One of the controversies making the rounds lately involves purported evidence that some students might be better off without developmental education altogether. Here's an excerpt from an article in Washington Monthly by Susan Headden, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and senior writer/editor at Education Sector, a Washington, D.C., think tank (but by all means please read the entire piece):
In 2010, [researchers] Bailey and colleagues Dong Wook Jeong and Sung-Woo Cho led a study that looked at tens of thousands of community college students who scored low on placement tests and other measures but ignored the advice or instruction to take remedial classes and instead enrolled directly in a for-credit course. A full 71 percent passed the for-credit course. That’s not much lower than the 77 percent pass rate for all students who took those for-credit courses. And it’s only slightly lower than the pass rate for students who first took and completed remedial courses. As the researchers note, however, many who start in remedial classes either drop out or fail before they ever take a credit-bearing course. Factor that in, and only about 27 percent of those who agreed to take remedial courses ultimately passed for-credit courses, as opposed to the 72 percent who blew off remediation. “It appears,” the researchers concluded, “that the students in this sample who ignored the advice of their counselors and proceeded directly to college-level courses made wise decisions.” Michael W. Kirst, a former professor of education at Stanford University and a member of the California state board of education, said the findings “suggest strongly that student access may be unfairly denied and that many students capable of success are not given the chance to try.”
Those in the DE field are especially urged to examine the article in full to see how the placement and testing regimen described differs from the way it's done in Texas. Are the exams the same? Are they administered differently? Can students evade placement at your school? Are the same sort of results found with both math and verbal achievement? What about the age of DE students? (There is a big difference between an older "returning" student and someone fresh out of high school.)
Those in the field also tend to report that many students are on the edge in terms of deficiencies, while some are barely able to read and write. Some policy makers in Texas believe the students with the lowest achievement and aptitude should be placed in Adult Basic Education rather than DE.
Jay Mathews of the Washington Post picks up on the controversy and provides a nice overview. Here's his concluding point:
Remedial instructors said they are being unfairly criticized despite helping students who are far behind. “No one but us knows the students, but who is listening to us?” a teacher at NVCC [Northern Virginia Community College] said, according to George Gabriel, [NVCC vice president for institutional research].
That is a good question. Remedial educators need to be involved with the changes. With so much in flux, students also must ask many questions about their options as they start community college. These institutions, I am learning, are much more complex and important than most people think.