Although nearly half of community college students require some type of remediation, less than one-third of the students who start in developmental education graduate within eight years (Park, Tandberg, Hu, & Hankerson, 2016). As such, there is great uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of developmental education (Ari et al., 2016; Bailey…

In this dissertation, acceleration in developmental mathematics at Utah Valley University through compression of a 4-course sequence into a 2-course sequence was examined to determine the extent to which sequence length predicted student success outcomes, including completion of, pass/fail grades in, and re-enrollment into subsequent developmental…

In May 2013, the governor of Florida signed into law Senate Bill 1720, which fundamentally changed how institutions of higher education manage remedial programs. Institutions seemed to be responding to the high demand for education by channeling large percentages of incoming first-year students to remedial classes based on assessment test scores,…

The California Community College system, as an open access institution, is tasked with helping students who possess math skills far below college-level complete math course requirements for obtaining an associate degree or transfer to a university. Colleges have created various developmental math programs to achieve this mission; this paper…

The number of students attending higher education institutions has increased across the nation over the past few decades. Nearly 46% of students chose to begin postsecondary education or technical training at a community college (American Association of Community Colleges, 2008). Accessibility and lower tuition have contributed to the enrollment…

Across the United States, students are entering college with a need for improvement in basic mathematics and communication skills. In 2008, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 1908 which changed the expectations for the senior year of high school for many students. Students who score within certain levels on the mandatory high school…

The purpose of this study was to find predictors of academic success, persistence, retention, and completion for students enrolled in community college developmental education mathematics courses utilizing an accelerated emporium model learning environment. Instructional practices have been shown to have a powerful impact on the desire and…

The researcher for this evaluative study investigated the efficacy and impact of the iStartSmart college success course by examining the first-term retention, fall-to-fall persistence, and three-year completion rates of community college students who enrolled in the one- or three-credit course at a community college in Arizona and the rates of…

The low degree completion rate for college students is problematic in the U.S. Many scholars and practitioners focus on the effects of developmental education due to its cost and effort incurred by students and institutions. However, research has not decisively concluded that developmental education is either bad or good. This study extended this…

This phenomenological study examined the experience of community college developmental students, students who were enrolled in college yet underprepared for the college experience, as described by fourteen community college developmental students. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of the lived experience of the…

Traditionally, modeling student retention has been done by deriving student success predictors and measuring the likelihood of success based on several background factors such as age, race, gender, and other pre-college variables, also known as the input-output model. Increasingly, however, researchers have used mediating factors of the student…

The purpose of this narrative inquiry research study was to explore how learning communities impact attitude changes of developmental college students. The qualitative research design enabled the researcher to determine attitudes, and changes in attitudes, via narratives shared by the participants about their personal experiences. The participants…

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the barriers to persistence underprepared students at the community college experience after the initial successful completion of one semester. A qualitative interview study, grounded in phenomenology, was implemented. Participants were identified through a process of purposeful selection, which included…

The research compiled ten-year, foundational information about students enrolled in a developmental reading course. The institutional data collected included student enrollment, demographics, and academic markers of success. A pre/post survey examined students' reading attitudes to determine if reading attitudes changed through the course…

This study explored relationships between placement decisions in English and reading courses and measures of college achievement and persistence for first-time degree- and certificate-seeking community college students enrolled at a large, public, suburban-serving community college in Maryland. Archived records were examined for students who had…