News & Stories

Gateway courses often serve as gatekeepers, preventing students from progressing to and through the general education curriculum and/or program of study associated with a particular major. This blog discusses the importance of gateway course redesign as one of several strategies used in order for students to pass credit-earning college-level courses, including English and math, in their first year of college.

In our May 2024 virtual faculty workshops, we learned that generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are accessible, have the potential to transform teaching and learning, and are already in use on postsecondary campuses across the country. Yet AI tools carry some significant risks. Our Advisory Board Member Sharmila Mann authored a blog post describing how coordinated policy strategies at the federal, state and institutional levels can support safe and ethical AI integration.

The new Strong Start to Finish Partner Menu of Service is a helpful guide for institutions and decision-makers planning and navigating developmental education reforms. Drawing on their experience working with community colleges to implement math pathways, Carnegie Math Pathways share their thoughts on the benefits of this tool. They detail how educators and leaders can use the tool to support their efforts of change.

Reforming developmental education is about offering learning support in a more effective and equitable way. What is the role of AI in the context of these reforms? This important question and more was explored during a recent learning session. The session was hosted by Strong Start to Finish and Every Learning Everywhere, facilitated by Achieving the Dream and the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies. Read about our reflections and the questions we’re still asking ourselves in our newest blog.

Discover the transformative potential of developmental education reform with Strong Start to Finish’s updated service menu. Addressing the pressing challenges of inequitable outcomes, inaccurate placements, and long remedial sequences, the menu offers tailored support for state leaders, practitioners, and institutions. With streamlined decision-making, flexible service modalities, and a focus on equity, it empowers institutions to create inclusive learning environments. Explore the menu today to unlock new opportunities for improving developmental education outcomes and supporting student success.

Access to relevant, reliable, and timely data and using data to ground decisions and actions as part of normalized continuous improvement processes are fundamental to the success of efforts to transform education systems. Read more to explore essential actions stakeholders may consider in using data to reform higher education systems.

Including students in all aspects of higher education is important in ensuring equity for all students and shown to contribute to student success. This blog discusses how United Tribes Technical College is elevating student voice and experiences, and why it is an important factor in programming and decision-making in higher education.

Developmental education reform is an effort that involves several key stakeholders. Over the years, higher education has seen policymakers, the philanthropic community, researchers, and advocates work to resolve issues within developmental education. However, that hasn’t been enough, as critical voices have previously been absent. This blog highlights the role students and faculty voices might play in improving developmental education.

This month, Strong Start to Finish announced the selection of our four new sites. These sites include the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE), the Louisiana Board of Regents (LA BOR), the Michigan Center for Student Success (MCSS), and the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). These state systems and associations will be implementing developmental education reforms that focus on placement, acceleration, and/or alignment. Our Site Strategist, Julie Adams, authored a blog that shares more on this exciting milestone.