If our nation's colleges and universities are to become able to educate differentially prepared students, we need to understand better the ways that the growing number of underprepared students navigates college. In particular, research is needed that identifies the practices of the underprepared college students who complete remedial education…

This paper documents the perceptions and experiences of faculty members in the midst of statewide reform efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to integrate developmental reading and writing courses. Using interview and focus group data from 161 faculty and administrators in both states (combined) as well as three detailed case studies of faculty…

An increasing number of students enter college underprepared. These students do not have the academic skills to take college-level courses and are placed in remedial classes. Career counseling can help underprepared college students make educated career decisions based on their current situations. This article explores the characteristics of…

Postsecondary educators have expressed concerns for many years about how prepared high school students are for college. As a result, states and organizations have launched a variety of initiatives designed to increase high school students' readiness for college, including increased access to college-level courses. One of the most promising…

Early college schools are succeeding at our nation's most daunting educational challenge--propelling students from underserved backgrounds to graduate high school and earn postsecondary degrees. These schools combine high school and college in rigorous, yet supportive environments that embrace acceleration over remediation. Their "college for…

A promising strategy for promoting successful college transition and increasing college completion rates is to help students avoid developmental coursework by preparing them for placement exams before they enroll in college. A lack of content alignment between high school exit exams and college entrance exams is one of many troubling disconnects…

The purpose of the dissertation is to gain insight into how higher education policies can influence institutional performance in Latino postsecondary degree completion; specifically, through an examination of the college readiness efforts of two Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Texas. Over half of all Latinos in postsecondary education in the…

The developmental education process, as it is typically implemented in colleges across the country, seems straightforward: underprepared students are assessed and placed into an appropriate developmental course sequence designed to prepare them for college-level work; once finished with the sequence, these students presumably then move on to…

North Queens Community High School serves approximately 200 students, 16-20 years old, as they strive to reach their personal and academic goals. All students at North Queens have previously been enrolled in high school elsewhere and are over-age and undercredited. Small class sizes, student-centered support, and an accelerated credit acquisition…