Student Success - Developmental Education Success

Developmental Math Success measures students who were enrolled in developmental math in the given fall term and earned a grade of C or higher. While Harper’s success rate for developmental math increased until fall 2017, it has since declined. The success rate decreased to 53.3% in fall 2020, not achieving the improvement target. It should be noted that the success rate in fall 2020 was just slightly below the target of 54.0-55.0%. Additionally, the fall 2020 developmental math courses were held entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift in instructional method may have impacted the student success rate.

Developmental Writing Success measures students who were enrolled in developmental English in the given fall term and earned a grade of C or higher. Harper’s developmental writing success rate has varied over the last several years, however in fall 2020 the success rate declined to 52.6%, well below the improvement target of 64.0-65.0%. It is important to note that fall 2020 developmental writing courses were held entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift in instructional method may have impacted the student success rate.

A large percentage of students have entered Harper college-ready in English in recent years, leading to a smaller number of students enrolling in developmental English. Numbers of students in these courses has fluctuated but enrollment averages about 300 students per year. Small numbers of students contribute to increased variability in results from year to year.