowest scoring English and mathematics developmental students an intensive cross-disciplinary semester to accelerate through their developmental courses. Blending learning community and summer bridge best practices, LEAP incorporated…

Higher education administrators, faculty, and staff expend great effort to increase the academic success and retention of college freshmen. Underprepared college freshmen are of particular concern given their high risk for dropping out. While interventions such as specific orientation programs, remedial/developmental coursework, and special…

This paper presents an overview and discussion of a course based remediation model developed to enhance student learning and increased retention based on literature. This model focuses on course structure and course delivery in a compressed semester format. A comparative analysis was applied to a pilot study of students enrolled in a course…

For two decades, state financing of higher education has been on the decline and the situation has exacerbated since the onset of the economic recession, where the US state systems have resorted to a substantial cut of funding for higher education. Faced with the challenges of limited resources for financial pressure and an increasing demand,…

Half of all college students will enroll in remedial coursework but evidence of its effectiveness is mixed. Using a regression-discontinuity design with data from a large urban community college system, we make three contributions. First, we articulate three alternative hypotheses regarding the potential impacts of remediation. Second, in addition…

Part of Carlow University's social justice mission is a commitment to providing access to education. This commitment can lead the institution to admit students who are not prepared for college-level work. As a result, the university recently removed a sequence of developmental classes because it lengthened the time to graduation, and there was no…

Community colleges offer a pathway to the middle class for low-income individuals. Although access to college has expanded, graduation rates at community colleges remain low, especially for students who need developmental (remedial) courses to build their math, reading, or writing skills. The City University of New York's (CUNY's) Accelerated…

Half of all college students take at least one remedial course as part of their postsecondary experience, despite mixed evidence on the effectiveness of this intervention. Using a regression-discontinuity design with data from a large urban community college system, we extend the research on remediation in three ways. First, we articulate three…

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…

Exploiting a statewide cutoff point on the placement examination used to assign students to remedial courses in Tennessee, this study employs a regression discontinuity research design to provide causal estimates of the effects on student outcomes of recently redesigned remedial courses at three Tennessee colleges. Moreover, using data on student…

The current study examined differences in student performance and retention rates for those who completed remedial reading or remedial writing courses and those who did not in a private university in South Florida. International students also were compared to non-international students on academic performance and retention rates. The conceptual…

A study was conducted at Butte College to determine the effectiveness of a developmental writing course (Eng 102) by examining comparative achievement and persistence in a subsequent freshman composition course (Eng 210) and comparative persistence and achievement in course work in general. Analyses of data on all 3,497 students who enrolled in…

This study evaluated a first-year pilot program to improve retention, academic achievement, and student satisfaction of 49 academically underprepared freshmen at Assumption College (Massachusetts), a predominantly white, Catholic, liberal arts institution. Students were identified by low verbal, math, and total SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test)…

In spring 1985, a study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of remedial programs at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) by following the progress of students after they had taken a remedial course. The sample included 223 students who enrolled in communications courses from 1980 to 1982, 299 students who enrolled in developmental…

This mixed method study examined secondary student matriculation to two selected community colleges offering career and technical education (CTE) transition programs through partnerships with K-12 and secondary districts having numerous high schools. The study had two distinct components: (1) a secondary study that compared CTE and non-CTE…