Low rates of college completion are a major problem in the United States. Less than 60 percent of students at four-year colleges graduate within six years, and at some colleges, the graduation rate is less than 10 percent. Additionally, many students enter higher education ill-prepared to comprehend college-level course material. Some estimates…

This study investigates how the impact of developmental education is moderated by classroom composition. Drawing on a regression discontinuity design, we used data from 3,429 community college students, nested within 223 classrooms, to explore the extent to which classroom and instructor characteristics moderated the effect of developmental…

This report summarizes key findings and recommendations from a Community College Research Center (CCRC) study designed to help community colleges develop strategies for improving the rate at which academically underprepared students take and pass initial college-level (or "gatekeeper") courses in math and English. CCRC conducted the…

In 1991, a study was conducted to determine which student characteristics contributed to success and progression through the English skills course sequence at Sacramento City College. The 371 students in the study were enrolled in selected remedial/developmental English classes or in College Composition (English 1A) at the beginning of spring…