This overview introduces "Right from the Start: An Institutional Perspective on Developmental Education Reform," a series of three practitioner briefs on developmental education. Created by Achieving the Dream and MDC, the briefs spotlight successful reform efforts in developmental education at seven Achieving the Dream colleges. [The…

As described in this brief, Tacoma Community College and South Texas College each focused on contextualization as a cornerstone of developmental education reform, albeit with different approaches. With a comprehensive look at the experience at Tacoma Community College and a supplementary example from South Texas College, we begin to understand how…

Three community colleges--El Paso Community College, Bunker Hill Community College, and Patrick Henry Community College--incorporated technology into the curriculum to support student progress in mathematics through developmental education. Each college took its own path: El Paso developed a self-accelerated emporium-style computer lab, Patrick…

This brief summarizes efforts to reform developmental education at Zane State College and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC). Focused on accelerating student success and progress, the two schools pursued distinctive approaches to reform that aligned with their institutional missions and student populations. Recognizing that the…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" investigates the number of attempts it takes students to complete all developmental education courses to which they are referred. Subsequent gateway course completion and overall persistence are also examined. Three-year outcomes were analyzed and…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" looks at three-year enrollment and attainment outcomes of students who persist through their first year. Additionally, first-year persisters (FYPs) were grouped based on the interaction of several student characteristics; analysis was conducted to…

This issue of "Data Notes" examines characteristics and three-year outcome differences between students who enroll in Achieving the Dream colleges immediately after high school and those who delay their enrollments. Recent high school graduates were identified based on the student's reported high school graduation year and the year the student…

Developmental Education programs are designed to provide assistance to students who are academically under-prepared for college-level coursework. Previous issues of "Data Notes" compared the outcomes of developmental students completing all of their required developmental courses to those not requiring developmental education. Using data…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community College Count, this issue of "Data Notes" looks at the percentage of students referred to developmental education and, of those referred, the percentage that attempted and completed at least one developmental education course in their first and second terms. The data show that more than 80…

Developmental education is an important part of the community college mission. Because there has been such a large increase in the number of female undergraduates, the difference in developmental needs and outcomes between male and female students has become increasingly important. Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, the…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" looks at student developmental education and gateway course outcomes by gender. The data show that more than half of students were referred to developmental math, with female students being more likely to be referred than male students. Females were more…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue looks at student's developmental education needs and outcomes by race and ethnicity. The data indicate that the depth of students' developmental needs varies by race and ethnicity - and that the depth of developmental needs is related to success. Colleges, therefore, would…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" is the second of a two-part series investigating the characteristics of stop-outs at Achieving the Dream colleges. In this issue, students who stop out during high- frequency terms are examined by age, developmental referral status, grade point average and…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" highlights some of the differences that exist between states. In addition to Achieving the Dream data, this report includes data from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for the 2008-09 academic year to…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue examines the differing developmental needs and enrollment and persistence patterns of Achieving the Dream students by gender, with a focus on male students of color. The data show females in Achieving the Dream colleges, regardless of race, were less likely than males to…