Open AccessWhat Happened Following Comprehensive Developmental Education Reform in the Sunshine State? The Impact of Florida’s Developmental Education Reform on Introductory College-Level Course Completion
Author(s) -
Toby J. Park-Gaghan,
Christine G. Mokher,
Xinye Hu,
Hayley Spencer,
Shouping Hu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
educational researcher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.876
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1935-102X
pISSN - 0013-189X
DOI - 10.3102/0013189x20933876
Subject(s) - cohort , mathematics education , ethnic group , academic achievement , psychology , cohort study , medical education , political science , medicine , law , pathology
Florida’s Senate Bill 1720 allowed many students to bypass developmental education and enroll directly in introductory college-level courses. We use an interrupted time series design to introductory college-level courses enrollment and passing rates in English and math for three cohorts of college students prereform and three cohorts postreform. Based on a cohort-by-cohort comparative analysis, we find that cohorts after the reform are more likely to enroll and pass introductory college-level courses in their 1st year of college, indicating that the reform may help to accelerate student success in college. Further, we find that Black and Hispanic students experience even greater gains in passing rates than White students, effectively narrowing the racial/ethnic achievement gap.