College Placement Strategies: Evolving Considerations and Practices

This CAPR working paper provides an overview of the history of college placement testing, with a focus on nonselective colleges. The authors discuss the limitations of placement tests, the consequences of placement errors, and the movement toward changing systems of placement; a typology of approaches to assessment and placement is also described.
From “Additive” to “Integrative”: Experiences of Faculty Teaching Developmental Integrated Reading and Writing Courses

Using interview, focus group, and case study data, this paper documents the perceptions and experiences of faculty members in the midst of statewide reform efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to integrate developmental reading and writing courses.
Computer-Mediated Developmental Math Courses in Tennessee High Schools and Community Colleges: An Exploration of the Consequences of Institutional Context

Using site visit data from three community colleges and four high schools, this paper explores how the institutional context of the high schools compared with that of the colleges in ways that may have affected the implementation and efficacy of computer-mediated mathematics.
Assistance or Obstacle? The Impact of Different Levels of English Developmental Education on Underprepared Students in Community Colleges

This journal article examines the impacts of different levels of developmental reading and writing on students’ academic outcomes.
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.