New type of remediation is making waves in higher ed


An interactive new report lays out dramatic data in support of corequisite remediation for student achievement.

Tutoring at ComputerTraditional prerequisite remediation is failing, according to a new report from Complete College America; but a new form, called corequisite remediation, may be able to provide triple the success rates in a quarter of the time for unprepared students, allowing them a better chance at eventually graduating.

The report, titled Corequisite Remediation: Spanning the Completion Divide – Breakthrough Results Fulfilling the Promise of College Access for Underprepared Students, is the first of its kind on the topic and is specifically optimized for online viewing and interactivity. It highlights what it says are dramatic results from statewide efforts in Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia, and also allows users to explore remediation numbers in their own state.

As described in the report, 42 percent of all U.S. students, which amounts to more than 1.5 million students annually, begin college in remediation (prerequisite coursework that does not count toward a degree, usually costing students and states time and money). The report notes that enrollment in certain remediation is higher among certain subgroups, including 56 percent of African Americans and 45 percent of Hispanic students. Among recent high school graduates, 36 percent are required to enroll in noncredit remedial courses.

However, the report describes how traditional remediation fails most students, stating that “few remedial students ever enroll in, let alone complete, their introductory courses in math and English,” with only 17 percent actually graduating with their intended degrees. This is because many students, even if they succeed in their remedial courses, fall off-track or run out of money before they are able to begin their degree coursework.

Is Corequisite Remediation an Answer?

With corequisite remediation, however, students can enroll directly into college-level courses and receive academic support alongside their regular classes, states the report. Instead of taking numerous prerequisite, non-credit courses, students learn the needed material while working toward their degree. Within their college-level courses, additional class periods or customized support in a lab provide opportunities for academic support and tutoring when bridges need to be gaped.

(Next page: Dramatic data in support of corequisite remediation; implementation)

While the national average of students enrolled in remediation who complete their gateway courses in math and English over 2 years is only 22 percent for each, the numbers soar to 55 to 70 percent in states like Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia and Colorado that have adopted corequisite remediation.

Moreover, these higher numbers are achieved in dramatically less time – usually only one year or semester.

Roadmap to Implementation

But how does a state go about initiating this change? The report lays out six pillars for building a strong corequisite remediation program:

First, the report advises colleges to end the practice of using placement exams to sort students into multiple levels of remedial education. Instead, colleges are advised to focus on the purpose behind enrollment for students by deploying a comprehensive intake process in order to discern their academic goals, career goals and overall college readiness, helping inform the choices they make regarding majors and programs of study, and solidly setting them along that path.

Next, all students should be treated as college students from the start, rather than as remedial students who must prove their readiness for college before entering a program. By doing this, says the report, the default placement for the vast majority of students who may not be optimally prepared for college-level coursework can still allow them to earn credits with built-in or simultaneous support in the form of corequisite remediation. The report states that this will greatly help students ease into, and commit to, the college workload, which should be jointly decided upon by students and advisors.

Delivering academic support as a corequisite is vitally important as well, emphasizes the report. The vast majority of students requiring extra academic support should receive it as a corequisite while enrolled in college-level courses. There are many different approaches to corequisite support that have proven to dramatically increase success rates, says the report, and all of them are designed to provide students with more time on the content and skills that are essential to their success. These include adding additional class periods before or after the college-level course that review the material with an emphasis on the basic skills, required lab or tutoring sessions that enable support tailored to relevant course material, or accelerated content in the basic skills required in a course during the first few weeks of the semester.

Also, colleges should focus on getting all students to complete their gateway courses in one academic year. This means abandoning the use of long remedial education sequences in favor of requiring students to enroll in college-level and receive the needed support within their first academic year. This, says the report, will greatly increase the likelihood of students completing a postsecondary credential without the risk of being far less likely to earn a degree like the many students who do not complete gateway courses. However, if students are not placed into corequisite courses, alternative supports should be designed to ensure they still have the opportunity to complete gateway courses in their first year, which is something that technology can be used to enhance as well.

The fifth pillar involves developing multiple math pathways into programs of study. The report posits that college algebra should no longer be viewed as the default gateway math course. Instead, it should be narrowly viewed as a preparatory course for programs that require calculus. For programs that do not require calculus, though, colleges should develop alternate gateway math courses. For example, many programs would benefit more from rigorous courses in statistics or quantitative reasoning.

Finally, the report notes that corequisite support will dramatically increase the number of students who pass a college-level gateway course and act as the bridge toward their entry into a program of study within one year. Additional support should continue for these students in order to best ensure they earn their desired degree.

For more tips on instituting corequisite remediation, including case studies on successful states with insight from the professionals who shepherded the transition, as well as an interactive look at what the effects of remediation look like in your state, click here for the full report.

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