In this autoethnographically-infused natural history of discourse (NHD) (Silverstein and Urban, 1996; Slembrouck, 2001), I use methods from critical discourse studies (CDS) to trace 10 years of changes in "remediation" discourses within a corpus of texts associated with Missouri HB 1042, a piece of legislation passed in 2012 that…

Community colleges are a unique part of the American higher education system that promote access and opportunities for many students who might not otherwise attend a college or university. The purpose of this article is to address community colleges in three parts: their historical relevance, their organisational mission and structure and their…

State community college systems and their two-year colleges have spent the 2010s reexamining and redesigning decades-old developmental education tracks to ensure students get what they need--and only what they need--with an eye toward moving them more quickly into college-level courses and, eventually, the degree or certificate they want.…

This study examined whether a correlation was present between demographic variables and academic success at a two-year institution in Alabama. Developmental status, gender, and race were compared with pass/fail status in the first college-level math class and graduation status. Results indicated that the developmental math classes were effective…

College completion is a priority for federal and state governments as well as policy makers and funders. Yet a major barrier exists for many students seeking college certificates or degrees. The barrier is that more than half of community college students and about one-quarter of students at four-year universities are not well prepared to succeed…

This report analyzes college completion metrics for the Appalachian Region, compares outcomes of students attending campuses in the Region with those of students attending campuses outside the Region, and offers insight about major stumbling blocks to college progression and completion for students in Appalachia.

Since Breneman and Haarlow (1998) first estimated the national cost of developmental education to be approximately $1 billion dollars, the developmental education landscape has shifted in numerous ways. This paper provides an update to their estimate in light of both these changes and improved data that disaggregates the cost to community colleges…

In 2007, the College Board's Community College Advisory Panel--a group of college presidents that advises the organization's membership on community college issues--asked these authors to write a paper describing effective remedial education programs. They never wrote the paper. The problem was not the lack of dedicated faculty and staff working…

Developmental education, also termed remedial education, refers to curricula intended to improve the academic skills and knowledge of students who are underprepared for undergraduate coursework, particularly in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing. Many practitioners and researchers agree that developmental education should be improved,…

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…

Two-year institutions are increasingly jammed with students who lack academic readiness--a command of those basic skills that will help them find employment in the workplace or continue on to four-year institutions. That's where remedial--or developmental--classes come into the picture. Community colleges are investing heavily in remedial programs…

This article discusses the successful use of technology, rather than lectures, by Tennessee's community colleges to teach developmental reading and math. The redesign occurred with the support of the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT). In fall 2007, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) staff convened meetings to familiarize its…

This ethnographic narrative employs a neo-Vygotskian perspective (Holland et al.) to examine how, in the setting of a remedial ESL program at a public two-year college in North Georgia, the subject position of an ESL basic writing instructor was mediated by her understandings of and engagement with the multiple and interactive contexts of her…

The performance of higher education in New Mexico--measured by cost-efficiency, degree production, graduation rates, and a host of other metrics--remains exceptionally low in comparison with all but two or three other states. For most of the 2013 calendar year the Higher Education Department worked on various fronts to address the most pressing…

This study reports the subsequent achievement of junior college students taking guided studies courses. Relationships between ACT scores, grades earned in guided studies courses, and subsequent success in college courses were examined. English 101, Communications 131, and Social Science 131 were selected as criterion courses, but the lack of…