Evidence-based Practice: Co-requisite support

Definition

Co-requisite approaches, in which students with developmental education needs receive support at the same time they take credit-bearing gateway courses (concurrent support), have had positive impacts on students passing gateway courses and progressing through college.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 These approaches stand in contrast to traditional developmental education, in which students must pass a developmental course before they can take a gateway course and then are placed directly into gateway courses without additional support. A multisite study of the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)6—an English co-requisite model with extended instructional time and academic support services—found that it improved students’ likelihood of passing English Composition I in the first and second years, and increased the number of college-level credits they completed overall.7 In the ALP model, students receive support during classroom instruction. Courses include a mix of students with and without developmental needs, and class sizes are smaller to help instructors provide support. Another successful model is the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways (DCMP), which enrolls students directly into a gateway math course aligned to their program of study while offering enhanced supports (in some cases, including a co-requisite support course).8 This model, which has been implemented and studied in 27 community colleges in Texas, had positive impacts on students passing gateway math courses and earning college credits.9 Co-requisite approaches also include paired-course models (in which students enroll in a gateway and developmental course at the same time); extended instructional time models; required academic support models (which may include technology-mediated support); or some combination of the above.