New York College Learning Skills Association

RTDE Issue Contents

Research and Teaching
in Developmental Education

Volume 16, Issue 2, Spring 2000

Reducing the Cost of Remediation: A Partnership with High Schools
By Sarah D. Spence, Gwen Autin, and Sally Clausen, Southern Louisiana University

Abstract

Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), an open-admission university, offers four developmental courses: developmental English, mathematics, reading, and critical thinking. The goal of the university, according to President Sally Clausen, is Òto reduce by half the amount of money SLU spends for remedial education by the academic year 2000-2001.Ó One program, the High School Cooperative Agreement (HSCA), a partnership between Southeastern and area schools, seeks to reduce the number of students needing developmental mathematics and English courses by giving seniors the opportunity of satisfying the requirement while they are still in high school. The pilot program, begun in Spring 1997, was redesigned in Phase II for the 1998-1999 academic year. Data supplied from redesigning the program will provide support to insure continued implementation of this pro-active measure to reduce the cost of developmental education for the university and the state.