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Nikki Edgecombe

Senior Research Scholar

Nikki Edgecombe is a senior research scholar at CCRC and a research professor in the Education Policy and Social Analysis Department at Teachers College, Columbia University. She conducts research on developmental education, education equity, teaching and learning, English learners, faculty development, minority-serving institutions, and higher education finance, among other topics. She is the principal investigator for the Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness (CAPR), a U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (IES)-funded research center on developmental education jointly run with the social policy research organization MDRC. Edgecombe also leads IES studies on English learners in community colleges and on the adaptation of Lesson Study for community college mathematics instruction.

Edgecombe oversees CCRC’s research portfolio on developmental education, which, in addition to CAPR, includes a mixed-methods study of developmental English reform and English as a Second Language in three states and the implementation portion of the MDRC-led IES evaluation of CUNY Start. Edgecombe previously led several other studies examining the implementation and outcomes of developmental education reforms around the country. Edgecombe also studies and writes about education equity and recently wrote “Demography as Opportunity,” a chapter in the 2019 edited volume Thirteen Ideas That Are Transforming the Community College World.

Edgecombe joined CCRC from JPMorgan, where she studied the financial and organizational performance of publicly traded companies and made investment recommendations to institutional clients. Prior to her work in the private sector, she studied teacher learning and school-based professional development at the Urban Education Institute (formerly the Center for School Improvement) and Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. She holds a PhD and a MSEd in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Urban Studies–Economics from Columbia University.

July 2024

Increasing Access to High-Demand Occupational Training: An Exploration of G3’s Recruitment and Enrollment Strategies

This ARCC Network brief uses enrollment and outcome data as well as interview data from eight colleges implementing the Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) program to examine college-level G3 outreach, recruitment, and enrollment strategies and the process for awarding G3 aid.
April 2024

Supporting Learning Online: Perspectives of Faculty and Staff at Broad-Access Institutions During COVID-19

This Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative report examines how faculty and staff at nine institutions reconsidered students’ online learning needs in the midst of the pandemic, and it explores how supports were offered to help students strengthen their self-directed learning skills.
April 2024

Self-Directed Learning Skills: Strategies to Support Student Learning in Online STEM Courses

This Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative brief discusses some of the challenges with online teaching reported by STEM instructors, describes a self-directed learning (SDL) framework to address these challenges, and highlights support strategies that can be integrated into teaching practices.
April 2022

Improving College Success for Students in Corequisite Reading

Using administrative data, this report examines early college outcomes of students placed into corequisite reading courses at the 13 community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents system.
June 2019

Teaching Matters and So Does Curriculum: How CUNY Start Reshaped Instruction for Students Referred to Developmental Mathematics

This paper describes key features of CUNY Start mathematics and how it differs from traditional developmental education.
March 2019

Demography as Opportunity

This working paper describes the idea of demography as opportunity, which marries the racial and ethnic shifts underway in the country and in higher education with equity perspectives on historically disenfranchised populations.
September 2018

Credential Production by Field and Labor Market Alignment at Minority-Serving Institutions: A Descriptive Analysis

This CAPSEE working paper compares credential production patterns of minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and non-MSIs by field of study and examines the extent to which they correspond to employment industry clusters in Alabama and California.
April 2018

Developmental Education Reform Outcomes by Subpopulation

This chapter discusses the importance of scrutinizing the outcomes of developmental education reforms across race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, and level of developmental need.
April 2018

Addressing Academic Underpreparedness in Service of College Completion

In this article, the authors posit that a reframing of academic preparedness is warranted, and they outline three potential strategies for addressing academic underpreparedness beyond the structural and curricular reforms to developmental education taking place in many colleges.
February 2018

Developmental Education: An Introduction for Policymakers

This ECS/CAPR brief discusses the importance of and challenges surrounding developmental education and suggests ways in which policymakers can address these challenges.
December 2016

The Redesign of Developmental Education in Virginia

This chapter describes the structure and implementation of a redesign of developmental education in the Virginia Community College System, discusses preliminary descriptive findings from an evaluation of the redesign, and shares lessons for the field.
May 2015

Statewide Developmental Education Reform: Early Implementation in Virginia and North Carolina

This report provides an overview of the developmental education redesigns in Virginia and North Carolina, presents preliminary findings, and discusses lessons for states, districts, and colleges pursuing developmental education reforms.
May 2014

Accelerating the Integrated Instruction of Developmental Reading and Writing at Chabot College

This paper compares the academic outcomes of students at Chabot College who participated in an accelerated, one-semester developmental English course and those who enrolled in a two-semester sequence.
June 2013

Strengthening Developmental Education Reforms: Evidence on Implementation Efforts From the Scaling Innovation Project

Drawing on a scan of remedial reform efforts and fieldwork at 11 colleges, this paper examines trends in reform implementation and provides a framework for strengthening reform efforts and institutional capacity.
February 2013

Acceleration Through a Holistic Support Model: An Implementation and Outcomes Analysis of FastStart@CCD

This report discusses the development of FastStart, its program features, and student perspectives, and it presents findings from a quantitative analysis of the FastStart math program.
December 2012

Pathways to Faculty Learning and Pedagogical Improvement

This issue of Inside Out explores how developmental education reforms can create opportunities for faculty to engage in professional learning related to instruction.
October 2012

College 101 Courses for Applied Learning and Student Success

A study of College 101 courses at three community colleges in Virginia suggests that these courses could have long-term impacts if they focused more on the application and practice of learned skills.
May 2011

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.
September 2010

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.
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Recent Presentations by Nikki Edgecombe

April 2025

Adult Learners: Policy and Practice

October 2023

Stronger State Finance Policy as a Lever for Equitable Student Success

November 2022

The Effects of COVID-19 on Transfer-Intending Students in California’s Community Colleges

September 2022

Aligning Community College State Finance Policy to Advance Equitable Attainment

Recent Publications

July 2024

Increasing Access to High-Demand Occupational Training: An Exploration of G3’s Recruitment and Enrollment Strategies

April 2024

Supporting Learning Online: Perspectives of Faculty and Staff at Broad-Access Institutions During COVID-19

April 2024

Self-Directed Learning Skills: Strategies to Support Student Learning in Online STEM Courses

April 2022

Improving College Success for Students in Corequisite Reading

Recent Presentations

April 2025

Adult Learners: Policy and Practice

October 2023

Stronger State Finance Policy as a Lever for Equitable Student Success

November 2022

The Effects of COVID-19 on Transfer-Intending Students in California’s Community Colleges

September 2022

Aligning Community College State Finance Policy to Advance Equitable Attainment

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