Abstract
Developmental education (DE) reform took place among the 28 Florida College System (FCS) institutions in 2014. In this study, we examine how cohort-based passing rates in college-level English and math courses changed at different colleges for pre- and post-policy period and explore what institutional characteristics were related with various institutional trajectories of cohort-based course passing rates in the post-policy period. Employing longitudinal data analysis, we found that colleges performed similarly regarding cohort-based passing rates in both college-level English and combined math courses before DE reform and had a similar elevation in the cohort-based English course passing rates when DE reform took place in 2014. However, colleges experienced different change patterns in the years following DE reform. Specifically, colleges located in rural areas and with more White students experienced relatively lower college-level English passing rates in the post-policy period than their counterparts. Different colleges had slight differences in the trajectory of college-level math passing rates by cohort after SB 1720 in 2014, but institutional characteristics in this study did not adequately capture inter-institutional differences.
Highlights
IntroductionDevelopmental education (DE) courses, or remedial courses, have been part of American postsecondary education for a long time
Background and ContextDevelopmental education (DE) courses, or remedial courses, have been part of American postsecondary education for a long time
Using repeated measurement for cohort-based passing rates in English Composition 1 and college-level mathematics courses at different colleges in different policy implementation years, we examine whether colleges performed differently under the legislation and explore what institutional characteristics contributed to the various performance at colleges
Summary
Developmental education (DE) courses, or remedial courses, have been part of American postsecondary education for a long time. Research in Higher Education of the first-time-in-college (FTIC) students who enrolled in the Florida College System (FCS) colleges in 2009/10 needed at least one DE course (Underhill, 2013), and students paid about $61 million for remedial education courses, as estimated for the 2013/14 school year (Jimenez et al, 2016). 31% of remedial completers are transferred to four-year institutions within six years based on nationally representative data from the 2004-2009 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/09) (Chen, 2016). According to a report from Complete College America (CCA, 2012), among the 2016 cohort students who enrolled in remedial education, 42% and 27% failed to complete their associated math and English gateway courses in two-year institutions. DE courses seem to contribute little to student success in college-level courses
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