Evidence-based reforms in college remediation are gaining steam – and so far living up to the hype

Summary

Colleges, particularly community colleges, have long relied upon remedial coursework to help academically underprepared students get ready for college-level work. Students assigned to remediation may be required to take three or more remedial courses – which cost money, but do not confer college credit – before they can enroll in college-level coursework.  The best available national data (based on student transcripts) indicates that as of about 2009, about half of all college students and nearly 70 percent of community college entrants had taken at least one remedial course within 6 years of college entry.

But 2009 feels like eons ago when it comes to college remediation policy and practice. Between 2008 and 2012, a number of studies began to raise serious questions about the effectiveness of typical remedial placement and delivery practices. My own research indicated that community college students were being over diagnosed as underprepared, and estimated that one-quarter to one-third of students assigned to remediation could have earned a B or better in college-level coursework, had they been given the chance. Around the same time, remediation rates appeared to decline for the first time in years. Figure 1 shows self-reported remediation rates rising steadily from 2000 to 2008, before dropping off between 2008 and 2012.

Source: Brookings (2018). Evidence-based reforms in college remediation are gaining steam – and so far living up to the hype.