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Remediation in Community Colleges

Remediation, or sometimes referred to as developmental education, is a format of education aimed to help open doors for students by reinforcing or re-teaching them core skills. This educational strategy is utilized so students can meet competencies in various academic arenas and further progress in their academics. Remediation is prominent in community colleges, a type of two-year colleges, as these institutions are designed to accommodate students of various levels of academic abilities. Community college students are placed into remedial coursework according to their performance on placement-based testing they take prior to beginning classes.

Assignment to Remediation

The push in shifting students to enroll in remedial courses at community colleges stems from philosophical beliefs and reputations that these are the most appropriate places for instruction. All community colleges have developmental or remedial courses of some kind. Around 42 percent of first-year students attending two-year colleges in the United States sign up for remedial courses, twice as many as those at four-year universities or colleges. In Ohio, four in ten traditional-age students at community colleges enroll in remedial English courses, whereas six in ten enroll in remedial math. This state example reflects national studies that show a higher need for remedial community college students to take math courses, which also often have bigger class sizes and more levels of coursework than their remedial reading and writing counterpart courses. Students start taking remedial coursework in community colleges according to their performance on college placement tests, considered by some scholars to be far from perfect in their designs. Community colleges possess few admission requirements, meaning these types of institutions see a higher number of remedial students. Remedial education within community colleges may exist within an academic department, in its own academic department, or in an entire academic unit of its own.

Successful Approaches to Remediation

Scholars recommend that community colleges can enhance their remedial education programs through utilizing a variety of methods. Community colleges are suggested to allow students to have the option of taking other courses, in addition to remedial courses, so they may feel like they are making progress with their programs. The institution of learning communities at community colleges may be challenging due to the nature of these students coming to and leaving campus often, but they have been helpful for remedial students at other postsecondary educations in facilitating friendships, improved studying patterns, and higher rates of passing courses. Technology-enhanced classrooms, complete with SmartBoards, computers and online networks, can increase the level of motivation that remedial community college students place toward their academic work. Remedial students obtaining academic assistance via college writing centers can also be helpful for enhancing their skills, as well as observing the interdisciplinary nature of classroom concepts and learning strategies.

Positives of Remediation

Effective and passionate instructors can provide remedial students with social capital, leading them to services ranging from tutoring and counseling. Students in remedial courses often end of performing “better than college-prepared students in terms of their grade point average, retention, and program completion.” Remedial students who attend community college orientations and receive more contact with tutoring, advising and mentoring services find these options to be rewarding. Those who complete remedial courses before college level courses often experience more benefits, including higher grade point averages, compared to their counterparts who do not take these remedial courses early in their college careers.

Negatives and Criticisms of Remediation

Some students are placed into remedial courses, even when they only have minor issues, leading them to need to pass and complete remedial courses before being able to enroll in a basic course for that subject area. Likewise, some students are restricted from taking classes in other disciplines, such as physical sciences, until they complete developmental sequences. Students who take remedial courses may not have these count as college credits, and these students may be more likely to complete fewer college credits overall or stop out of college. Many community college instructors of remedial courses are part-time faculty members, which can prove challenging to students who require more assistance and contact. While some scholars debate whether money should be allocated toward remedial education, opponents argue that withholding these opportunities also has a direct impact on the quality of employees in the workforce if they continue to lack essential skills.