Florida Developmental Education Reform

The Florida legislature drastically restructured developmental education placement and instruction through Senate Bill 1720 (SB 1720) during the 2013 legislative session. There is a critical need to understand how colleges within the Florida College System (FCS) respond to SB 1720 in terms of students’ education placement and course instruction, as well as what effects this legislation could have on student outcomes. Florida is at the forefront in developmental education reform, which provides an excellent opportunity to examine how various developmental education approaches affect student success in college. We conducted a survey of various college administrators responsible for the developmental education initiatives at the 28 FCS institutions.