In 2017, the California State Legislature and governor adopted new law that fundamentally disrupted the long-held practice of remedial (or developmental) education in the California Community Colleges (CCCs). The law, Assembly Bill 705, was preceded by earlier reforms that changed how colleges could place students into remedial education, or basic…

Under Florida's developmental education (DE) reform since 2014, recent public high school graduates and active-duty military personnel became exempt from DE and traditional placement tests. The legislation also required colleges to provide accelerated instruction strategies for students remaining in DE and offer enhanced advising and support…

College and career pathways represent a significant national education reform movement supported by federal, state, and philanthropic funding. High school pathways combine career and technical education with rigorous academics, work-based learning, and integrated student supports to provide equitable access to postsecondary opportunities. Strong…

In recent years, community school (CS) reform efforts have been established and implemented as a method of realizing comprehensive school reform in under-performing school districts. This study investigates the impact of one CS initiative in a middle school on student academic and nonacademic outcomes over time and compared to a propensity score…

Objective: Community colleges across the country are making dramatic shifts away from traditional reliance on placement testing for developmental education and toward using high school measures to assess college-readiness. Yet the views of faculty dealing with these changes, including their perspectives on the quality and usefulness of high school…

Approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in 2017, the school redesign project has seen more than 160 schools to reimagine their learning models in a state-led, multiyear process. Annual cohorts named for NASA lunar missions, the fourteen schools in seven districts that formed the initial Mercury cohort engaged in intensive planning and…

This essay integrates pieces and parts of three recent talks given at three separate professional conferences, all with a common goal of commenting on the future of the field. "The Field" is offered as a placeholder to allow individual members of the community to make connections to their own professional identities. Community wisdom…

This study investigates the impact of an urban community school reform initiative that focuses on an immigrant and refugee population in middle school. A 6th-8th grade cohort of students in the community school are followed over time and compared to a propensity score matched group on overall GPA, mathematics, and science academic outcomes and…

Most community college students are referred to developmental education courses to build basic skills. These students often struggle in these courses and college more broadly. CUNY Start is a prematriculation program for students assessed as having significant remedial needs. CUNY Start students delay matriculation for one semester and receive…

Most community college students are referred to developmental education courses to build basic skills. These students often struggle in these courses and college more broadly. CUNY Start is a prematriculation program for students assessed as having significant remedial needs. CUNY Start students delay matriculation for one semester and receive…

The United States must raise the graduation rates of community college students if it is to increase economic opportunity for individuals and improve the competitiveness of its workforce. Yet too many students arrive on campus academically underprepared and get placed into developmental (or remedial) courses where they fail to progress. For this…

RAND partnered with Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and American Institutes for Research to support the state's developmental education reform efforts through a combination of continuous improvement support and analysis of statewide data on implementation. One of the reforms examined through the study was the state's recommendation that…

The State of Maryland has always prided itself on being a leader in higher education. In 2012, the Career and College Readiness and College Completion Act (CCRCCA) set an ambitious goal: that 55% of Marylanders would have at least one degree by 2025. Reaching this goal requires increasing college access and completion across a wide variety of…

Academic underpreparedness is an issue for many first-time-in-college students, particularly those entering community colleges. Whereas many underprepared students enroll in developmental education, research has indicated that traditional remediation may not increase students' chances for success. Therefore, states and colleges have begun to…

Academic underpreparedness is an issue for many first-time-in-college students, particularly those entering community colleges. Whereas many underprepared students enroll in developmental education, research has indicated that traditional remediation may not increase students' chances for success. Therefore, states and colleges have begun to…