This study examined the effect on pass rates from one community college after removing developmental English prerequisites on non-English credit-bearing courses in Fall 2020. This mixed methods quasi-experimental research evaluated whether a developmental English prerequisite is necessary for completion of credit-bearing courses and identified…

Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

Over half of community college students place into developmental education, resulting in significant financial costs. We extend previous research demonstrating that using placement tests to assign students into developmental courses results in frequent misplacement. We use Florida data to explore the extent to which students are misplaced into…

Under Florida's developmental education (DE) reform since 2014, recent public high school graduates and active-duty military personnel became exempt from DE and traditional placement tests. The legislation also required colleges to provide accelerated instruction strategies for students remaining in DE and offer enhanced advising and support…

In 2015, Tennessee community colleges initiated a wave of national reform that reimagined academic support and accelerated student success. Through innovations in the delivery of targeted learning support, such as the corequisite support model, students are more likely to achieve key milestones of success in their first year of college. Now, after…

Over half of community college students place into developmental education, resulting in significant financial costs. We extend previous research demonstrating that using placement tests to assign students into developmental courses results in frequent misplacement. We use Florida data to explore the extent to which students are misplaced into…

In Fall 2020, the VCCS [Virginia Community College System] will begin implementing the Direct Enrollment Pilot, building upon lessons learned in prior reforms and successes of reforms in other states. In the new corequisite model of developmental education, students at the margins of college preparation are placed directly into the college…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This report first offers a…

Despite evidence suggesting that standardized tests are an imperfect measure of academic readiness, many community colleges across the country rely on them alone to determine student course placement. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced campuses to transition to remote operations in spring 2020, proctoring in-person placement tests became…

The goals of placement reform and the elimination of developmental education at community colleges were to decrease the misplacement of students and to provide students with quicker access to college-level courses to improve retention and student success rates. However, the new placement reforms may be preventing some nontraditional students from…

Amidst the growing diverse student population, community colleges are enrolling an increasing number of adult immigrant-background students. However, recent research trends tend to focus on students who enter community colleges from the U.S. K-12 system (Generation 1.5 learners), leaving a significant gap in the research and a lack of cohesion in…

American colleges are redesigning the ways in which they offer remedial courses, including mainstreaming students into college-level courses and making greater use of learning-technology to tailor the curriculum to students' specific academic needs. Exploiting a statewide cutoff on a remediation placement exam along with data on student outcomes…

This paper seeks to better understand how community colleges in Florida planned to implement a new sweeping state policy pertaining to developmental education. Via a cluster analysis, we identify three distinct patterns in the ways in which the colleges responded to the policy: reformers, responders, and resisters. Further, we find that these…

Many recent high school graduates who enter community college are required to take remedial or developmental education courses before enrolling in college-level courses. Developmental courses essentially reteach high school- and junior high school-level content in reading, writing, and math. In some cases, students are referred to two or even…

College completion rates are low--nearly 40 percent of students do not earn a degree within six years of enrolling in college. Community college students face the highest hurdles--about 60 percent are without a degree six years after matriculating. Research has identified strategies that institutions can use to improve student success and degree…