Each year millions of entering college students are required to take non-credit, developmental education courses in subjects like math, reading, and writing, an unforeseen speed bump that can contribute to “stopout” and racial achievement gaps.

In 2013 Florida took a new approach, making developmental education optional for the vast majority of students.

Florida State University’s Toby Park recently led a multi-year study of the initiative, finding that it led to notable gains in course passing rates and minority student achievement. He joins CPRE research specialist Robert Nathenson to discuss his findings and some important takeaways for stakeholders across the U.S.

Featured research: Toby J Park, Chenoa S. Woods, Shouping Hu, Tamara Bertrand Jones, Oguzcan Cig & David A. Tandberg. “Developmental Education Reform and the Racial/Ethnic Achievement Gap: The Case of First-Semester Gateway Course Passing Rates When Florida Made Developmental Education Optional.”  Teachers College Record, Volume 120 Number 12, 2018, p. 1-24