Key Facts on Developmental Education

Overview

Every year millions of young adults stride onto their local community college campus with aspirations of obtaining a college degree. But even though most of those new enrollees graduated from high school, nearly 60 percent will have to take a remedial class before earning college credit.

For most students, these remedial classes do not lead to a college degree or certificate. Studies have shown that three out of every four students who take remedial classes will not graduate within eight years compared to 40 percent of students not required to take remedial courses.

Despite these mediocre outcomes, it’s estimated community colleges spend $2 billion a year on remedial programs.

The foundation has announced that a commitment of $110 million to dramatically improve the effectiveness of remedial programs so more Americans can obtain the degrees necessary to land good jobs and keep our economy strong.

How We Got Here

Researchers estimate that 58 percent of students take at least one remedial course. How can programs that serve so many students and cost so much money have such poor results?

Research suggests four reasons:

·         Mismatch between what skills high schools require students learn to graduate and what colleges expect students to know to enroll in a college-level course.

·         Crude assessment tools often unable to diagnose weaknesses with pinpoint accuracy; students often forced to take entire courses when they only need reinforcement on or two concepts.

·         Once enrolled, often no system to guide students through the remedial process to help them access additional academic support and transition into college-level courses.

·         Courses not taught with the student in mind, and little effort is made to ensure the course is more than a rehash of what the student failed to understand in high school.

Where We Go From Here

The first step in solving the remedial education problem is to recognize we have one. For too long, our college’s most under prepared students–those that have the most to benefit from higher education–have been shuttled into poorly resourced, poorly designed, and poorly taught courses. Instead of marginalizing remedial programs we must put it center stage and apply innovative approaches to dramatically improving student success.

Effective academic catch-up programs share some common traits:

It starts early with cooperation and communication between middle schools, high schools, and colleges that can prevent the need for remediation in the first place.

It’s tightly structured, blending credit-bearing classes with enhanced academic supports.

It’s flexible and personalized to address specific skill gaps, ensuring students learn what they need.