Do you ever wonder how students who start out in developmental courses do in subsequent courses?  Unfortunately, it’s not a pretty picture. Attached is a link from a study that was done tracking more than 24,000 students who entered a community college in Virginia in 2004 to determine their patterns in reaching and course completion in gatekeeper courses.

Overall, the study showed that most students never complete the gatekeeper courses in English and math, primarily due to their starting their education in developmental courses.  Most of these students never actually finish the required math and/or English developmental class. However, those who do, do as well in gatekeeper classes as those students who did not need developmental classes.

What this suggests is that students who complete developmental classes appear ready to successfully complete gateway courses.  The rest simply never make it to that level and drop out even before they enroll in the required developmental courses.  Interestingly, some students who managed to bypass developmental courses do  as well in the gatekeeper courses as those who actually took the developmental courses.

The findings of this study raise some interesting questions and suggest some possible solutions to help students more successfully complete gateway courses-especially those who start out in developmental courses.

For example,  it seems to make sense that offering students supplemental tutoring  would allow some students who might “test” into developmental courses  an opportunity to take and pass the gateway course.  This would also help students to move directly into college level courses without having to spend time and money completing developmental courses.

If this were to be attempted, it seems necessary to look at the placement test scores to see if there is a correlation between the score and the success in gateway classes.  For example, students who score close to the cut off on placement tests could move right into college level English with additional academic support through tutoring.

If we can find ways to accelerate the movement from developmental course work into gateway courses, we would likely help students find their way into and beyond these  classes.

Please check out the link below to read the full article as it appeared in Inside Higher Education.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/03/remedial