Adding It Up: How the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative Impacted Developmental Education

Oct 15, 2026

The Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) was a statewide policy requiring college readiness testing and participation in college readiness courses for high school students. Using regression discontinuity, the study compares outcomes for students scoring just above versus below FCCRI cutoffs, and uses before-after regression for targeted students across a broader performance range. FCCRI increased enrollment in nondevelopmental courses for some targeted students, but smaller passing-rate differences suggest gaps in preparation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Study Overview

FCCRI Policy and Research Design

Key Findings by Academic Performance

Literature Review

Why Developmental Education Matters

High School Curriculum and Postsecondary Outcomes

Evidence on Similar Programs

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis June 2018, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 219–242 DOI: 10.3102/0162373717744891 © 2017 AERA. [http://eepa.aera.net](http://eepa.aera.net) Adding It Up: How the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative Impacted Developmental Education Christine G. Mokher Florida State University Daniel M. Leeds Julie C. Harris CNA Education The Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) was a statewide policy requiring college readiness testing and participation in college readiness courses for high school students. We used regression discontinuity to compare outcomes for students scoring just above and below test score cutoffs for assignment to FCCRI. We also examined impacts for students from a wider range of academic performance by using a before-after regression analysis to compare outcomes for targeted students before and after their schools implemented the FCCRI. The FCCRI increased the likelihood of enrolling in nondevelopmental courses for some targeted students, although results differ by academic performance. However, smaller differences in the likelihood of passing nondevelopmental courses suggest that some students were not prepared for these courses. Keywords: college readiness, developmental education, state policy In 2010, approximately 86% of entering community college students believed that they were academically prepared for college, yet 67% tested into developmental course work (Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2016) . High developmental education participation levels are a problem for a few reasons. First, providing developmental education is costly. Researchers have estimated the annual national cost of developmental education at $7 billion (Scott-Clayton, Crosta, & Belfield, 2014) . In addition, the evidence for the effectiveness of developmental education is mixed, with some research showing it is effective and some showing it is ineffective (e.g., Bettinger & Long, 2009; Martorell & McFarlin, 2011) . This study examines the impact of legislation enacted by Florida for a statewide program known as the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI), which was intended to reduce the need for developmental education. The FCCRI consisted of testing Grade 11 students to determine their college readiness and offering math and English college readiness and success (CRS) courses in Grade 12 for students who did not test college ready the year before. We begin by reviewing the literature on the transition from high school to postsecondary education and the impact of similar policies in other states. Next, we provide an overview of the state policy context in Florida and changes to the policy over time. Then we describe the data and two different methods used to estimate program impacts. We used a sharp intent-to-treat (ITT) regression discontinuity (RD) design to compare outcomes for students scoring just above and below test score Mokher et al. cutoffs for assignment to the FCCRI.1 We also examined the impact of offering the FCCRI to students from a wider range of academic performance levels by using regression analysis to compare outcomes for targeted students before and after the schools implemented the FCCRI. We find that the FCCRI increased the likelihood of enrolling in nondevelopmental courses for some targeted students who seamlessly enrolled in college, although the results differ based on student performance on standardized assessments. However, smaller differences between the treatment and control groups in the likelihood of passing nondevelopmental courses suggest that some students may not be prepared for these courses. We conclude with implications for researchers and policymakers to consider for similar programs in other states and directions for future research. Literature Review Developmental education is necessary because many high school graduates do not have the requisite skills to complete college-lev

FAQs

What was the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI)?

FCCRI required Grade 11 college readiness testing and offered math and English college readiness and success courses in Grade 12 for students who did not test college ready the prior year.

How did the study estimate the program’s impact?

It used a sharp intent-to-treat regression discontinuity design comparing students just above and below FCCRI test-score cutoffs, and a before-after regression approach for targeted students when schools implemented FCCRI.

What did the study find about FCCRI’s effects?

FCCRI increased some targeted students’ likelihood of enrolling in nondevelopmental courses, but smaller differences in passing rates indicate some students may not have been prepared for those courses.

Oct 15, 2026

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