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During the 2012-13 academic year, 63 percent of recent high school graduates who enrolled in a North Carolina community college took one or more developmental (remedial) English, reading, or math courses there.  It was a slight decrease from the previous year’s rate.

Does this signal improvement or the continuation of a worrisome trend?  What should we expect in the future?

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The North Carolina Community College System recently released their annual Developmental Enrollment of High School Graduates report.  The 2012-2013 report provides English, reading, and math remediation rates for students who graduated from a North Carolina high school in 2012.

The overall remediation rate, that is, the percentage of students who took one or more developmental (remedial) courses, dropped to 63 percent this year, despite a nearly 800-student increase from the year prior.  Even so, it is still considerably higher than five years ago, when the rate was 57 percent.  (See Facts and Stats below.)

Moreover, the rates for individual developmental courses fell across the board.  The percentage of students enrolled in Developmental English, for example, fell from 48 percent in 2012 to 37 percent in 2013.  Likewise, Developmental Reading had an 8-percentage-point drop from one year to the next.  Developmental Math had the most impressive enrollment decline — a 16-percentage-point drop between 2012 and 2013.

Despite these improvements, the overall remediation rate barely budged.

We do not know what accounts for changes in individual developmental course rates or the remediation rate generally.  I have argued that the remediation rate is an indicator of the relative quality of high school graduates.  Others suggest that remediation rates are high because community colleges have low admissions standards or inappropriate student placement policies.  Still others blame the economy and other external factors.  If you ask me, this would be an ideal doctoral dissertation project.

Unfortunately, we will not be able to compare next year’s rates with those published previously.  Earlier this year, the NC Community College System approved a "multiple measures" policy that will change the way community colleges place students in developmental courses.  The new policy goes into effect during the 2013 fall semester.

The first measure considered by community college admissions and advisory staff will be grade point average (GPA).  A recent high school graduate who earns a GPA equal to or greater than 2.6 will be considered "college ready."  He will be able to enroll in college-level courses upon entry to community college.

If the student does not meet the GPA standard, ACT or SAT scores can be consulted.  Students who score a 20 on ACT Reading, an 18 on ACT English, or a 22 on ACT Math will be considered ready for college-level courses in those subjects.  It is a reasonably high standard.  All three require the student to exceed state average scores.  Last year, North Carolina’s ACT averages for graduating seniors were 18.8 in reading, 17.1 in English, and 19.6 in math.

Otherwise, students must reach a minimum score of 500 on the writing, reading, or math sections of the SAT test to avoid remedial courses in those subjects.  Last year’s average writing score for North Carolina was 478 and the statewide average reading score was 495.  The state’s average math score was 506.  In other words, avoiding remedial courses requires graduating seniors to have SAT scores that exceed statewide averages in reading and far exceed the writing score.  The math requirement is somewhat lenient in terms of the state average.

If neither the GPA nor the college admission test requirements are met (or if the student does not have a GPA or test scores available), the student must take a diagnostic placement test. 

Many suspect that remediation rates will decline in the years following the implementation of the new placement policy.  Some state education officials are counting on a rate drop, as they have become uncomfortable answering questions about years of embarrassingly high remediation rates.  After all, North Carolina’s community college remediation rates undermine their claim that our public schools are improving.

We will not know if the new policy is a success or failure until we obtain three or four years of persistence, retention, transfer, and graduation rates for community colleges throughout the state.  Students who are exempted from developmental courses may find that they are ill prepared for college-level work and require additional time to complete their course of study.  Hopefully, this will not be the case.

Facts and Stats

NC Community College Developmental Course Enrollment, 2007-2013

Academic Year

Student Count

Developmental English

Developmental Reading

Developmental Math

One or More Dev. Courses

2012-2013

26,916

37%

24%

48%

63%

2011-2012

26,127

48%

32%

64%

65%

2010-2011

25,728

39%

26%

53%

65%

2009-2010

26,598

38%

27%

53%

64%

2008-2009

26,249

35%

24%

50%

60%

2007-2008

24,245

31%

24%

48%

57%

Change, 07-13

2,671

6%

0%

0%

6%


Education Acronym of the Week

NCCCS — North Carolina Community College System

Quote of the Week

"We can all speculate about why more community college students need remediation, but I don’t believe it’s due to relaxed graduation standards. More likely, it has to do with the state of the economy and the sheer numbers of graduates who are seeking to enhance their job prospects by pursuing additional skills and training in our state’s community colleges."

— June Atkinson, "Despite Some Naysayers, Increasing Our Graduation Rate Is Cause for Celebration," State Superintendent’s Blog, September 30, 2011

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