Repost: Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students Referred to Developmental Education

In “Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students Referred to Developmental Education”, Nikki Edgecombe studies acceleration by gathering data from its usage in different colleges and analyzing the ways it can help developmental students. As we examine the different aspects of the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), it is important to emphasis the “accelerated” feature of this program and how it benefits the students involved. Edgecombe notes that a low percentage of students in developmental courses continue to college level courses, and in order to retain students, educators have to find ways to restructure the current developmental courses to help not only keep the students from dropping out but also help them succeed in other academic courses.

This figure illustrates the vast number of students who "leak" out of developmental courses before reaching college-level courses.

Edgecombe defines acceleration “as the reorganization of instruction and curricula in ways that facilitate the completion of educational requirements in an expedited manner” (4). She emphasizes that acceleration doesn’t mean less time in the classroom but that the hours spent in the classroom are formatted to help students reach their goals of attaining course credit and their degrees in a shorter amount of time. Accelerated programs also prevent “leakage” and decrease the number of students who drop out before reaching college-level courses. 

The features of acceleration are categorized into the different types, and one type Edgecombe discusses, is mainstreaming with supplemental support. Through this type of acceleration, developmental students are exposed to the demands of the college-level curriculum and receive the additional help they need through a companion. Students review in depth the concepts from their college-level course and receive additional support that helps minimize the factors that interfere with their education. She notes how ALP follows this model and the importance in the program for the college-level curriculum to remain the same, and with that in mind, CCBC has a limit on the number of developments students in the English college-level courses to eight so that the instructors do not alter the curriculum.

The article concludes that “(t)he evidence presented here suggests that exclusively structural acceleration interventions are associated with improved student outcomes, even when teaching remains unchanged” (25), and in ALP, the companion course is the feature that and increases the students’ changes of succeeding throughout college. Edgecombe uses this paper to highlight the issues that surround developmental education, and through the lens of acceleration, she is illustrates the need for changes in developmental education so that academic success is experienced by a larger number students and not only for those who can get through the gates.