| With the current emphasis on accountability, there is a heightened level of scrutiny by policy makers and state legislators who contemplate limiting developmental education. Community colleges determine which of their students they will assess and what instruments and measures they will use, with no national and minimal state consistency. As a result, there is little agreement or consistency on who are a remedial student and their developmental needs. In mathematics, California community college systems are structured for a student to "climb" developmental mathematics courses within a sequence of remedial, basic, intermediate and advanced, college transferable courses. This study identifies the particular characteristics of traditional and nontraditional students who persist in the developmental climb in remedial mathematics courses to a college transfer level within developmental education programs at the nine community colleges within the Los Angeles Community College District. A bivariate tabulation and discriminant function analysis are utilized to identify differences among academically successful students that infer any factors that plausibly predict successful course completion of developmental education. Significant differences among successful students persisting in the developmental climb consists of the amount of courses in enrollment, their educational goals, study habits, marital status, and their level of social interaction on campus. Based on these findings, recommendations for policy are provided. |
