This week, Louis and John explore the movement away from remedial courses at California’s 114 community colleges and the California State University system. The shift recognizes that remedial courses — which do not count toward the credits needed for a degree — too often are a dead end for many students, some of whom should never have been placed in them.
Louis and John speak with Alexandra Logue, a professor at the Center for Advanced Study in Education, Graduate Center, The City University of New York, about her research showing the effectiveness of corequisite courses, in which students take a credit-bearing math or English course, while receiving extra support, instead of being assigned to remedial courses.
They also spoke with EdSource higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn about some community college faculty members’ concerns about the new approach, which will take effect next fall.
For background: