Teaching Accelerated and Corequisite Composition is the first book to compile on-the-ground advice and teaching strategies specifically curated for accelerated and corequisite writing courses. Trailblazers in the field from colleges across the United States—who developed a foundation for corequisites by facilitating equity and accessibility for marginalized students—speak to a range of topics and demographics, offering support for instructors and practical advice for improving student success. The book primarily explores accelerated composition through the lens of two-year colleges to answer a central question in the field: to what extent do educators need to alter two-year college curricular design? The contributors also delve into assessment, a crucial process for instructors and their students transitioning to accelerated learning; the key role that reading plays in the writing process; and noncognitive learning, an area of study that has been associated with accelerated learning since its inception. Together these thirteen chapters provide instructors with a strategic approach to teaching accelerated and corequisite composition. Teaching Accelerated and Corequisite Composition points toward a new way of approaching first-year composition: a method of instruction that fosters the growth and success of writers who were once considered underprepared for college writing and are now achieving unprecedented success.

In education, practitioners are increasingly looking for strategies to bring data and evidence into decisionmaking and to roll out programs in intentional ways that allow for ongoing improvement. This toolkit acts as a guide to improvement strategies for teams of practitioners at colleges, providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to carry out rapid cycles of data-driven improvement. Topics discussed include identifying a problem of practice and objectives for improvement, carrying out Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, and conducting rapid-cycle evaluation. The toolkit includes tools and tips for practitioners, with a supplement of seven worksheets that colleges can use for planning improvement efforts. The toolkit applies improvement approaches to corequisite remediation, a common initiative being adopted by colleges. Corequisite remediation shifts the way that students are supported in college by allowing them to directly enter a college-level course and receive additional academic support during that same semester to address the challenges they face with basic math, reading, or writing concepts (rather than requiring students to complete a series of developmental education courses). This toolkit was developed for improvement teams made up of administrators, department and faculty chairs, and other college staff who are helping to oversee important initiatives and programs, such as corequisite remediation, and who are looking to build an ongoing process for addressing challenges they face and improving the way that corequisite models are provided through data use and reflection.

Corequisite remediation for non-college-ready students provides early opportunities to earn credit, more-intensive instruction, greater rigor, greater alignment, and increased opportunities to learn from peers.

Across the United States, students entering college are surprised to find they are identified as needing remedial math courses before moving on to college-level, credit-bearing courses. Having a high school diploma does not guarantee that students are prepared for college courses. The students assigned to remedial math courses face barriers, such as higher costs and more time needed to complete their degree. This situation happens at Delaware Technical Community College (DTCC). DTCC is an open-admission, two-year institution of higher education committed to preparing students to enter directly into the workforce or obtain an associate degree. This study aimed to determine whether a new model of math remediation, called the corequisite model, could replace the current model of prerequisite remediation. Pilot corequisite math courses were run at DTCC in the fall of 2020. Three research questions were posed. The first question asked how students in general, and Black and Hispanic students in particular, perform on the unit tests and the final exam. The second question asked how students describe their experiences with corequisite remediation. The third question asked what the lessons learned are about teaching a corequisite remediation course. A mixed-method design was used to answer these research questions. For the quantitative results, the instruments used were four common unit tests and a common final exam. For the qualitative portion of the study, the instruments used were focus-group interviews, two types of reflections, and the end- of-course survey. Results showed that 22 out of 42 corequisite math students passed the college-level course for an overall pass rate of 52%. This is an encouraging result because those 22 students, before the corequisite model, would have been placed in prerequisite or remedial math courses at DTCC this fall and instead, these students successfully passed their college-level math requirement for their two-year degree. In addition, disaggregated data shows that during the fall of 2020, our white support (corequisite) students passed their college-level course at a 50% pass rate while our Black or African American (corequisite) students passed their college-level course at a 45% pass rate. Finally, the Hispanic support (corequisite) students passed their college-level course at a 75% pass rate. This data, although derived from a small sample size, is encouraging in two ways. First, more than half of the students designated as remedial students passed the college-level course with the built-in, just- in-time corequisite support. Second, the gap between the pass rate of our white and Black and African American students during the fall of 2020 is 5%, lending some credibility to efficacy of the corequisite model of remediation. In addition, this study found interesting correlations between academic performance and attendance in a corequisite remediation class especially for our Black and African American population. If there truly is a correlation between academic performance and attendance, giving opportunities to earn credit during class with small activities to think through and submit for a grade could help this population show their mastery of the concepts and encourage more regular attendance. If we can leverage this knowledge, it could help to permanently obliterate the achievement gap.

Practical solutions for improving higher education opportunities for disadvantaged students Too many disadvantaged college students in America do not complete their coursework or receive any college credential, while others earn degrees or certificates with little labor market value. Large numbers of these students also struggle to pay for college, and some incur debts that they have difficulty repaying. The authors provide a new review of the causes of these problems and offer promising policy solutions. The circumstances affecting disadvantaged students stem both from issues on the individual side, such as weak academic preparation and financial pressures, and from institutional failures. Low-income students disproportionately attend schools that are underfunded and have weak performance incentives, contributing to unsatisfactory outcomes for many students. Some solutions, including better financial aid or academic supports, target individual students. Other solutions, such as stronger linkages between coursework and the labor market and more structured paths through the curriculum, are aimed at institutional reforms. All students, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, also need better and varied pathways both to college and directly to the job market, beginning in high school. We can improve college outcomes, but must also acknowledge that we must make hard choices and face difficult tradeoffs in the process. While no single policy is guaranteed to greatly improve college and career outcomes, implementing a number of evidence-based policies and programs together has the potential to improve these outcomes substantially.

The American university faces many challenges. It has become too costly and inefficient. It fails too many students. It spends too much time and money on matters that should not be its priorities. It clings to policies and practices that need to go away. And it is too disconnected from the students and communities it must serve. This book proposes several changes to standard policies in our colleges and universities that will sharpen their missions, redirect funding to the highest priorities, improve student learning and attainment, redefine faculty engagement, slow down spending on amenities, and reduce the excesses of intercollegiate athletics. The recommended reforms remain true to the essential academic values embraced by the academy, but at the same time they recognize and respond to the new realities facing higher education.

America’s community colleges are experiencing the most creative and substantive period of transformation in their 118-year history. There has never been so much research, so much support from foundations, and so much commitment from national leaders to reimagine community colleges for today and for the future. 13 Ideas that Are Transforming the Community College World, edited by Terry U. O’Banion, is the seminal work that captures the major ideas faced by community college leaders in this period of transformation. The book includes 23 authors representing 12 national organizations, perhaps the most significant and substantive list of individuals ever to participate in an edited book on the community college. Each author is a nationally-recognized authority on his or her chapter, and all have played major roles as leaders of national organizations.