Over the past decade, policymakers, educators, and administrators in community colleges and other broad-access postsecondary institutions have focused on reforming developmental education practices, including how students are assessed as needing additional academic support. Concurrent with widespread changes in practice, researchers have engaged…

This content analysis examines the topics, trends, and issues impacting developmental education and its professionals as evaluated by interviews that have appeared in the "Journal of Developmental Education" ("JDE") between the issuance of Volume 1 through Volume 39. A total of 76 interviews were analyzed with attention to…

This article addresses conflicting perspectives regarding research in developmental education. Subsequent to examining opinions regarding the rigor of research in the field to date, recommendations for a research agenda are proposed. The study's review of research strengths and weaknesses suggests multiple types of evidence, potentially pointing…

The authors first explore the changing European society and its impact on higher education. This forms a background to the main focus of the paper--the effectiveness of remedial or developmental education. The paper then provides an overview of the core elements of successful remedial or developmental courses and summarizes developments in online…

Reviews the literature on the benefits of mentor relationships for both the protege and the mentor. Suggests that experienced developmental educators mentor colleagues new to the field and that developmental students be encouraged to find and cultivate mentoring relationships. (DMM)

Meaning and knowledge are separate constructs. Meaning is an idiosyncratic, cognitive construct; knowledge is a social construct built upon various shared meanings that are reconstructed and judged to be accurate or probable by a particular community. Language is the medium through which both meaning and knowledge are formed. Instructors can…

This examination of remedial instruction in institutions of higher education provides an analysis of the functions and purposes of remediation; a discussion of the types of remediation, who participates, and how well it serves them; an examination of the financial costs of remediation; an appraisal of the economic and social consequences of not…

Offers a review of research conducted on reading comprehension, focusing on studies of the cognitive processes involved in the comprehension of the meaning of the microstructures and macrostructures of a text. (DMM)

This meta-analytic synthesis of findings from 60 evaluation studies schowed that special college programs for high-risk students have had basically positive effects on students. High-risk students who enrolled in such programs stayed in college somewhat longer than control students did, and they received somewhat better grades in regular college…

Suggests using principles of instruction grounded in prose learning research to develop successful college developmental skills programs. (AEA)

States that faculty often attribute developmental students' academic difficulties to poor motivation. Investigates motivational differences between 60 developmental students and 74 regular-admission students enrolled in either a community college or a residential university. Results of t-test on motivational levels measured by the self-report…

Discusses the meaning and extent of developmental education in community colleges and higher education. Presents some current controversies, examines outcomes-related data, and addresses issue of faculty training in the field. (Contains 57 references.) (AUTH/NB)

Brief descriptions of interdisciplinary developmental education programs are provided in this paper, along with a more extensive examination of the Personalized Approach to College Education (PACE) program at the College of the Finger Lakes (CFL) in Canandaigua, New York. Introductory material cites examples of developmental programs which involve…

This paper presents preliminary findings of the five-year research project, "Accelerating the Education of Remedial Students in Higher Education," which is examining effects of current remedial courses at the postsecondary level and exploring the applicability of the "accelerated schools" concept as an alternative. This paper…

A literature review on the effectiveness of developmental studies programs is presented, along with the results of a survey of developmental studies programs at predominantly white and predominantly black colleges in the southeast. Information is also provided on a survey of black college athletes' views of their academic environment. A total of…