The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) embarked on a comprehensive mathematics pathways project in October 2015 with a move from design to implementation in spring 2017. The VCCS Mathematics Pathways Project (VMPP) aimed not only to develop strategies to improve retention and completion, but also to address foundational barriers to students'…

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…

In corequisite models of instruction, marginally prepared students are placed directly into college-level coursework, taught with a paired support course. Initial research suggests that such models yield significant improvements in the number of students passing credit-level mathematics when compared to previous models of prerequisite remediation.…

Most experienced educators recognize that many students will not complete optional assignments, and often those students who need additional help do not seek assistance. Current research demonstrates that students in underrepresented populations (see definition below) are less likely to seek support than others because they see needing help as a…

The successes of corequisite remediation courses and supplemental instruction over traditional remediation courses such as the modular Math Essentials have been widely and recently documented (Logue, Watanabe-Rose, & Douglas, 2016). Corequisite reform is an important strategy to improve student completion of higher education goals. A robust…

Community colleges offer an array of programs designed to help students meet different goals. Noncredit education provides training for students seeking targeted, often shorter, courses for personal and professional enrichment (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2014). Many community colleges are now increasingly emphasizing noncredit workforce…

Virginia Highlands Community College (VHCC) implemented MTH 155 -- Statistical Reasoning Co-Requisite -- in the spring semester of 2018. MTH 155 replaced MTH 146 on VHCC's campus. Prerequisites for this course are the first five developmental MTE modules. The intended co-requisite audience for this new course consists of students having…

Blended learning has a muddled history but is still evolving. Technological innovations and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 led higher education to create a new blend to blended learning, one that did not follow the generally accepted and most numerous definitions or previous examples of blended learning. This new blend of blended learning lacks the…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) administration identified the need for adequate and proactive advising programs to foster student success. This paper presents a review of "best practices" in advising to determine commonalities, provides a comparison with current VCCS advising practices, and offers recommendations that…

As a success coach, it can be challenging in identifying and referring students to the resources that can aid, and that can assist with each student's success during their first year. It is vital to use modern technological resources that are available at no additional cost to institutions, and which students are currently using, to aid in…

Higher education literature advises that college students who have autism spectrum disorders overwhelmingly attend community colleges. However the persistence and retention of college students who have autism spectrum disorders is not well documented. Absent among the existing literature are first-person narratives of college students who have…