How Developmental Education Reform Can Increase Academic Momentum and Reduce Racial/Ethnic Achievement Gaps

• In Event: Student Success: Programs, Policies, and Outcomes

Abstract

Despite a general increase in college enrollment, postsecondary certificate and degree completion rates have not kept pace. One explanation is that students are not enrolling in the necessary number of credits to successfully complete a degree within a reasonable timeframe. In this study we seek to understand how expanded enrollment options under Florida’s developmental education reform are related to changes in the number of credits in which a student enrolls and earns, and whether academic momentum varies by race/ethnicity. Results show that students in the post-reform cohort attempted and earned more college-level credits than students in the previous cohorts, and that Black and Hispanic students experienced greater rates of increased momentum than their White peers.

Authors

• Chenoa S. Woods, Florida State University

• Toby Park, Florida State University

• Shouping Hu, Florida State University

• Tamara Bertrand Jones, Florida State University