Study Recommends Emphasis Upon Developmental Education

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has published a report recommending that community colleges place more emphasis on developmental instruction. The focus of the report is based upon a study of several California schools, where data indicate very low levels of success in moving these students into completion of credit-bearing courses. Here in Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes has recommended a "complete overhaul" of developmental education, based on similar statistics here.

There is nothing particularly shocking about the findings, but a couple of the recommendations are interesting. For one, the report says that colleges should offer incentives to faculty to teach developmental courses, observing that most teachers prefer to teach in their chosen discipline. 

Also, the group recommends common grading standards in developmental courses. This would go beyond a common "exit" exam, which is typical today, establishing uniformity in the process throughout the semester. 

Here's the full Carnegie report.