Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

One of the most problematic issues facing community colleges is developmental education. In the last decade, more research has been conducted examining developmental education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of developmental math in a rural community college setting. Is developmental math an effective intervention?…

Many students enter the Canadian college system with insufficient mathematical ability and leave the system with little improvement. Those students who enter with poor mathematics ability typically take a developmental mathematics course as their first and possibly only mathematics course. The educational experiences that comprise a developmental…

This study explores developmental education placement rates and how well high school grade point average and exam performance predicted performance in college-level courses among first-time students who enrolled in the University of Alaska system from fall 2008 to spring 2012. Like other colleges and universities, the University of Alaska, the…

For the past 10 years, government reports have documented an increase in college developmental reading courses. However, a community college in the southeastern United States has experienced a decline in enrollment and attendance in these courses since they began in 1999. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the impact of taking a…

Faculty at a two-year community/technical college undertook a project in the spring 2010 semester to incorporate more intensive and intrusive academic advising into the Freshman Seminar (COL 105) course. A study was undertaken in which 14 sections of COL 105 were divided into an experimental group (taught by specially-trained instructors who…

This study examines how a selected Hispanic-Serving Institution is implementing Advancement Via Individual Determination as a strategy for improving retention and time to graduation for 1st-generation Hispanic college students. A quasi-experimental design approach was used in which the retention rates and 1st-semester grade point averages of a…

This quantitative, causal-comparative study examined differences in success (GPA) and retention (enrollment in Spring 2007) between students who took and passed recommended developmental English or reading in the first semester of attendance and students who did not take or did not pass recommended developmental English or reading in the first…

The purpose of this study was to identify academic factors that might predict online course success for community college students. Online course success was a focus of national research and debate as studies consistently indicated lower success rates in online courses as compared to traditional courses; however, research that identified academic…

The study was a quantitative, causal-comparative, ex post facto study that compared the college algebra and freshman English outcomes for three groups of developmental learners based on where they completed their developmental English and mathematics courses. The study also examined the effectiveness of developmental education courses within the…

This study examined the academic performance of Tech Prep students (referred to as participants) in comparison to non-Tech Prep students (referred to as non-participants) entering a two-year community college from sixteen different high schools in Stark County, Ohio. This study provided a quantitative analysis of students' academic experiences to…

It is a difficult time for policymakers, business leaders, and education leaders to think about ways to increase the numbers of students graduating from high school prepared for college and the work force when their focus is on reducing budgets. But now is the best time to plan for the future. Now is the time to explore programs that may bear…

Developmental Education programs are designed to provide assistance to students who are academically under-prepared for college-level coursework. Previous issues of "Data Notes" compared the outcomes of developmental students completing all of their required developmental courses to those not requiring developmental education. Using data…

In fall 1992, a study was conducted at the Eastern Campus of Cuyahoga Community College, in Ohio, to gather data on student performance in the developmental English program and propose appropriate rates of academic progress for different groupings of students. Academic records were analyzed for all 877 students enrolled in developmental English…

A comparative evaluation was made of the ability of four Academic Tests of the American College Test (ACT) Assessment Program and Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) to predict course grades and freshman grade-point average for students enrolled in a basic skills program at a large university. (Author/GK)