Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2021-9
Does the Method of Acceleration Matter? Exploring the Likelihood of College Coursetaking Success Across Four Developmental Education Instructional Strategies
Accelerated instructional strategies for developmental education have been promoted as a way to help underprepared students to progress more quickly through college-level coursework. Yet, what remains unknown is whether certain accelerated strategies are more effective than others and whether this initial acceleration may lead to longer term success.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:
We examine whether the likelihood of success varies for completion of mathematics and English requirements over 3 years among the Florida students enrolled in courses using one of four developmental instructional strategies: compressed, corequisite, modularized, or contextualized.
Population/Participants/Subjects:
Our sample includes all first-time-in-college students during the 2015–2016 year who enrolled in all 28 public state colleges and took any developmental education course during the first year.
Research Design:
We use inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) to compare success rates in completion of mathematics and English requirements over 3 years for Florida college students in each of these strategies.
Findings/Results:
Overall, the results demonstrate variation in the likelihood of success for completion of mathematics and English courses over 3 years among students in different developmental instructional strategies, which suggests that the method of acceleration does matter. Corequisite courses tended to lead to greater long-term gains in math and, to an extent, in reading, while contextualized tended to be most effective in writing.
Conclusions/Recommendations:
Leaders can play an important role in strengthening institutional capacity to effectively implement developmental education reform by developing faculty buy-in, ensuring adequate resources to scale and sustain reform efforts, and using data to inform future decision-making.
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