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 Getting Past Go: Using Policy to Improve Developmental Education and Increase College Success

www.gettingpastgo.org

Project Overview

The Education Commission of the States (ECS), in collaboration with the Project on Education Policy, Access and Remedial Education (PREPARE), seeks to leverage developmental education at postsecondary institutions as a critical component of state efforts to increase college attainment rates through Getting Past Go. The national initiative will help education policy leaders align state and system policy to increase the college success of the large percentage of students enrolled in postsecondary education who require remedial and developmental education.

To be recognized as a viable component of state strategies to increase college attainment, developmental studies programs must be able to address a variety of challenges:

• An increasingly diverse population of students to include adults, low-skilled workers and low-income students
• The overrepresentation of students of color, particularly African American and Latino students
• An increasing the number of students who complete their developmental studies courses, immediately enroll in college-level coursework and persist to a degree or credential
• State P-20 efforts that often view developmental studies programs as a symptom of system failure and not an integral strategy for increasing college attainment
• Completing all of the above in a more cost-effective manner.

To meet these challenges, postsecondary institutions need to examine institutional practice and its relationship to state policy to determine the most viable approaches states can take to ensure all of their residents receive the support they need to access and succeed in higher education.
Project Objectives

Getting Past Go will have a significant impact on the formation of state and system policy related to developmental studies through the following set of objectives, outcomes, activities and products:

• Create a network of state, postsecondary system and institutional leaders committed to improving developmental studies policy and practice to increase college attainment rates in their states.
• Develop model policies and practices that states can consider and adopt that are consistent with their goals and philosophy for increasing college attainment rates for developmental studies students.
• Collect and analyze state and system policies and data on developmental studies to provide a clearer picture of state and system approaches to developmental studies.
• Integrate developmental studies policies and practices into state P-20 efforts to better align college preparation standards with high school reform efforts.
• Partner with state leaders to promote innovative policies and practices for developmental studies.

Project Contacts:
Bruce Vandal, Director, Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development Institute
Read a full summary of Getting Past Go (PDF, 54K).

Information provided by ECS combines the best of the most recent and useful research available. Should you have questions, please contact our Information Clearinghouse at 303.299.3675.