There is nothing easy about developmental education.  Equipping students with the tools they need to successfully do college work is labor- and resource-intensive.  But the clear and present need for this work outweighs any obstacles or excuses not to do it.

Virginia, and America, need to produce more college graduates, period.  There is simply no way to do that without elevating the skills of people who are otherwise under prepared for the rigors of college classes.

That’s why is feels good for Virginia’s Community Colleges to be cited in a USA Today story as a national leader in reforming developmental education.

Back east, the Virginia Community College System is the process of redesigning its English, mathematics and reading developmental education programs. Eventually, it will “develop mechanisms and methodologies to hold colleges accountable for the success of developmental education.” An annual institution tracking system is planned to be in place by July. Though the details of this accountability system remain vague for the moment, as they are still being finalized, state officials agree that the conversation surrounding remedial education has changed substantially in recent years.

“It’s been a culture change for Virginia,” said Gretchen Schmidt, the community college system’s director of education policy. “Talking about developmental education within our Department of Education is a shift. Just like we talk about student success all the time, we’re now talking about college readiness and developmental education all the time at meetings. It’s not like Achieving the Dream, where some colleges are participating and some are not. When the statewide recommendations come out [for the redesign] and they’re proofed by the presidents, everyone will be on board. We’ve really built an internal culture of evidence.”

Gretchen and her boss, Susan Wood, have been doing some outstanding work in this area.  It will take some time to see the results of the work they and others are focused on.  But its coming.  After all, it simply must.

Posted by Jeffrey Kraus