Developmental education is a core mission of the community college, and approximately 40 percent of entering community college students enroll in one ore more developmental math, English, or reading courses. The existing literature recommends several instructional and organization practices for developmental educators to follow in addressing the needs of those students. Despite the availability of these models, however, community colleges--each facing its own unique combination of students needs and available resources--continue to struggle in their efforts to effectively educate underprepared students and help them move onto and succeed in college-level courses. This volume of New Directions for Community Colleges offers a realistic assessment of the difficulties community colleges face in attempting to assist students who share the common characteristic of being underprepared for college-level work, but whose backgrounds, academic preparation, motivational levels, and goals are extraordinarily varied. The authors discuss the dangers of isolating developmental students, faculty, and curriculum from the broader academic structure of the college. They provide examples of successful programs, and offer a range of recommendations that college administrators can adapt to their campuses and student populations. They also call for additional research on developmental education, especially systematic assessments of existing programs and qualitative research that captures the perceptions of the students for whom these programs are designed.

Over the past several years, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) has conducted several research studies on developmental education and has produced reviews synthesizing the results of the authors' own work together with that of colleagues from other research organizations. In a recent issue of the "Journal of Developmental Education," Alexandros Goudas and Hunter Boylan (2012) aimed several criticisms at this body of work, with the key claims being that: (1) the authors unfairly portray developmental education as ineffective because it does not lead to outcomes "better" than those of college-ready students; (2) they ignore several studies showing positive results; and (3) they overgeneralize from results that are only valid for students near the developmental cut-off scores. These three claims are woven into a broader critique that the authors have "cherry-picked" negative results, neglected methodological problems with the studies yielding such results, and ignored positive results in order to advance our own reform agenda and, in particular, to support the notion of co-requisite developmental education. In this essay, the authors address each of the claims advanced by Goudas and Boylan (2012). They disagree with their portrayal of their research as biased and flawed, yet they also believe that their comments may reflect some widespread confusion in the field about research on developmental education--so their response has significance beyond their particular disagreements with these authors. The authors hope the reader will have patience with this exercise; for those short on time, they provide a brief summary and conclusion at the end of this essay. (Contains 1 figure and 13 footnotes.).

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.