Accelerating Community College Students’ Progression Through Developmental Education: Does It Work?

• In Event: Understanding and Facilitating Students’ College Readiness

Abstract

The majority of community college students referred to remediation never progress into college-level courses. This lack of progression through developmental sequences suggests that shorter sequences and interventions that reduce the time needed to complete developmental requirements may improve the outcomes of developmental students. To test this hypothesis, we utilize a set of natural experiments in which students at the City University of New York community colleges with similar academic preparation were enrolled in longer or shorter developmental sequences, based on college and/or cohort of entry. Using propensity score matching to control for differences between schools and cohorts, we find that similar students who are allowed to accelerate their developmental sequence are more likely to enroll in and pass college courses.

Authors

• Shanna Smith Jaggars, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Michelle Hodara, Teachers College, Columbia University