This article  raises some good points:

1. More students never enter their first developmental course than those who actually fail the course once they are enrolled.
2. Of students needing three or  more developmental courses, 40% never enroll.
3. Almost half of students who do enroll in the first course in their developmental sequence, fail to complete it.

These trends are worse for males, African Americans, older students, and/or part-time students.

These findings have some major implications in terms of how colleges address the needs of students enrolled in developmental courses, and the fixes suggested in the article are not simple but are necessary.

The focus in data collection should be on success of sequence of courses vs. success in one course.  This is particularly true in math where students often need multiple courses before reaching college level.  Success in one in a sequence is not enough.

What can colleges to better insure student success in a sequence of developmental courses:

1. Combine levels of developmental courses that can be offered as a self-paced and /or as larger classes that include multiple levels.
2. Eliminate gaps in a sequence of classes.  This includes gaps between fall and spring semesters as well the summer gap.  This may mean offering courses during winter/summer break.

Regardless of how colleges address the sequencing needs, it’s clear that students need to have good advising/counseling before or right after testing to help insure that they actually start taking the first class.  Once they are in the class, we need to do more to help students get through by combining levels, contextualizing course material with occupational interests, and eliminating breaks in a sequence.

News: Lost Before They Start – Inside Higher Ed.