2022 Recap

Our Network Connects to Listen and Learn

We regularly bring together site leaders, research partners, experts in the field and SStF staff to reflect on how the developmental education reform movement and our network have been creating positive change.

2022 Highlights

Celebrating Our Work and the Promise of Developmental Education Reform

We invited a group of members from across our network to gather in person for our 2022 Learning Network Convening (LNC). Attendees heard from educators, researchers and technical assistance providers about their experiences and work in the field. We shared SStF’s successes to date with a report from our evaluator, and brainstormed together about how to advance the work in the field.

Day One Breakout Sessions: Putting Our Work Into Practice

Participants attended one of four sessions designed to dive more deeply into different topics.

Momentum and Sustainability

Facilitators: Mike Leach and Aisha Lowe

Subject: How two early SStF Scaling Sites — California Community Colleges and Arkansas Department of Higher Education — have created momentum and maintained sustainable developmental education reform.

Next Steps in Reform: Addressing Racial and Socioeconomic Inequities

Facilitators: Rebecca Hartzler and Maxine Roberts

Subject: Eight equity principles that can be applied to developmental education reform; how to apply one or more of the principles to system-level reform efforts; and the challenges that can arise when addressing racial and socioeconomic equity.

Racial Equity and Developmental Education Reform

Facilitators: Elena Quiroz-Livanis and Tara Parker

Subject: The history of developmental education; the effects of race-neutral policymaking; the promise of equity-minded reform; and the role of developmental education in improving, or worsening, institutional and state outcomes for racially minoritized students.

Showcasing of Sites: Core Principles in Action – A Culmination Brief

Facilitators: Sharmila Mann and Emily Warren

Subject: The successes and challenges of the site-based work, including trends across 13 Strong Start to Finish sites; key lessons from our work; and considerations for state, system and institutional leaders seeking to engage in similar efforts. 

Day Two Breakout Sessions: Learning with Our Partners

Participants had the opportunity to attend two breakout sessions to learn from a range of experts in different areas of developmental education reform.

Applying Research to Practice: Improving Equity Through Corequisite Support

Facilitators: Andrea Burridge, Susana Hernández and Amy E. Harris Tan

Subject: Findings from a multi-year, mixed-methods research study of the corequisite model at Houston Community College (HCC), one of the nation’s largest and most racially/ethnically diverse community college systems.

Broader Campus Supports: Success and Equity Through Quality Instruction

Facilitators: Bacari Brown and Jonathan Gyurko

Subject: The holistic transformation necessary to engage faculty in developmental education reform and how to use the SStF toolkit to lead change in states and systems.

Improving College Success for Students in Corequisite Reading

Facilitator: Florence Xiaotao Ran

Subject: Findings of a study that examined outcomes of students who were placed into corequisite reading, and how delivery structures were associated with student outcomes. 

Learning Mindsets Matter: Implications for Developmental Education Reform Models and Equity

Facilitator: Yoi Tibbetts

Subject: Recent findings that highlight the connection between students’ learning mindsets and their environment, with implications for critical academic outcomes (e.g., grades, persistence).

Seeing Is Believing: Activities to Visualize and Understand Student Success and Dev Ed Reform

Facilitator: Brandon Protas

Subject: This session focused on the types of activities that participants could use during professional development sessions at their sites when making the case for student success and developmental education reform/corequisite support.