A Developmental English shuffle: Analyzing the impact of one Texas community college’s shift from multi-level stand-alone offerings to corequisite courses

Abstract

Developmental English (DE) has been under fire from critics who think it acts as a barrier rather than as a support to the success of students placing into DE. In Texas, such pressures led to a wave of reforms and changes affecting delivery and structure of DE instruction. This dissertation draws on years of internal data at one community college to explore the impacts of these changes on student success. Overall, DE students found success (68.5%) at the same rate as their college-ready counterparts (64.7%). There was a significant difference between Prerequisite support and Corequisite support (p < .001) with Prerequisite having the greater effect on success. There was also significant difference between Hybrid, Lecture, and Online offerings. Hybrid was found to be the most effective modality and Online the least effective. Additionally, a multiple linear regression predicted a success rate of 93.5% if a DE student took a 16-week, Fall-term, Hybrid freshman composition course with Prerequisite support. While there are limitations and more questions to consider, the study’s exploratory and quantitative findings offer direct implications for DE faculty, programs, and administrators.