How do YOU View Remedial Education?

I had a recent post about the public view of remedial/developmental education. Since I teach these classes, my view is obviously skewed by my involvement. I am very interested in how the general public sees these courses, though, and I would love your help in collecting some informal responses answering just that question.

Just to make sure that we're all on the same page, remedial/developmental college-level education is any college-level class that a student must take before they are allowed to take college-credit-bearing classes in that field. The most common remedial/developmental courses are in writing, reading, and math. Students are generally placed into these classes when their test scores (like the ACT or COMPASS) are too low to qualify for the college-credit-bearing class (such as College Algebra or English Composition). Students may take one or more of these classes in a single field to qualify for the general education requirement that will count toward their degree.

These classes are common in community colleges that have open admissions policies, but they can be found at all levels of higher education, including prestigious private schools.

I would really appreciate it if you'd take a moment to fill out this survey that shares what you think of remedial/developmental education. You do not have to be an educator to participate. In fact, you can have no experience with developmental/remedial coursework at all. All you have to know is that these classes exist and that college-level students take them. Based on that knowledge, what are your thoughts? (Your responses are anonymous.)

If you would like to share this link with anyone else (thank you!) or if you cannot fill out the embedded form, you can use this direct link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uSN1l5sovH4T8rnQ0fs8l869N_ZI4Iz75uvNefQwmJQ/viewform

I'll be writing about the results when I get enough responses, so the more you share, the more interesting the results will be!

Photo: madziggypix