Gates Pledge for Remedial Education at Community Colleges

 This article appeared in Education Week today.

Gates Pledges $110 Million to Remedial Programs at Community Colleges By
Caralee Adams on April 20, 2010 11:08 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks

Today, Melinda Gates announced a pledge of up to $110 million to improve
remedial programs on community college campuses. Delivering a speech at
the annual American Association of Community Colleges convention in
Seattle, Gates urged community college presidents to come up with new
technologies and fresh ideas to replace weak remedial programs.

The foundation has already given about half its commitment to colleges
and programs to improve developmental education since 2008. Another $57
million will be given as grants over the next two years.

Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, called
traditional remedial or developmental education programs on campuses
low-quality and in need of transformation. While she praised community
colleges for leading the way on access, she called on them to now be
leaders on college completion.

About 60 percent of students enrolling in community college must take at
least one remedial course to catch up, according to the Community
College Research Center. Only 25 percent of students who take these
courses earn a degree within eight years of enrolling.

Earlier at the AACC convention, U.S. Undersecretary for Education Martha
Kanter spoke about President Obama's goal of helping 8.2 million more
Americans attain a college degree by 2020. She urged community college
leaders to focus on access, quality, and completion. The popular quote
floating on Twitter following her speech was: "Community colleges
provide opportunity for the top 100 percent of Americans." Kanter also
talked of the need for K-12 to do a better job preparing students for
college-level work.
--
Marsha L. Tait
National Coalition for Literacy
Public Policy Committee Co-Chair
Dollar General Grant Manager
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