Practitioner Perspectives on Implementing Developmental Education Reforms: A Convening of Six Community Colleges in Texas

Abstract

In 2015, RAND Corporation was awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to engage in a continuous improvement project. RAND partnered with American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) on this four-year study. The goals of the project were threefold: (1) to support the implementation of two developmental education (DE) reforms in Texas community colleges; (2) to build capacity at the state agency and in six partner community colleges around continuous improvement practices and evidence-based policy and practice; and (3) to contribute to the national evidence base around DE reforms. To achieve those goals, the research team has engaged in annual continuous improvement cycles with two working groups of colleges between 2015 and 2018. These efforts focused on two key DE reforms rolled out under the Texas Success Initiative: Holistic advising: The use of multiple measures alongside placement test scores for the purposes of placement into DE. The research team partnered with a working group of institutions that included Austin Community College (ACC), San Jacinto College (SJC), and Tyler Junior College (TJC) to implement and continuously improve holistic advising policies and practices. Supports for low basic skill students: Efforts to systematically identify and target supports to students planning to enroll in DE with skills below the 9 th grade level in math, reading, and/or writing. The research team partnered with a working group of institutions that included El Paso Community College (EPCC), Houston Community College (HCC), and South Texas College (STC) to implement and continuously improve supports for students with skills below 9 th grade level. Working group activities with partner institutions took place in three annual cycles between 2015 and 2018, with site visits each semester, monthly calls, collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, and discussions with critical decision-makers within each institution. The research team also engaged regularly with state policymakers at THECB to discuss the issues, learn about state policy, provide feedback on state policy and institutional practices, and discuss lessons learned and opportunities for improvement. And finally, the research team is drawing upon state and institution administrative data to conduct a range of quantitative analyses to inform improvement efforts and assess progress. On April 27 th , 2018, RAND and AIR hosted a one-day convening to provide an opportunity for the research team, state policymakers, and key stakeholders from the working group colleges to engage in discussion around DE reform.