Last year, I published a study of community college remediation rates from 2007 to 2010. I now have the 2010-11 data, which reflects the percentage of 2010 high school graduates who were required to take at least one developmental/remedial course (in English, reading, or math) during the 2010-11 community college year.
2010-11: 65%
2009-10: 64%
2008-09: 60%
2007-08: 57%
Note that these percentages reflect incoming high school graduates only and not returning adults.
The above percentages include home and private schools. When I removed nonpublic schools, as well as public schools that had fewer than five graduates, the percentage of students taking one or more remedial courses was nearly identical to the overall percentage.
Also be aware that Democrats controlled the General Assembly during the four-year span represented above. Data for the 2011-12 school year will not be available for several months, so resist the urge to blame rising remediation rates on Republican legislators.
