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The purpose of this study was to determine if the developmental studies courses, and the sequential program of developmental studies courses, offered at North Harris Montgomery Community College District (NHMCCD), adequately prepares students for academic success in the first college-level English and/or mathematics courses.
All first-time in-college developmental studies cohort students, beginning with the fall 1992 term through to the spring 1998 term, were tracked for completion and persistence through their respective developmental studies program and for enrollment and academic success in the first-level, college-level course in English and mathematics.
Absolutely underprepared students demonstrated an academic success rate many times lower than students classified as relatively underprepared. The academic success rates in percent for the absolutely underprepared cohorts were 1.88% to 10.91%. This indicates that between 2–10 absolutely underprepared students out of every 100 absolutely underprepared students successfully completed their first college-level course over the entire reporting period.
The academic success rates of the relatively underprepared cohorts were between 24.44%–46.32%. This indicates that between 24–46 relatively underprepared students out of every 100 relatively underprepared students successfully completed their first college-level course over the entire reporting period.
In contrast, the academic success rate of first-time in-college students, determined to be college-ready by virtue of standardized assessment examination placement, was identified as 73.85% for college-level English and 62.09% for college-level mathematics. The academic success rates for the relatively underprepared cohorts, although 2–4 times higher compared to the academic success rates for the absolutely underprepared cohorts, were still 2–3 times lower compared to the control cohort students that did not require developmental studies courses.
Persistence rates for the absolutely underprepared cohort were between 3.76% to 24.91%. Therefore, for every 100 absolutely underprepared students, between 4 to 25 of these students ever persist to enroll in a college-level academic course. In contrast, the relatively underprepared cohorts demonstrated persistence rates between 40.45% to 84.78%. Therefore, for every 100 relatively underprepared students, between 40 to 85 of these students persist to enroll in a college-level academic course.