A new model that Roane State and all Tennessee community colleges are using to better progress students who need remedial support is receiving national attention.

Under the old model, students whose placement scores indicated they were not ready for college-level work had to pass a series of remedial courses before enrolling in college-level courses the next semester.

The remedial courses did not count toward a student’s degree. A student required to take multiple remedial courses could, for example, finish an entire semester of college as a full-time student without earning a single college credit toward their degree.

The new model, called co-requisite remediation, places under-prepared students directly into the college-level course, but requires learning support systems to help the students master course content and earn college credit in the same semester. [Read more…]