Equality, Efficiency, and Developmental Education Reform - The Impact of SB 1720 on the Mission of the Florida College System

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Community colleges aim to broaden access for students from diverse backgrounds, especially those who are academically underprepared and need developmental education (DE) or remediation. Using an embedded case study of 10 Florida College System institutions, the study gathers qualitative evidence from 544 college presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff via 92 focus groups and 8 interviews. Staff affirm the system’s democratic equality mission while questioning whether DE reform under SB 1720 prioritizes efficiency over equity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Objective

Method

Results

Contributions

Developmental Education Reform Context

Research Questions and Article Focus

Theoretical Framework

Equality, Efficiency, and Developmental Education Reform: The Impact of SB 1720 on the Mission of the Florida College System Community College Review 2020, Vol. 48(1) 55–76 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/0091552119876327](DOI: 10.1177/0091552119876327)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/0091552119876327)[journals.sagepub.com/home/crw](journals.sagepub.com/home/crw) Amanda N. Nix 1, Tamara Bertrand Jones 1, Rebecca L. Brower 1, and Shouping Hu 1 Abstract Objective: Community colleges have long made higher education more accessible to students from diverse academic backgrounds, particularly those who are academically underprepared and require remediation. In light of developmental education (DE) reform, our article answers the following questions: How do campus personnel articulate the unique mission of Florida’s state colleges, formerly known as community colleges? Furthermore, how do they perceive the mandates of reform to have shaped their ability to carry out this mission? Method: This work is based on an embedded case study of 10 Florida College System institutions. Qualitative data were gathered between 2014 and 2018 from 544 college presidents, administrators, faculty, staff through 92 focus groups and 8 interviews. Results: Campus personnel strongly affirmed the mission of the Florida Colleges System as one of democratic equality. However, many were concerned that DE reform, namely Senate Bill 1720, prioritized efficiency over equality in the pursuit of cost savings. Specifically, participants expressed frustration that reforms accelerated DE coursework to an unmanageable pace and ignored the presence of a digital divide. Opinions of DE reform improved in the 4 years following implementation, but some concern persisted. Contributions: Our findings highlight the centrality of democratic equality to the community college mission for campus personnel. They also suggest that equality and efficiency need not always be opposing goals in education reform. Finally, they call into question social 1 Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA Corresponding Author: Amanda N. Nix, Center for Postsecondary Success, Florida State University, 1208G Stone Building, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4452, USA. Email: [anix@fsu.edu](anix@fsu.edu) policy that universally promotes accelerated and computer-based courses without considering that some students may require accommodations. Keywords community colleges, developmental education, institutional mission, qualitative research Developmental education (DE), also known as postsecondary remediation, has been the focus of public criticism in recent years. Those most vocal against it are primarily concerned with the high costs of DE and low number of students successfully moving through such programs into college-level coursework (H. M. Levin & Calcagno, 2008; Smith, 2015) . Of the two thirds of college students who are referred to DE courses, less than one half complete them within 3 years of initial enrollment (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010) . In response, educational reform groups have advocated for a number of revisions to DE, including more accurate measures of assessment for course placement, acceleration, and improved curriculum and pedagogy (Fain, 2012; Jaggars & Bickerstaff, 2018) . In 2013, the Florida legislature passed their own version of reform—Senate Bill 1720 (SB 1720)—in an effort to address both the concerns of cost and completion rates. Under the legislation, placement tests were made optional for those who graduated with a standard diploma from a public Florida high school in 2007 or later and for active-duty service members. In turn, these students were given the option to bypass DE and enroll directly in college-level English and mathematics courses. The legislation also required colleges to increase advising services, enhance academic suppor

FAQs

What questions does the article investigate about Florida’s DE reform?

The article examines how campus personnel describe the Florida College System’s mission and how they believe SB 1720 shaped their ability to carry out that mission in the years after passage.

How is the study conducted, and what data are used?

It uses an embedded case study of 10 Florida College System institutions, collecting qualitative data between 2014 and 2018 from 544 participants through 92 focus groups and 8 interviews.

What concerns do participants express about Senate Bill 1720?

Participants largely affirm the democratic equality mission, but many worry that DE reform prioritizes efficiency over equality, accelerating DE coursework beyond a manageable pace and overlooking the digital divide.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore