Developmental Education Placement
Placement in developmental courses: Connecticut
What Is Measured?
The percentage of students who were placed into a developmental course
Who Is Counted?
Students who graduated from Connecticut public high schools who were enrolled in the Connecticut Community College System in the fall immediately following high school graduation, in 2007, 2008, or 2009.
What It Tells Us
About 80 percent of students were placed in developmental education in fall 2007 and 2008, but that percentage decreased to 72 percent in fall 2009.
Why It's Important
Assessment for college readiness to determine the appropriate placement in a subject is particularly important for community colleges. Such assessment is needed because their open-access admissions policies and outreach to nontraditional students mean that a much larger proportion of their students take developmental education courses than do students in other sectors of higher education. For students needing developmental education, enrolling in the developmental course mandated by the placement test is the first step toward completion. Most institutions select from a handful of standardized assessments to place students in developmental education, but tremendous variation still exists across and within states and even institutions on which tests and cutoff scores are used.