The Post-Traditional Remedial Learner in higher education is a student constituency that has historically been "Hidden in Plain Sight" and strikingly absent from substantive discussions that foreground their lived experiences, relevance, and success in post-secondary education. Though physically present on campus and numerically…

Efforts to strengthen the pipeline to college degree completion have focused on improving college access and providing academic, social, and financial supports to students post-enrollment. This paper explores one facet of postsecondary education that has served as a barrier to both college access and success--developmental education--which has…

We present findings from a study about obstacles that Black students who succeeded in developmental mathematics in community college reported having endured in those mathematics classrooms. To understand the types of obstacles that can arise for students in these classrooms, we analyze data using two frameworks: mathematics identity and dimensions…

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…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of community college presidents regarding developmental education. A mixed method sampling technique combining convenience and purposeful sampling was used to identify five presidents in North Carolina and three presidents in Virginia to participate in the study. Results of…

Recent years have brought an increasing amount of attention to the educational experiences and outcomes for men of color. As a group, these students experience some of the lowest rates of success in community college. These inequities in education start early, fueled by racial/gender dynamics, stereotyping, and growing up in under-resourced…

Based on a recent survey, this issue of "DataPoints" finds that work, expenses and family issues are the top three challenges to success cited by community college students. A breakdown of those categories shows the specific hurdles.

In this testimony by Alexander Mayer, Deputy Director, Postsecondary Education, Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), Before the New Jersey State Assembly Higher Education Committee, the following three points are emphasized: (1) Developmental education is a major challenge facing low-income college students in New Jersey and across…

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of mobile app courseware on the college outcomes of developmental education students, using a research design which randomly assigned course sections to receive access to the apps or not. The results show that access to the apps significantly improved student performance in developmental…

As part of the Community College Research Center's (CCRC) Analysis of Statewide Developmental Education Reform Learning Assessment Study, Wake Technical Community College's partner team believes the recommendation and implications in the CCRC's Developmental Reading and English Assessment in a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership. Working Paper No.…

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…

Community college students invest considerable time and money into attending college, but too few of them complete their programs of study. This paper discusses how the development of an overall framing vision for student success, the implementation of evidence-based practices, and the establishment of a culture that is both committed to student…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of community college students who had taken developmental courses and were later able to achieve academic success. The participants of this study were community college students who tested into and had taken two developmental courses during their…

Enrolling more than 6 million students each fall, community colleges carry out a crucial function in higher education by providing access to college, including baccalaureate opportunities, occupational education, remedial education, and other educational services. At the same time, community colleges face great challenges that have elicited calls…

Far too many California students are falling off the pathway to and through college. At current rates of high school and college completion, only about 30 percent of California 9th graders will earn a bachelor's degree, a rate that is insufficient for an economy that increasingly demands more highly educated workers. In this study, the authors…