When Developmental Education is Optional, What Will Students Do? A Preliminary Analysis of Survey Data on Student Course Enrollment Decisions in an Environment of Increased Choice

Park, Toby; Woods, Chenoa S.; Richard, Keith; Tandberg, David A.; Hu, Shouping; Jones, Tamara Bertrand

doi:10.1007/s10755-015-9343-6

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…Of our sample, 91.5% enrolled in English Composition 1 and 54.8% enrolled in Intermediate Algebra. The low math course-taking rate aligns with previous research that given the option, students may choose to enroll in developmental math or delay enrollment in any math course (Park, Woods, Hu, Bertrand Jones, & Tandberg, 2017;Park et al, 2016;.…”

Section: Data and Samplesupporting

confidence: 75%

How High School Coursework Predicts Introductory College-Level Course Success

Woods

Park

et al. 2018

Community College Review

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In recent years, developmental education (DE) reform has led to a restructuring of the placement process, redesigning of course instructional modalities, or implementing student support services to supplement developmental coursework. In Florida, recent legislative changes allowed students to opt out of placement testing and enroll directly in college-level courses regardless of academic ability. The purpose of this study is to understand how students' high school transcript information can be used in the academic advising process when students are no longer required to take standardized placement tests. Method: We used a combination of high school courses from statewide student-level data and conducted logistic regression analyses to understand how these courses help predict success in English Composition 1 and Intermediate Algebra. We also developed student profiles and presented predicted probabilities to illustrate how students with different combinations of high school coursework were predicted to pass their courses. Results: The results indicated that, generally, when students enrolled in introductory college-level courses, those with higher levels of high school preparation were predicted to pass at higher rates. However, even students whose coursework designated them as college-ready had predicted passing rates of 69.5% in English and 47.6% in Intermediate Algebra. Contributions: We recommend that college academic advisors use high school coursework, in addition to other factors, when advising students into courses and that advisors support students' success by referring them to appropriate support services. We call for additional research to further understand how high school coursework can be used for flexible placement policies.

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Section: Data and Samplesupporting

confidence: 75%

How High School Coursework Predicts Introductory College-Level Course Success

Woods

Park

et al. 2018

Community College Review

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“…It is not surprising that 46% to 48% of underprepared students chose to enroll in the gateway English course now that they have this option. Previous research has documented that under the recent Florida DE reform, students made enrollment choices based in large part on cost and time to degree (Park, Woods, Richard et al, 2016). It is possible that the students in the current study, particularly those who were closest to the college-ready cut point, opted to bypass DE and enroll in the gateway course for these same reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Reading, Writing, and English Course Pathways when Developmental Education is Optional: Course Enrollment and Success for Underprepared First-time-in-College Students

Woods

Park

et al. 2017

Community College Journal of Research and Practice

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Academic underpreparedness is an issue for many first-time-in-college students, particularly those entering community colleges. Whereas many underprepared students enroll in developmental education, research has indicated that traditional remediation may not increase students' chances for success. Therefore, states and colleges have begun to implement new course placement strategies to increase the accuracy of initial course placement and new instructional approaches to better serve their developmental students. Specifically, in 2013, the state of Florida passed Senate Bill 1720 which redesigned developmental coursework and placement policies across the Florida College System. The reform lifted developmental education placement exam testing and course enrollment requirements for certain exempt students, irrespective of prior academic preparation or achievement. The current study focuses on these exempt students-those who had the option to bypass developmental education-who were also underprepared, and their initial course selection and subsequent success in their gateway (introductory college-level) English course. Using statewide student-level data and logistic regression techniques, the results indicated that level of preparation was related to students' course enrollment and gateway English course success. Students slightly underprepared in reading or writing were more likely than severely underprepared students to enroll in the gateway English class, relative to a developmental reading or writing course. In reading and writing, slightly underprepared students were more likely to pass English, relative to severely underprepared students. The authors consider the findings in light of recent national changes to developmental education and offer recommendations for policy and practice. Academic underpreparedness is an issue for many first-time-in-college (FTIC) students, particularly those entering community colleges. Approximately 60% of public community college students enroll in at least one developmental, or remedial, course (NCES, 2013). Developmental education (DE) courses have been the primary method in which colleges support students who enter college without college-level skills, but only 20% of students who enroll in DE complete the next college-level course within two years (Complete College America, 2016). Within the past decade, DE has come under scrutiny due in part to the large number of students it serves and the high costs-approximately $154 million per academic year in the state of Florida alone (Underhill, 2013). Further, research has indicated that the high costs of DE may not increase students' chances for success (

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“…Exempt students include those who entered a Florida public high school in 2003/04 or later as ninth graders and graduated with a standard high school diploma, as well as active duty military personnel. A survey of student enrollment decisions following the reform indicated that many students did elect to opt out developmental education, even if they were advised to take such courses (Park et al 2016 ). However, some students who felt that they were academically underprepared continued to enroll in developmental education, particularly in math.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional Transformation Reflected: Engagement in Sensemaking and Organizational Learning in Florida’s Developmental Education Reform

et al. 2019

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Following a major statewide developmental education reform in Florida, we explored institutional transformation among Florida College System institutions. We used statewide survey data to examine lead administrators' perceptions of challenges encountered during the planning process, ways in which colleges engaged in sensemaking (i.e., social processes for developing shared understanding) and organizational learning, and perceptions of the institutional transformation processes and outcomes following the reform. We found that institutions engaged in numerous types of sensemaking and organizational learning practices to promote change. Yet, despite different approaches taken to institutional transformation, almost all respondents reported that the change process was highly collaborative and involved a broad range of stakeholders. Keywords Developmental education. Community colleges. Institutional transformation Community colleges across the nation face increasingly complex internal and external environments, resulting in an increased emphasis on the need for change (Bess and Dee 2012). One area of focus for change is developmental education, given that 68% of students attending twoyear institutions must take developmental (or remedial) courses and that only 28% of these students graduate within eight years (Community College Research Center 2014). Studies have shown that developmental education may have negative impacts on students including delaying time to gateway course completion (Scott-Clayton and Rodriguez 2015) and reducing credit accumulation (Martorell and McFarlin Jr 2011). In a meta-analysis of developmental education studies using quasi-experimental methods, Valentine et al. (2017) found that students assigned to developmental education who were just below college-ready performed significantly worse on the likelihood of degree completion, credit accumulation, and passing college-level courses relative to similar students who were not assigned to developmental education. Additionally, developmental education can impact students negatively through increased costs and debt related to courses that do not provide college credit. Annually up to $7 billion is spent on developmental education expenditures nationwide by students and institutions (Scott-Clayton et al. 2014). In Florida developmental education costs were estimated at $154 million annually, with students paying $73 million through tuition (Underhill 2013).

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When Developmental Education is Optional, What Will Students Do? A Preliminary Analysis of Survey Data on Student Course Enrollment Decisions in an Environment of Increased Choice

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

How High School Coursework Predicts Introductory College-Level Course Success

How High School Coursework Predicts Introductory College-Level Course Success

Reading, Writing, and English Course Pathways when Developmental Education is Optional: Course Enrollment and Success for Underprepared First-time-in-College Students

Institutional Transformation Reflected: Engagement in Sensemaking and Organizational Learning in Florida’s Developmental Education Reform

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