Many recent high school graduates who enter community college are required to take remedial or developmental education courses before enrolling in college-level courses. Developmental courses essentially reteach high school– and junior high school–level content in reading, writing, and math. Evidence suggests that the traditional system of developmental education is not achieving its intended purpose: to improve outcomes for underprepared students and the system could benefit from significant reform. This brief describes what we what we currently know about developmental education outcomes.
