28.013 - Paving the Way to Better Higher Education Outcomes: Findings From the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Since 2014, the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness (CAPR) has studied one of the most vexing issues facing higher education—remediation. Roughly, six in ten new undergraduates are referred to preparatory courses in reading, writing, or mathematics that they must complete before enrolling in most college-level courses. The majority of these students never finish their remedial requirements much less earn a college degree. Under the joint leadership of the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University, and MDRC, CAPR researchers have conducted rigorous studies of two promising remedial reforms, multiple measures placement and mathematics pathways, and have fielded a national survey at approximately 1,000 broad access institutions to document their approaches to remediation. CAPR has also engaged several scholars to research other remedial reforms. The research that will be presented in this session reflects the culmination of work from a five-year grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Presenters will describe the studies and discuss how findings from CAPR are relevant to practice and policy, including the Higher Education Act Reauthorization.

Sub Unit

• AERA Sessions

Chair

• Patricia M. McDonough, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness National Survey of Broad Access Colleges and Its Evaluation of the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways Model in Four Texas Community Colleges - Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow, MDRC

• Evaluation of an Intervention That Uses High School Transcript Data - Elisabeth Barnett, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Implementation and Outcomes Findings From a Study of the Emporium Developmental Mathematics Approach in Tennessee - Angela Boatman, Vanderbilt University

Commentators

• James T. Minor, California State University

• Shirley M. Malcom, American Association for the Advancement of Science