New Community College Completion Studies At AERA

 I am at the convention of the American Educational Research Association where several studies by the Teachers College Community College Research Center reveal that:

Colleges lose students very early in their remedial sequence, usually after the first 2 developmental courses, but

More students leave because they do not enroll in developmental courses, compared to those failing remedial courses- students need to take developmental courses early and not postpone them.

 Nevada is an example of another set of problems. The cut score for remediation is high – below 500 on the SAT means remediation.

25% ot the students who took pre -calculus in their senior year ended up in remediation

Almost all 4 year colleges have shifted remedial courses to the community colleges , so students must attend college in two locations.

 In sum, remedial courses and policies need to be rexamined if the college completion rate is to increase.