Still getting ready for school: Supporting students as they prepare for college
HGSE Associate Professor Bridget Terry Long

Secondary schools and colleges face the challenge of supporting students through an often difficult period of transition. In these multimedia clips from a recent talk at HGSE, Associate Professor of Education and Economics Bridget Terry Long describes her research on the progress of students who enroll in college remediation courses. She also discusses innovative approaches designed to help high school students and their families learn about academic and financial preparation for college.

Mandy Savitz-Romer, Director of HGSE's Risk and Prevention Program, provides additional insights drawn from her research and practice experiences as a former urban school counselor and as associate director of the Boston Higher Education Partnership.

Approximately 40% of first year college students in the U.S. are placed into remedial or developmental courses¹ which aim to close the gaps in students' skills. Based on their performance on placement exams, these students are not yet prepared for the academic demands of college—but remedial courses often do not fulfill the requirements of a college major. So are colleges actually serving students by placing them in remedial courses?

HGSE Associate Professor Bridget Terry Long encourages the K–16 education community to use data from placement exams—and students' subsequent progress—to make decisions about programs and policies designed to support under-prepared students. In one large-scale remediation study in Ohio, Long and her colleague found that remedial courses do seem to support degree attainment for students near the cut-off point on placement exams. Students who took math or English remediation were slightly more likely to complete a bachelor's degree in six years than similar students who did not take remedial courses.

In this audio clip, Long discusses a similar study of students in Florida colleges and universities. Long and her colleague asked what happens to students who are just below, and just above, the cut-off score on a placement exam.

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Students who took remedial courses tended to accumulate more college credits over time than students whose placement exam scores were just high enough to qualify for college-level classes. However, the students in remediation were no more likely to graduate than their peers who placed out of it. Moreover, in other work, Long has found suggestive evidence of a stigma effect from being placed in remediation.

Alternatives to remediation

While some students appear to benefit from remediation, other methods should also be considered to help under-prepared students succeed. One proactive approach lets students know where they stand on placement exams while they are still in high school, giving them time to do additional preparation. In this brief audio clip, Long discusses this Early Placement Testing approach, which has been tried in Ohio and other states.

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Early assessment programs can help students improve their preparation for college before they actually enroll. With the support of their families and guidance counselors, high school students can take additional classes, or perhaps participate in targeted tutoring, to fill the gaps in their understanding of high school-level material.

Demystifying the financial aid system

Besides the academic demands of college, many students must also navigate the system of applying for financial aid. Confusion about the aid application process deters many academically and financially qualified students from applying for it. In this audio clip, Long describes a partnership between H&R Block and the U.S. Department of Education that allows families to fill out financial aid forms at the same time they file their taxes.

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This program simplifies the process of filling out financial aid forms and gives families with high school sophomores or juniors an estimate of how much they can expect to receive in financial aid years later. This information—knowing in advance that government support will be available—may encourage students to prepare academically for college.

What other policies and programs can colleges and high schools implement to support students as they transition into college? Many possibilities exist. For example, Long has looked at the effect of smaller class sizes in college. The idea is that in smaller classes, teachers and students can have more direct interaction, which might support the learning of all students.

Ensuring that students graduate high school properly equipped for college is a big job and an increasingly demanding one. Education leaders at both the high school and college levels will need to work together to tackle the challenge of college preparedness.

By Maria Fusaro, doctoral student in Human Development and Psychology at HGSE

¹ Approximately 55-60% of students in remediation take these courses at community colleges. The bulk of remedial courses are provided at non-selective public colleges and universities, the point of entry for 80% of four-year students and 99% of two-year students. The term “remedial” is used here, though these courses are also referred to as “developmental” at many schools.

Published: February 2009

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