On a chilly but sunny Wednesday this spring at Arkansas State University (ASU) Mid-South, after a college algebra class concluded, roughly half of the students moved to another classroom for a corequisite section, called Structured Learning Assistance (SLA) in Arkansas. While students worked in groups, their instructor circulated through the room, providing assistance and feedback but also joking and laughing with students.
The classroom atmosphere was lively and genial, and students were upbeat even when asked to work on challenging problems. It felt, as one student explained, “like being in the den at home with your friends.” This class section, which a CCRC research team observed, exemplifies the instructional practices that faculty from ASU Mid-South are developing as part of the Developmental Education Reform Innovation Incubator. The Incubator is a CCRC project facilitating faculty-led innovations in student support and classroom practice through a community of practice with four colleges.
Established in 2024, the Developmental Education Reform Innovation Incubator is a CCRC-led project aimed at elevating innovative practices happening in colleges that have reformed their developmental education courses. Read a report on the project and blog posts sharing innovative practices at other Incubator colleges, and view the recording of a webinar featuring members of each college team.
A Culture of Change
ASU Mid-South, located in West Memphis, Arkansas, serves about a thousand students, many of them low-income. In fall 2022, the college replaced lengthy prerequisite sequences with an SLA model, giving all students access to college-level coursework and providing support for those who need it.
Even with the additional support provided in SLA, however, student outcomes in gateway English and math courses still weren’t where ASU Mid-South wanted them to be. Instructors believed that low levels of engagement in class and infrequent attendance in SLA sections were making it harder for students to succeed. This year, the community of practice team identified factors that they believed were contributing to lower student engagement—a lack of sense of belonging in the classroom and on campus, and a sense of stigma around being in SLA courses—and developed ways to combat them.
Fighting Stigma Through Student Engagement
In a recent CCRC webinar, Shelly Sullens, an ASU Mid-South math instructor and assistant dean, said she and other instructors had heard from students that corequisite courses carry a stigmatizing label.
“They feel like it says they’re not up to par with their classmates,” she said. “And I can only imagine if you feel that way, that’s not really going to give you the motivation to attend or to participate.”
To help change this perception, one English faculty member said, “I want to treat corequisite students like honors students.” They give their students more avenues to engage in discussion with other learners, empowering them to build confidence and identity as students who can succeed. This instructor wants corequisite students to “have the opportunity to interact and discuss, because that’s really what honor students do,” they said.
The instructors also create more occasions for student feedback and choice. In English composition, reflective writing assignments encourage students to think about their learning and academic habits, while also building in opportunities for the instructor to gauge and respond to student needs and interests. In two classes, the professor led a class activity on comparing and contrasting, using movies as examples. The instructor used different movie examples in each class, aligned with particular students’ interests. A similar strategy in math SLA classrooms involved weekly polls of the class, with questions like “Do you have any suggestions for future exams?” Encouraging students to provide feedback on assessments can build a sense of ownership, fighting disengagement and engendering a sense of belonging and responsibility.
Honors students also have opportunities to participate in campus events, so the ASU Mid-South team is looking for ways to create deeper ties on campus for SLA students. As one professor said, corequisite students “need to feel that they’re a part of this. They’re not on the margins looking at all the smart people doing all these things…. They need to feel that they’re in that community.”
Another resource in this effort is the faculty’s own stories. For instance, an English instructor and a math instructor—both teaching SLA—took developmental courses themselves. Having experienced developmental education firsthand, they help to demonstrate that students in these courses belong on ASU Mid-South’s campus and have the potential for long-term success.
Building Welcoming Classroom Spaces
While considering how to foster belonging in the classroom, the team identified classroom layouts with immobile furniture and desktop computers as a hindrance to interactive lessons. ASU Mid-South designed new collaborative classrooms, with whiteboards on each wall and movable furniture, which enabled new instructional strategies and a more relaxed atmosphere.
As we saw in the spring, students in math SLA work in groups to solve problems, moving around the classroom, supporting and interacting with one another. This format is responsive to student needs, provides valuable academic support, and encourages social engagement. Students have responded positively to this format and the collaborative space, noting that the movable furniture helps the environment feel less serious, and that being able to speak with classmates keeps them coming to class.
Looking Forward
There are encouraging signs that these community-building efforts may be impacting students. The sense of stigma that faculty and administrators described did not appear in focus groups with students (admittedly a self-selected sample); instead, students talked about how much they enjoy the responsive, engaging atmosphere in their SLA sections and how much they feel they benefit from the additional support. And success rates for students in SLA for gateway math and English were higher in fall 2025 than in the previous two semesters.
As the community of practice program year wraps up, the team is continuing to plan ways to build community among corequisite students, such as featuring corequisite students on a panel for a campus event. Another way ASU Mid-South is working to change the culture around SLA is by encouraging any student who feels they need extra support to enroll in SLA, not just those who test in. This reframing could help normalize SLA as a resource for students who are driven to succeed academically. As they move forward, ASU Mid-South will follow the data to make changes that will benefit students.
As one administrator said, “Being small, we make changes all the time. So we’re not afraid of that.”
