Setting Up Success in Developmental Education: How State Policy Can Help Community Colleges Improve Student Outcomes

Summary

This brief released by Jobs for the Future describes how the fifteen states participating in Achieving the Dream, a national initiative to improve student success in community colleges, concentrated their policy efforts in four key areas. These key areas include:

preventative strategies -- the state’s role in reducing the need for developmental education,
assessment and placement -- policy to improve developmental education outcomes,
implementation and evaluation of program innovation -- policy to foster experimentation and testing, and ,
performance measurement and incentives -- state influence over performance indicators.

This policy brief identifies opportunities for Achieving the Dream states and others to develop new knowledge about improving outcomes for students who test into developmental education. It also provides approaches to improving outcomes for students in need of developmental education and pinpoints problem areas, including the disconnect between K-12 and postsecondary education; spotty assessment and placement practices; and outdated, semester-based instructional delivery designs. Further, the brief highlights plans for the next phase of the Achieving the Dream initiative; efforts to improve developmental education results. It concludes with key areas for state policy action to help students advance through developmental education and enter college-level coursework ready to succeed.

Citation

Collins, M. L. (2009). Setting Up Success in Developmental Education: How State Policy Can Help Community Colleges Improve Student Outcomes. Jobs for the Future.

Retrieved From

http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/AtD_brief_success_082609.pdf