The Impact of Voluntary Remediation on Gateway Course Success and Minority and Low-Income Students in Florida Colleges

• Other Authors: Pain, Karen D. (author)
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Academic achievement > United States > Florida; Developmental studies programs > United States > Florida; Educational attainment > United States > Florida; Remedial teaching; School failure > Prevention; Universities and colleges > Florida > Administration
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004531; http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004531

The primary purpose of the study was to explore the potential impact of voluntary remediation on success in ENC1101 and MAT1033 (gateway courses) and on minority or low-income students in Florida. The study was prompted in 2013 when the Florida Senate exempted most students entering the Florida College System from placement testing or developmental education regardless of their skill level. A quantitative design compared the gateway course success of 10,703 exempt students in 2014 and 2015 to the success of 8,644 students who would have been exempt had the law been in effect when they completed their gateway courses in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected from three FCS institutions. Using Astin and Astin's 1992 Input-Environment-Outcome model (Astin & Astin, 1992), independent variables included demographics, such as race and Pell grant eligibility, and prior academic performance, as well as enrollment status and remedial course decisions and perf ormance. The study found the policy to have a statistically significant (α = .05) negative effect on student success in the gateway courses. The voluntary remediation policy that was in part enacted to improve college completion rates threatens to have the opposite effect. The results show that fewer proportions of students were successful (grade of C or higher) in both courses once remediation became voluntary (12.8% decrease for English; 19.3% decrease in math). The study revealed a need for further research to investigate the degree of this impact on minority and low-income students. The results also suggested a need for more research to learn which students are likely to benefit, or not, by taking a remedial course. Of the students in the study who voluntarily took a placement test and scored below credit level, 11.3% chose remediation before taking ENC1101 and 24.5% chose remediation before taking MAT1033. Of those students, most who earned an A or B in the remedial course were successful in the credit courses; most who did not earn at least a B in the remedial course were unsuccessful at the credit level. Results were significant (α = .05), and effect sizes were moderate (.344 for English; .430 for math). === Includes bibliography. === Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. === FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection