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"The Importance of Minority-Serving Institutions January 16, 2012, 7:53 pm By Marybeth Gasman This past week the Institute for Higher Education Policy released a report titled The Role of Minority-Serving Institutions in National College Completion Goals. The report urges the nation to look closely at minority-serving institutions (MSI's) and their work with underrepresented minorities for clues on student learning and student success. It also emphasizes the role of MSI's in educating a disproportionate number of low-income and first-generation students. Nearly 98 percent of the black and Native American students who attend MSI's are eligible for need-based financial aid. Moreover, almost 50 percent of MSI students receive Pell Grants in comparison to all students. These students, according to countless research studies, are some of the most difficult to retain and graduate as they have less access to quality education and opportunities."

Washington's Student Achievement Initiative measures student progress for the incremental gains made that lead to college success. These measures, called momentum points, are in four categories: improving preparation for college-level courses, building towards a year of college credit, completing college math, and completing certificates, degrees and apprenticeships. This paper describes the success of basic skills students in transitioning to college-level classes, and the momentum they gain towards college success. (Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, January 2008)

Finds that students who enrolled in a student success course in the first semester were more likely to earn college-level credits and were more likely to persist to the second year. Also finds that students referred to remedial education were more likely to earn college-level credits if they enrolled in a student success course in their first term. (Community College Research Center, February 2012)

"Some of the conclusions from the review include: * Assessments appear to be more successful in placing academically prepared students than in placing academically underprepared students. * Students who narrowly miss an assessment "cutoff" score and who complete remedial courses are no more likely to complete credit coursework than students with similar scores who continue straight to credit coursework without taking remedial classes first. * Multiple measures for placement, such as high school transcripts and written essays in addition to assessments, may improve placement accuracy, as might the use of more diagnostic and affective assessments. "What we found is that assessment does not appear to be an effective means of placement for all students," said Dr. Hughes. "States may want to do more research in this area before relying too much on one measure, an assessment score in this instance, for placing community college students.""

Community colleges can improve graduation rates by offering a course that teaches students how to navigate college with lessons on study skills, time management and how to find the bursar's office. Yet while "student success" courses are increasingly common, resistance remains strong at many community colleges. (Inside Higher Ed, 02/21/12)

Powerpoint from Dr. Tom Bailey illustrating the data on student progression and success in remedial education.

I suggest people look at slide 8 in the presentation that shows the lack of success for students who are three levels below college level in math. Only 10% complete a college-level math course. Bailey concludes that we know very little about why students don't succeed when so far below college level - but it appears the sequence of courses that students have to take allows too many students to drop out of the system.

Examines educational experiences and attainment as well as employment and earnings of adult students. The study also identifies the critical points where adult students drop out or fail to advance to the next level in order to stimulate thinking about how to bridge those gaps and facilitate student advancement. (Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, April 2005)

Explores 13 promising practices for strengthening community college student engagement and success. The practices include assessment and placement, support services, remedial education, academic alert and intervention, and others. (Center for Community College Student Engagement, February 2012 )

The annual report shows an increase in the percentage of students requiring remediation - possibly due to more students enrolling in college - but also higher retention rates for these students. The comprehensive report looks at remedial participation, success and cost, and also includes high school feedback reports. (Colorado Commission on Higher Education, February 2012)

Article in San Antonio Express-News on efforts to increase the success of remedial education programs to save money and improve student success.

Study done by CCRC on the Accelerated Learning Program at Community College of Baltimore County that is led by Peter Adams. The findings show increased student success and a reasonable investment of resources given the level of student success

Provides an analysis of over 50 state and postsecondary system reports on remedial education that the Getting Past Go project reviewed. Overall, GPG found that data contained in the reports fell into three main categories: participation of students in developmental education; success of developmental education students; and cost of developmental education. (Mary Fulton, Education Commission of the States, April, 2010)

Resource shared at the GPG Workshop on Remedial Education in Nashville, TN on October 5-7, 2010

Opinion piece from Anthony Bryk and Uri Treisman about the ways that mathematics requirements at universities impede, not facilitate student success. It outlines the key principles of the Carnegie initiative to build math pathways for students

Shared by Uri Treisman at the Getting Past Go Workshop on Remedial Education in Nashville, TN on October 5-7.

datanotes publication from Achieving the Dream examining the success of students from ATD institutions in developmental education. Finds that very few students start or complete their developmental education sequence.

Studies the impact of student success courses on student persistence, completion and transfer. The report finds some impact, but was unclear about which characteristics of these courses were most beneficial. Researchers examined data from Florida's community college system. (Matthew Zeidenberg, Davis Jenkins and Juan Calcagano; Community College Research Center, 2007)

Focuses on where California's K-12 and community college systems meet and explores some of the potential opportunities for building better bridges between them. These include utilizing common approaches to assess student readiness and enabling K-12 and community college educators to jointly plan for the successful transition of students from high school to community college. (EdSource, November 2008)

The news article from the Green Bay Press-Gazette describes the efforts of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to offer intensive, seven-week developmental education courses. The courses have improved student completion so greatly that the institution has considered expanding accelerated and modularized delivery models to college-level coursework.

Annual remedial report includes data on participation, student success and cost, as well as high school feedback data. This year's report includes detailed graduation information for remedial students. (Colorado Commission on Higher Education, February 2011)

Assesses the impact on enrollment pathways and academic milestones on student success, as part of a larger study. The report finds that enrollment pathways are an effective strategy for adult students and academic milestones are more effective for younger students. The researchers used data from students at Florida community colleges. (Juan Calcagno, Peter Crosta, Davis Jenkins and Thomas Bailey; Community College Research Center, 2006)

This piece is great for outlining the basis of the recent movement toward "momentum" points in postsecondary education.

CCRC designed a study to address the following question: What student characteristics, course-taking patterns, and other factors are associated with higher probabilities that students who require remediation will take and pass college-level math and English?