Structural practices used by community colleges to assess, place, and teach students are undergoing transformation. Many recent changes have been shaped by the idea that barriers to success, combined with traditional policies, work against helping students pass through the developmental writing pathway. This article's purpose was to investigate the most promising structural practices by community college developmental writing programs. The article first looks at the challenges faced by developmental writing students. Then, a synthesis of relevant literature takes place, followed by a nationwide study of 42 successful developmental writing faculty. From this survey, an empirical framework emerged and is presented for the structural domain. Finally, this article offers specific and practical practices that administrators and educators can use to improve their developmental writing programs.