New England Access Policies and Success Stories
NERCHE. (2002). Developmental education and college opportunity in New England: Lessons for a national study of state and system policy impacts. Washington, D.C.: The Institute for Higher Education Policy and New England Resource Center for Higher Education. Retrieved July 4, 2004, from: http://www.nerche.org/IHEP/FinalRep/NERCHEfinal.pdf
This pilot project does not evaluate New England’s state policies or compare New England public institutions, but rather provides important clues and lessons on how developmental education policies are being implemented in a specific geographic region, and what questions need to be considered in a national study or project.
Common characteristics of developmental education (DE) programs were: formation of two-year/four year partnerships; outsourcing of DE to local community colleges; transfer of priority of DE to two-year colleges; centralize DE programs at four-year colleges; providing summer bridge DE programs; and using ACT Accuplacer for assessment of students. Numerous recommendations were made for a national study on developmental education: examine both centralized and decentralized state system policy approaches to DE; financial implications of statewide DE policy; curriculum impacts of DE policies; admissions decisions and enrollment yields impacted by DE programs and policies; and examine student responses and perspectives as a consequence of changing statewide policies related to DE.
