In 2015, Tennessee community colleges initiated a wave of national reform that reimagined academic support and accelerated student success. Through innovations in the delivery of targeted learning support, such as the corequisite support model, students are more likely to achieve key milestones of success in their first year of college. Now, after…

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,…

Research conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and others was criticized in an article by Alexandros M. Goudas and Hunter R. Boylan (2012) published in the "Journal of Developmental Education," Volume 36, Issue 1. They raise specific contentions related to the methodology applied in the CCRC studies, the review of…

In this Brief the authors first report on evidence about the effectiveness (or, unfortunately, in too many cases, the ineffectiveness) of remediation and then provide information about the progression of students through the developmental sequence. They discuss problems associated with the crucial assessments and make a brief statement about…

Placement exams are high-stakes assessments that determine many students' college trajectories. More than half of entering students at community colleges are placed into developmental education in at least one subject, based primarily on scores from these assessments, yet recent research fails to find evidence that placement into remediation…

Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough--students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. In practice, developmental…

This paper presents an examination of community college students enrolled in developmental mathematics courses, and their subsequent academic performance in college-level coursework. The study was undertaken to obtain an historical perspective of remedial education in American community colleges and to review the research related to developmental…

Describes an experimental program in which remedial instruction in reading, writing, and basic study skills is coupled with content courses in general studies, biology, history, and psychology. Explains how remedial and content courses are paired, examines methods of evaluating student progress, and presents guidelines for program implementation.…

A study of student skill levels and remediation needs was conducted at Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC). The study involved: (1) a survey of the literature on the underprepared learner, basic skills, remedial and developmental education, learning skills centers, assessment and placement, attrition, faculty development, and program…

A study was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to provide a profile of the characteristics and academic performance of PVCC students in developmental reading and writing courses. Specifically, the study focused on student demographics, performance in developmental courses and college-level English courses, and the relationship…

Three types of evaluation methods are discussed in terms of their use in evaluating both cognitive and affective learning in developmental programs: standardized tests; criterion-referenced tests; and naturalistic inquiries. Section I looks at the complexities of learning and the inherent difficulties in judging the quality and quantity of what is…

Analyzes the adjustments and changes that have evolved from the inception of a pilot portfolio program through the fifth semester of its implementation in a developmental English class. The program allows for authentic, performance-based assessment and challenges students to assume more control of their writing. Asserts that the final portfolio…

This paper describes the structure and operation of an evaluation system for the developmental education program at Dalton Junior College (Georgia). All applicants for admission to the college who score below 330 on either section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test are required to take the Comparative Guidance and Placement (CGP) test to determine…

This three-part concept paper was the result of a colloquium, during which 35 community college educators met in Traverse City, Michigan, to discuss issues related to access, assessment, and developmental education and to develop concept papers and recommendations for each topic. First, introductory material describes the colloquium and its…

This report examines the need of many deaf and hard of hearing college freshmen for remediation in one or both of two areas, reading and writing in English and mathematics. It explores the kinds of assessments most commonly used in these areas, suggests modifications for testing basic instruction and remediation, and offers some programmatic…