A key concern in education today is the overwhelming number of students who leave high school unprepared for college in the core courses of English and Math. As a result of student unpreparedness, more and more students are entering college having to take developmental courses. A high number of those students are students in the state of Mississippi. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how educational stakeholders perceive the need for implementation of college preparedness and developmental education courses for students with developmental deficiencies in urban high schools in Mississippi. In the study, the researcher used Tinto's (1993) theory of integration and retention, Astin's (1993) theory of student involvement, and Bandura's (1993) theory of self-efficacy to outline the conceptual framework that supported the assumption that educators would perceive that a collaborative means for remedial and developmental education prior to high school graduation (e.g. grades 9-12) will result in a positive and significant impact on student college success and retention. The study consisted of 20 educators from three high schools and two community college branches in urban Mississippi. The researcher conducted research using three data collection tools: Phase I Qualtrics Survey, Phase II Face-to-Face Interviews, and Phase III Focus Group Sessions. The results of the study indicated that educators from both the community colleges and high schools perceived the need for identification and intervention early in student's academic career in order to reduce the lack of college readiness. The findings also indicated the need for a revamping of high school curriculums to mirror college expectations, in addition to a closer collaboration between the two institutions of learning to reduce the number of students who graduate underprepared. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]