How Academic Preparation Shapes College Students’ Own Success and the Success of their Peers in Corequisite Courses: Evidence from Texas

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious

Statewide Texas data examine how students’ high school math and English coursework relates to outcomes across corequisite course formats, while also estimating peer effects from classmates’ high school course taking. Findings indicate no consistent corequisite model or instructional intensity improves success for students who did not complete the typical college-preparatory sequence. Peer concentration of students lacking advanced coursework is associated with lower success in both developmental and college-level courses, though effects are less harmful for students who themselves deviate from the typical pathway.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Texas corequisite reform context

Study focus and outcomes

AERA Open January-December 2025, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1–19 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584251385469 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) How Academic Preparation Shapes College Students’ Own Success and the Success of their Peers in Corequisite Courses: Evidence from Texas Christine G. Mokher Toby J. Park-Gaghan Florida State University Students who are not college ready often perform better in corequisite courses than traditional developmental education, yet concerns remain about how well these courses serve the least prepared students. This study used statewide data from Texas to examine relationships between students’ high school coursework in math and English and their performance in various types of corequisite courses. It also investigated peer effects by analyzing how classmates’ high school course taking influences individual outcomes. Results show that no specific corequisite model or intensity consistently benefits students who did not complete the typical college-preparatory course sequence. Moreover, students in classes with a higher proportion of peers who did not complete advanced high school coursework had lower success rates in both developmental and college-level courses. However, these peer effects were less detrimental for students who themselves did not follow the typical collegepreparatory path, suggesting that peer dynamics interact with individual preparation in shaping course outcomes. Keywords: colleges, educational reform, higher education, regression analyses, developmental education, corequisite reform, academic preparation, peer effects, high school course taking, peer effects Introduction A growing body of research demonstrates that students who are not college ready tend to experience greater success in corequisite courses relative to traditional developmental education sequences (Austin et al. , 2024; Meiselman & Schudde, 2022; Miller et al. , 2022) . However, concerns have been raised that students in corequisite courses represent a broad range of abilities and levels of academic preparation, and reforms that do not specifically address achievement gaps may not adequately meet the needs of all students (Squires & Boatman, 2014) . In particular, there are concerns that a one-sizefits-all approach to corequisite education may not adequately meet the needs of the least prepared students, which may result in adverse consequences such as the lowering of academic standards in these courses (e.g. , Cafarella, 2023; Jaggars & Hodara, 2013) . Texas House Bill 2223 required all public institutions to scale up corequisites from 25% of developmental education students in the fall of 2018 to 100% in the fall of 2021. This statewide corequisite reform took several approaches to addressing concerns about the most underprepared students. First, the placement test, the Texas Success Initiative Assessment (TSIA), was designed so that if students incorrectly answered most of the first set of items, they received a second set of items targeted toward the lowest readiness levels, known as the Adult Basic Education (ABE) diagnostic. Students who received a score of 1–4 on a 6-point scale of the ABE diagnostic were assessed to be performing below the ninth grade level. These students were exempt from corequisite developmental education and received more specialized academic support as determined by the colleges. Daugherty et al. (2019) estimated that ~7% of firsttime-in-college (FTIC) students in credit-bearing courses at Texas community colleges tested at the lowest levels of the ABE diagnostic (below ninth grade) in 2015. Second, Texas reform actions provided institutions with flexibility in determining the characteristics of corequisite courses that might best meet the needs of their unique student populati

FAQs

What does the study analyze about students’ preparation and course outcomes?

It examines relationships between high school math and English coursework and performance in various corequisite course types, and it analyzes peer effects via classmates’ high school course taking.

Do specific corequisite models or intensities consistently benefit least prepared students?

No. The results show that no particular corequisite model or instructional intensity consistently improves outcomes for students who did not complete the typical college-preparatory course sequence.

How do peer effects influence success in developmental and college-level courses?

Classes with a higher proportion of peers who did not complete advanced high school coursework have lower success rates in both developmental and college-level courses, but these peer effects are less detrimental for students who themselves do not follow the typical college-preparatory path.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious