For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

In this article, the author asks members of the honors community to interrogate the way they narratively frame honors experiences so that these constructs are as inclusive as possible. Employing admissions practices that do not disadvantage students from underrepresented backgrounds is crucial, but also essential is that they do not…

The community college continues to deal with the challenging of educating developmental writers. The challenge becomes more daunting with the failure of many to see this as a social and political endeavor. This article delves into the need to teach developmental writing in a way that empowers writers to see themselves as authors and their lives as…

Community colleges are often the academic home to students who are underprepared in reading and writing. To gain a better understanding of this problem, the researcher conducted an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The goal of phenomenological research is to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of participants. This…

This Governing Board Monitoring Report utilizes the Board outcome metrics to gauge institutional effectiveness in the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD). Outcomes for University Transfer Education and General Education, Workforce and Economic Development, Developmental Education, and Community Development and Global and Civic…

Research suggests that far more students are referred to developmental education courses than necessary, and that developmental education presents a barrier to students' success. As a result, many in the field have called for reforms to developmental education to address these challenges. This report documents developmental education practices…

As the number of multilingual students increases at small campuses in rural areas that lack multilingual composition programming, there is a need to explore pedagogical and institutional strategies that help to pool limited or emerging resources to promote language justice for multilingual students. This narrative case study looks at two small…

The persistent research-to-practice gap poses a problem for counselor education. The gap may be caused by conflicts between the humanistic values that guide much of counseling and the values that guide research training. In this article, the authors address historical concerns regarding research training for students and the conducting of research…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the accelerated course learning format on student achievement in developmental English and math courses offered at a rural community college. Due to a rise in the number of underprepared students who enroll in community college, some college officials implemented the accelerated course…

This three-article dissertation analyzes the question of how to best prepare students transitioning from secondary education to post-secondary life. The first article examines the theories of self-determination, the self-advocacy skills needed for its success, and how the two relate to students with learning disabilities. The second article…

This report specifically addresses developmental education (DE), also known as remedial education, approaches that serve as major barriers and, conversely, opportunities for success that are often overlooked and disproportionately affect Black students who gain access to higher education. Its primary focus is to draw light to the systemic issues…

President Obama's Blueprint for Keeping College Affordable and Within Reach for All Americans (2012), includes challenges to improve American higher education outcomes. One outcome that has drawn national concern is the low four- and six-year graduation rates of undergraduate students entering the nation's colleges and universities. The…

The role and function of developmental education at the American community college has been a source of controversy for many years. One primary source of conflict is the role that remedial education plays. One view supports the notion that developmental education promotes a meritocratic system of rewards, whereby even the most unprepared are…

Nationwide, students are entering college unprepared for college-level work. Recent high school graduates are placing into developmental courses at an alarming rate. The purpose of this research study is to examine the effect of a developmental boot camp on standardized placement test scores of students enrolling at a community college in North…

This two-year case study summarizes the views of students, instructors, and administrators toward a learning community program that served first-year developmental reading students at a public two-year college. One-on-one interviews and focus groups revealed that semester-long learning communities helped students overcome obstacles toward academic…