Research shows that the more developmental courses a student takes, the lesser the chances of successfully completing a degree or certificate. This report examines the performance outcomes between students enrolled in an accelerated developmental English course (one semester) and those enrolled in a two-semester developmental sequence at one California community college, where students choose between the two pathways regardless of placement score. Using longitudinal data, the author presents findings showing that students who had taken the accelerated English course completed college English at significantly higher rates than those who had taken the developmental sequence. The author discusses implications of developmental education and the need to reform its traditional, multi-leveled sequence to improve student completion rates.

Students in the U.S. understand the importance of a college education; 88% of eighth graders assume they will enter some sort of postsecondary program. Despite this high level of college aspiration, students often find the reality of the college entrance process and college-level coursework overwhelming. This report uses data from six states to explore how a lack of alignment between K–12 and postsecondary education contributes to misconceptions about what constitutes college readiness and how the college application process works. The authors discuss major points of disconnect, including assessments and curricular design, and offer recommendations for strengthening the ties between K–12 and postsecondary policies to build comprehensive P–16 systems.

This case study investigates El Paso Community College’s first year of participation in the Achieving the Dream initiative, particularly their use of the ACCUPLACER test both as a placement assessment for incoming students and as part of a larger effort to guide high school students to college readiness. The authors interviewed EPCC personnel and held focus groups with students to explore how EPCC’s efforts impacted the school’s goals of decreasing the number of entering students who place into developmental courses and decreasing the time required to complete developmental coursework.

Within the larger Achieving the Dream Initiative, the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) supports participant schools as they undertake reforms to reduce student dependence on developmental education. In furtherance of this goal, DEI created this self-assessment to help schools identify areas of strength and weakness across multiple dimensions. While created for Achieving the Dream schools, this tool may be useful to any school considering reforming their approach to developmental education.

Whether a student begins college in developmental education or in college-credit courses is determined by a single, high-stakes assessment. This paper uses data on more than 42,000 first-time students at a large, urban community college system to examine the predictive validity of one of the most commonly used placement assessments. The author analyzes the difference of predicted success in math and English based on placement accuracy and error rates, and suggests that multiple measures for making placement decisions would reduce misplaced students in developmental education and the remediation rate.

Adult learners pursuing their postsecondary degrees after time away from the classroom need additional support to stay in school, different from the traditional student. Common strategies for helping adult learners achieve their goals are innovative academic programming, increased and creative financial aid opportunities, and support services. This study examines another strategy, Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, which is the process by which colleges evaluate for academic credit the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom such as through employment, the military, or hobbies. The findings show positive outcomes for PLA students who, compared to non-PLA students, had higher degree-earning rates and earned degrees in less time, saving on costs to the individuals and the institutions. Additionally, the report discusses PLA methods offered among the 48 colleges and universities studied, characteristics of the adult learners who participate in PLA, and their college-going behavior.

This report examines the implementation of Florida’s developmental education policies at three community colleges with high success rates among developmental education students. These colleges exhibit the same characteristics as those identified by the research literature on high-performing colleges: committed leadership, innovative instruction, proactive student support, regular use of data, and professional development. The authors discuss Florida’s statewide mandates in developmental education on issues of assessment and placement, literacy and math competencies, funding formulas, and accountability, and suggest how other states can learn from their policies.

Far too many community college students, especially developmental education students, are at risk of failing, and thus at greater risk of not earning a living wage or advancing through job opportunities. This policy brief examines the challenges of developmental education and the efforts that states can pursue to increase the success of students enrolled in remedial courses, leading to improved rates of transition to credit-bearing courses. The authors recommend that state policymakers consider policy changes affecting data systems, assessment and placement, concurrent developmental and college-level course taking, financial aid eligibility, support services, and funding for new models of delivery. These recommendations are discussed along with brief examples of what a few states have done to increase student transition out of developmental education.

Improving student success in developmental education across an entire state's community college system is an ambitious plan. This report explains how a participatory process involving teachers and administrators as stakeholders, enabled developmental education reform in the Virginia community college system. The author discusses how the reform initiative began with using the statewide student data system to identify the issues: reduce the need for remediation, shorten the time spent in developmental education, and increase college completion rates for students who start out in developmental education. The author describes how redesign teams dramatically reconceived developmental mathematics and developmental English and implemented a common placement assessment that yielded formative data aligned with the new courses to increase college readiness for students.

Community colleges serve diverse student populations that have a wide range of reasons for attendance. As such, it’s challenging to assess the specific needs that could lead to improving student progression and retention. Based on survey results, this report discusses the challenges community colleges face in using assessment data to inform decision making on issues ranging from improving instruction to allocating resources. The authors provide examples of promising practices in assessment and offer guidance and cautions for community colleges in using and identifying new assessments for greater transparency and accountability and for improving student outcomes.

This memo is fourth in a series of eight memos responding to questions regarding student service delivery methods and structures.

Memo 4 addresses the question: What does the research say about using standard cut scores? What are experiences from other states?

The assessments that determine course placement are a small piece of the college admissions process, but they can significantly impact students’ long-term success. This report examines assessment and placement policies in the California community college system, using interviews with counselors, matriculation officers, and students to compare policymakers’ intent to students’ real experiences. Based on findings that show a majority of students feeling unprepared for and confused by the assessment, counseling, and course placement processes, the authors offer several recommendations for reform. These include increasing the transparency of the process, engaging early outreach strategies to introduce middle and high school students to assessments, and developing innovative methods of  measuring and raising students’ readiness for college-level coursework.

As states are looking into how to strengthen their student data and performance measurement systems to track student progress and success, they are in need of best practices that are taking root in other states. Based on a set of indicators identified by seven Achieving the Dream states focused on developing and improving their data systems, this policy brief describes the essential features that a state should consider when building or modifying its performance measurement and data systems, as well as the research capacity to support data-driven improvement strategies. Goldberger describes 10 performance measurement features, seven data system features, and four research capacity features along with examples of how other states are effectively demonstrating each particular feature.

Currently, basic skills students must spend additional time and money taking remediation courses. This is the key reason, according to research, for why these students don’t graduate or transfer. This brief suggests key principles for policymakers concerning resource adequacy, transparency, and acceleration. Additionally, the author briefly describes strategies institutions can use in redesigning instructional systems and support services to better support students in need of basic skills.

Community colleges serve a diverse population of students who have varying interests and goals. This summary presents the results of an online survey involving 1,205 community college students. It reports on who today’s community college students are, factors that contribute to success, and how technology is used by this group of students.

In this policy brief, prepared as part of the Achieving the Dream initiative, the author highlights the pros and cons of three varying levels of state oversight in community college assessment and placement. The brief includes general policy information from Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, as well as short case studies from Maryland and Minnesota. The author offers several recommendations for strengthening policies for assessing incoming students and supporting student success in developmental courses.

As large proportions of students arrive to college — especially community colleges — unprepared for the rigor of college-level coursework, states are turning to assessments as a critical tool for increasing college readiness. This report describes how Florida’s Division of Colleges partnered with K–12 using the state’s rich K–20 longitudinal student data to design and implement a new 11th grade college placement test that simultaneously places students in remedial or college-level courses and measures high school students’ college readiness. Based on interviews conducted for this case study, the author discusses the changes made at both the secondary and postsecondary levels statewide, reflecting an alignment of standards, ownership of the issues by faculty, and a collaboration across these two sectors to reduce remediation and accelerate developmental instruction.

In the U.S., K–12 and postsecondary education are disjointed, creating barriers that hinder students — especially lesser-prepared students — from successfully navigating the transition to and through higher education. Based on a four-state study that analyzed K–16 educational governance and state policies in areas such as finance, curricula and assessment, accountability, and data systems, this report proposes a set of policy levers for states interested in K–16 reform. In addition to providing examples of the steps several states have taken to move the K–16 agenda forward, the authors also offer recommendations to help states formalize current approaches into more effective, sustainable, and long-term governance structures and policies for improving success opportunities for students.

The process of assessing underprepared students, placing them into an appropriate developmental education course sequence, and advancing them through to college-level coursework is broken. Based on a case study of the City University of New York’s six community colleges, this report proposes a new opposing forces framework for understanding the dysfunction of the developmental education system. The authors discuss the tensions inherent in the framework — systemwide consistency versus institutional autonomy, efficient versus effective assessment, and promotion of student progression versus enforcement of academic standards — and use CUNY as a case study to describe how each of the opposing forces shape developmental policies, practices, and student progression patterns.

While there is growing interest to improve college completion rates, the federal government only requires that public colleges and universities track first-time, full-time students, overlooking the 40 percent of postsecondary students who attend part-time and don’t fit this profile of the traditional college-going student. With the support of 33 participating states, this report examines that often missing postsecondary data that include the non-traditional student and presents five findings on their postsecondary performance concerning demographics, graduation rates, transfer rates, course completion, and remediation. In addition to the findings, the report offers recommendations to colleges on how to address issues in each of the five areas, as well as shares what some states are doing to reduce the time it takes to graduate, thereby increasing the chances of success for all students. Finally, the report presents comparison data on postsecondary performance by state and provides individual profiles on how students in each state are faring.

The traditional use of placement exams for incoming college students may actually act as a barrier to college completion, misassigning students into developmental education who really don’t need remediation. Using information from a Jobs for the Future convening, involving state officials and community college leaders along with interviews and analysis, this report examines how emerging research is challenging assumptions about placement tests as an accurate data source for determining college readiness. The author describes innovative approaches that some states are taking with placement exams and presents them in three broad categories: Downplaying the tests, Changing the tests, and Supporting students around the tests. Lastly, the author discusses key issues of cost, time, and validity as related to reforming the use of placement tests.