Overview of Remedial Education Research

1. Overview of Remedial Education Research Olga Rodriguez, Ph.D. Research Fellow Public Policy Institute of California Education Writers Association 72nd National Seminar May 7, 2019

2. Outline What is remediation? Traditional remediation Accelerated remediation Co-requisite remediation Remedial education reforms in California

3. What is Remediation? • Historically, colleges have used standardized placement tests to determine college-readiness in reading, writing, and math • Students scoring above a cutoff are deemed “college-ready” • Students scoring below a cutoff are deemed “remedial” • Remediation intends to re-teach reading, writing, and/or math skills students should have learned in K-12 • Remediation is usually comprised of a sequence of two or more courses, for which students pay tuition but the credits do not count toward a degree • Nationally, 68 percent of community college students take a remedial course and historically underrepresented students are more likely to do so (NCES 2016)

4. There is little evidence that traditional remediation is effective in supporting student success… • Overwhelming evidence from CA, FL, NC, NY, OH, TN, TX, and VA, that traditional remedial math, reading, and writing sequences have mostly resulted in null to negative impacts on passing a college-level math/English course, persistence and/or college credit accrual • Students at the margin of needing remediation generally experience more negative outcomes, while those at the bottom see some positive outcomes • Only studies from TN and OH have found some positive impacts of traditional remediation, but this is likely driven in part by the sample restrictions Sources: Bettinger and Long 2005, 2009; Boatman and Long 2013; Calcagno and Long 2008; Dadgar, 2012; Clotfelter et al. 2015; Martorell and McFarlin 2011; Ngo & Melguizo 2016; Scott-Clayton and Rodriguez 2015; Xu 2013.

5. High attrition is a big concern with traditional remediation Math cohort progression by starting level Source: Cuellar-Mejia et al. (2016)

6. This evidence has helped motivate acceleration efforts across the country • Acceleration efforts focus on: • Reducing exit points where students drop out • Aligning sequences with the transfer course and/or programs of study • Evidence from CA, CT, CO, FL, MN, NY, VA, TX and WA suggests that acceleration—including one-semester English, integration, compression, statistics pathways, and pre-matriculation intensive programs—increase the likelihood of completing transfer-level math and English courses • Several studies also find that while acceleration helps improve outcomes for student subgroups, some equity gaps remain Sources for English: Brathwaite & Edgecombe 2018; Cuellar-Mejia, et al. 2018; Edgecombe et al. 2014; Hayward and Willett 2014; Hern 2011; Hern and Snell 2013; Hodara and Jaggars 2014; Kuehner and Hurley, forthcoming; Scrivner, et al 2018. Sources for statistics pathways and algebra compression: Edgecombe, et al 2013; Hayward and Willett 2014; Hern 2012; Hoang et al. 2017; Rodriguez et al. 2017; Sowers and Yamada 2015; Yamada and Bryk 2016

7. Students in statistics pathways are more likely to complete transfer-level math, but still over half do not Source: Rodriguez, et al. (2016)

8. Outcomes improve for a broad range of students, but equity gaps remain

9. Co-requisite remediation eliminates all exit points • Over the last several years, colleges across the country started experimenting with co-requisite remediation • Evidence from CA, CO, GA, MD, NY, OK, and TN suggests co-requisite remediation is leading to dramatic gains in successful completion of college-level math and English courses • Importantly, one of the only random assignment studies of remediation found that 56 percent of students assigned to a statistics co-requisite completed college-level statistics after 3 terms, compared to 39 percent of those assigned to algebra Sources: Accelerated Learning Program 2017; Cho et al. 2012; Coleman 2015; Complete College America, 2019; Denley 2016; Henson, Hern, and Snell 2017; Jaggars et al. 2015; Jenkins et al. 2010; Logue, Watanabe-Rose and Douglas 2016; Palmer 2016; Royer and Baker 2018.

10. Co-requisite students were much more likely to complete the college-level course within one year English Math Source: Rodriguez, et al. (2018)

11. New legislation and research evidence is driving remediation reforms in California • AB 705 requires colleges to reform remedial programs so that they do not deter or delay educational progress • Colleges must maximize the probability that students will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and math/quantitative reasoning within one year • Utilize high school records as the primary criteria for placement recommendations • Achieve full implementation by Fall 2019 • Curricular changes • Significant increases in co-requisite offerings • Some colleges are significantly reducing or eliminating remedial course offerings

12. Conclusion With the movement toward co-requisite remediation, colleges are moving in the right direction It will be essential to continue to study the effectiveness of innovative models of remediation, including the longer term impacts and the effects different models of concurrent support Critical to examine the equity implications of new remedial reforms Ensure that effective and equitable placement policies are implemented alongside remedial course reforms

13. Possible news stories Profile of faculty who were initially resistors and who are now champions of reform – faculty resistance is often one challenge of implementing or scaling reform, learning from those who were converted could be helpful for the field Spotlight on what reforms mean for students that have dropped because of the problems with remediation – students close to the finish line but who did not successfully complete math or English might be motivated to come back to complete their degrees

14. Notes on the use of these slides These slides were created to accompany a presentation. They do not include full documentation of sources, data samples, methods, and interpretations. To avoid misinterpretations, please contact: Olga Rodriguez (rodriguez@ppic.org; 415-291-4457) Thank you for your interest in this work.

15. Additional Slides

16. Accelerated English is better than traditional remediation, still fewer than half complete college composition Source: Cuellar-Mejia et al. (2017)

17. Students in co-requisite courses were much more likely to complete college composition within one year

18. …and the same is true at Achieving the Dream colleges in other states Source: Bailey, Jeong, Cho (2010)

19. New legislation and the evidence is driving dramatic changes in remediation As a result of AB 705, some colleges are significantly reducing or eliminating remedial course offerings