Publications
Contextualized College Transition Strategies for Adult Basic Skills Students: Learning From Washington State’s I-BEST Program Model
This report seeks to understand those aspects of the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program that best support student learning, progression, and completion.
New Evidence of Success for Community College Remedial English Students: Tracking the Outcomes of Students in the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)
This paper presents the findings from a follow-up quantitative analysis of the Community College of Baltimore County’s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP).
Improving Developmental Education Assessment and Placement: Lessons From Community Colleges Across the Country
This paper describes a range of approaches to improving poor course placement accuracy and inconsistent standards associated with traditional assessment and placement practices at community colleges.
Teaching Academically Underprepared Students in Community Colleges
This chapter discusses instructional approaches intended to prepare initially low-skilled college entrants for the reading, writing, and mathematics skills they need to learn from the postsecondary curriculum.
Development, Discouragement, or Diversion? New Evidence on the Effects of College Remediation
This paper finds that remediation does little to develop students' skills but does not discourage initial enrollment or persistence, except among students identified as potentially misassigned.
Adoption and Adaptation: A Framework for Instructional Reform
This edition of Inside Out, a publication of CCRC's Scaling Innovation project, outlines a three-part framework for colleges looking to adopt and adapt a developmental education reform.
Predicting Success in College: The Importance of Placement Tests and High School Transcripts
This paper uses student-level data from a statewide community college system to examine the validity of placement tests and high school information in predicting course grades and college performance.
Do High-Stakes Placement Exams Predict College Success?
This paper analyzes the predictive validity of one of the most commonly used placement exams using data on over 42,000 first-time entrants in a large, urban community college system.
Doing Developmental Education Differently
This inaugural edition of Inside Out, a publication of CCRC's Scaling Innovation project, provides an introduction to the project and its partners.
Assessing Developmental Assessment in Community Colleges (Assessment of Evidence Series)
This paper examines the role of entry assessment and its implementation, the validity of common assessments, and emerging directions in assessment policy and practice.
Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students Referred to Developmental Education (Assessment of Evidence Series)
This literature review explores the evidence on the effects of acceleration on student outcomes and describes the various acceleration models that are used with developmental education students.
How I-BEST Works: Findings From a Field Study of Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program
The I-BEST program at Washington State's community and technical colleges integrates basic skills education with vocational training and has increased completion rates for participating students.
Reforming Mathematics Classroom Pedagogy: Evidence-Based Findings and Recommendations for the Developmental Math Classroom (Assessment of Evidence Series)
This paper reviews the evidence base for pedagogical reforms in the developmental mathematics classroom, examining the theoretical and empirical evidence on six innovative instructional approaches.
A Contextualized Intervention for Community College Developmental Reading and Writing Students
This paper provides evidence on the potential efficacy of a contextualized approach in helping students develop an important academic skill, written summarization.
Developmental Education in Community Colleges
Prepared for the 2010 White House Summit on Community College, this brief discusses developmental education challenges and describes initiatives designed to improve remedial services.
A Model for Accelerating Academic Success of Community College Remedial English Students: Is the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) Effective and Affordable?
This paper presents findings from a quantitative analysis of the Community College of Baltimore County's Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) for upper level developmental writing students.
Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (I-BEST): New Evidence of Effectiveness
CCRC examined educational and labor market outcomes of participants in I-BEST, which aims to help adult basic skills students succeed in postsecondary occupational education and training.
Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges
This paper analyzes patterns of student progression through sequences of developmental education starting from initial referral.
Strategies for Promoting Gatekeeper Course Success Among Students Needing Remediation: Research Report for the Virginia Community College System
CCRC examined student characteristics, course-taking patterns, and other factors associated with higher probabilities that students who require remediation will take and pass gatekeeper courses.
The Impact of Postsecondary Remediation Using a Regression Discontinuity Approach: Addressing Endogenous Sorting and Noncompliance
This NCPR working paper reports findings from a study that used a detailed dataset and a regression discontinuity design to identify the causal effect of remediation on the educational outcomes of nearly 100,000 college students in Florida.