The Developmental Education Initiative: State Policy Framework & Strategy

Developmental education as traditionally delivered does not appreciably increase community college students’ chances of earning credentials or degrees. Few students who are more than one level below college proficiency ever complete their developmental education requirements, let alone earn college credits. This broken model of remedying students’ academic deficiencies is not sustainable in an era of tight budgets, swelling enrollments, and pressure for more accountability for results.

The Developmental Education Initiative’s State Policy Framework & Strategy specifies the levers that state policymakers have at their disposal to support more effective ways of changing the organization and delivery of developmental education—and public expectations of individual and institutional success. Plus, it provides states with a clear, efficient guide for organizing and prioritizing their efforts toward this goal.

The Developmental Education Initiative was launched in 2009 when six of the first states involved in Achieving the Dream joined together to focus more intently on policies to support dramatic improvements for students whose assessment scores indicate the need for developmental education. These six states—Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia—are committed to an aggressive policy and capacity-building agenda to support their community colleges’ efforts to improve success rates for students in need of developmental education.