Remedial Testing and Placement in Community Colleges

Abstract

Almost half of students who enter college require some sort of remedial coursework. Further, states are increasingly moving the responsibility of postsecondary remediation away from four-year campuses to two-year institutions. Scholars and policymakers have grappled with best practice for successfully filling in academic gaps and moving students forward, and there is variation both within and between states as to the ways in which remediation is defined, determined, and administered (Perin, 2006). Using a regression discontinuity design, this study seeks to answer the following question on one community college campus: How does placement into remedial services affect student outcomes, in particular, successful completion of an introductory college-level English course? Although this study focuses on a single community college system, the findings have bearing on a wider sector as the developmental placement practices of Harper Community College District are not unlike those implemented by two- and four-year campuses across the country.