Until recently, the vast majority of California's community college students--hundreds of thousands of students each year--started in remedial courses that slowed down or halted their academic progress. Attrition was high, particularly for Latino and African American students. Few students went on to complete the gateway courses necessary to…

California's community colleges are in the midst of numerous reforms to improve developmental (also known as remedial or basic skills) education. Developmental education is supposed to help prepare students for college work, but it has long been an obstacle to student success: most students in developmental courses never go on to complete a…

Until recently, the vast majority of students, entering California community colleges were placed in developmental courses, and relatively few went on to complete transfer-level courses in English and math. Several colleges responded to this longstanding challenge by experimenting with placement and curricular reforms. In 2017, new legislation (AB…

Each year about a quarter million students enroll for the first time in English and math courses in California's community colleges. The vast majority of these students are placed in developmental (or remedial) courses from which relatively few emerge and go on to achieve their educational goals. Indeed, most never complete a transfer-level course…

Until recently, the vast majority of California's community college students--hundreds of thousands of students each year--started in remedial courses that slowed down or halted their academic progress. Attrition was high, particularly for Latino and African American students. After years of important but piecemeal reforms, in 2017 a landmark law…

This report aims to fill the gap in research on English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at California's community colleges and the effectiveness of reforms aimed at improving student success. A number of colleges have implemented curricular reforms in recent years--accelerating coursework, integrating skills courses, and the like. These…

Every year, California's community colleges identify hundreds of thousands of students as not ready for transfer-level courses in math and English. Since these courses are required to transfer to a four-year college, students deemed underprepared are placed in developmental (also known as remedial or basic-skills) courses to prepare for college…

In its current form, developmental education may be one of the largest impediments to success in California's community colleges. Each year, hundreds of thousands of students are deemed underprepared for college and placed into developmental (also known as remedial or basic-skills) courses. Yet most never earn a degree or certificate, or transfer…

This document presents the technical appendix that accompanies the full report, "Preparing Students for Success in California's Community Colleges." The appendix includes Data and Methods. [Supported with funding from the Sutton Family Fund. For the full report, see ED570976.]