Remedial Education in Community Colleges: The Corequisite Solution

Remedial education, also called developmental education, has been one of community college's most significant challenges and most significant points of reform in recent years. The traditional model, in which students who test below college-level proficiency are placed in remedial courses that must be completed before enrolling in credit-bearing coursework, has been associated with dramatically low completion rates and with disproportionate harm to low-income students and students of color who are more likely to be placed in remedial sequences. The scale of the remedial education challenge in community colleges has been well-documented. Research estimates that approximately 60 percent of community college students are placed into at least one remedial course, with many placed into sequences of two or more courses below the college-level. The completion rates for students who begin multiple levels below college-level are very low: research finds that a significant proportion of students who begin in remedial sequences never complete a college-level course in that subject, let alone complete a degree. The time and money spent on courses that do not count toward graduation represent a significant barrier to degree completion for millions of students. Placement accuracy is a fundamental problem in the traditional remedial education model. Research has consistently found that standardized placement tests, which most colleges use to sort students into remedial or credit-bearing courses, significantly overplace students in remedial courses. Studies using multiple measures of student preparation find that many students who are placed in remedial courses based on test scores would have performed adequately or better in credit-bearing courses. Corequisite remediation is the reform that has most dramatically changed outcomes for community college students in developmental education. Rather than requiring students to complete remedial prerequisites before taking credit-bearing courses, corequisite models enroll students directly in credit-bearing courses while providing additional support through co-enrollment in a support course. Research on corequisite implementation across multiple states and colleges shows dramatically improved pass rates in college-level courses and in degree completion, with particularly large improvements for Black and Latino students and for students with the weakest assessed preparation. The Tennessee Board of Regents system's comprehensive implementation of corequisite remediation across all community colleges in the state is one of the most studied large-scale implementations. Research on the Tennessee experience finds that pass rates in college-level math and English courses increased dramatically following the switch to corequisite models, and that these improvements were sustained over subsequent cohorts. The gains were not limited to students who would have been near the remedial-credit borderline but extended to students with weaker academic preparation. Gateway courses in math have been a particular focus of corequisite reform. Traditional college algebra has served as a gateway and filter in community college math requirements, with many students, particularly those in non-STEM fields, required to complete algebra sequences that are not relevant to their program of study. Research on math pathways reform, which aligns math requirements with program needs and provides alternatives to college algebra for non-STEM students, finds improved pass rates and better alignment between math content and student needs. Faculty professional development is a critical component of successful corequisite implementation. Instructors who teach corequisite courses need training in supporting students who enter with weaker academic preparation, and in the pedagogical approaches that are most effective in the corequisite context. Institutions that invested in sustained faculty professional development show better corequisite outcomes than those that implemented corequisite models without adequate instructor support. The equity implications of remedial education reform are significant. The students most harmed by traditional remedial education models are those from historically marginalized groups who are most likely to be placed in remedial sequences, most likely to disengage when faced with credit-bearing requirements delayed by multiple remedial courses, and most likely to benefit from the direct access to college-level work that corequisite models provide. Corequisite reform has been described by researchers as one of the most equity-enhancing changes in higher education in recent decades.