| Angela Boatman
Harvard University
Examining the Causal Effects of Instruction and Delivery in Postsecondary Remedial and Developmental Courses: Evidence from the Tennessee Developmental Course Redesign Initiative
Staggering numbers of students enroll in postsecondary remediation each year, yet despite the high costs of these programs to students, institutions, and taxpayers, there is little evidence on their impact, and more importantly, how they could be more effective. Recently, a host of new course innovations have surfaced that intend to move students through remediation more efficiently and effectively. However, little causal research has been done to establish the effects of these programs and how they compare to "traditional" remediation. My dissertation addresses this major hole in the literature by evaluating the effects of a remedial course redesign implemented in Tennessee public colleges. I will employ regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences research designs, exploiting a statewide cutoff on the placement exam used to assign students to remedial courses, to provide causal estimates of the effects of the redesigned courses on the outcomes of students placed in remediation compared to similar students not assigned to the courses. Moreover, using data from before the course redesign, as well as information on the campuses that never redesigned their courses, I will estimate and compare the effects of "traditional" developmental courses. Using data from ELS 2002:06, I am also able to construct a nationally-representative control group for purposes of external validity. The results should have implications for how to best help underprepared students regionally and nationwide.
Back to Funded Dissertation Grants Page |