110 ILCS 175/100-5

(110 ILCS 175/100-5)

Sec. 100-5. Findings. The General Assembly makes all of the following findings:

(1) Nearly 50% of this State's high school graduates who enroll full-time in a community college are placed in developmental education coursework in at least one subject. Community colleges place nearly 71% of Black students in developmental education courses compared to 42% of white students.

(2) Traditional developmental education courses cost students time and money and expend their financial aid because a student does not receive college credit for the successful completion of a traditional developmental education course. This can be a barrier to enrollment, persistence, and certificate or degree completion.

(3) Developmental education courses can exacerbate inequities in higher education. Community colleges graduate Black students who are placed in developmental education courses at a rate of approximately 8% compared to a graduation rate of 26% for white students who are placed in developmental education courses.

(4) A history of inconsistent and inadequate approaches to student placement in community college coursework, such as the reliance on standardized test scores, has resulted in too many students being placed in developmental education coursework who could otherwise succeed in introductory college-level coursework or introductory college-level coursework with concurrent support.

(5) Developmental education reform is in progress, and public institutions of higher education and State agencies have undertaken voluntary efforts and committed resources to improve placement and to address disparities in the successful completion of introductory college-level coursework.

(6) The Illinois Council of Community College Presidents, the Illinois Community College Chief Academic Officers Commission, the Illinois Community College Chief Student Services Officers Commission, and the Illinois Mathematics Association of Community Colleges have already developed and approved a more equitable, multiple measures framework for placement in coursework that is currently implemented at many but not all community colleges.

(7) In 2019, members of the General Assembly, faculty and administrators from public institutions of higher education, board trustees from community college districts, representatives from the Board of Higher Education, the Illinois Community College Board, and other appointed stakeholders convened a task force to inventory and study developmental education models employed by public community colleges and universities in this State and to submit a detailed plan for scaling developmental education reforms in which all students who are placed in developmental education coursework are enrolled in an evidence-based developmental education model that maximizes a student's likelihood of completing an introductory college-level course within his or her first 2 semesters at an institution of higher education. The data released by the task force indicates all of the following:

(A) Despite more effective developmental education models, community colleges and universities use the traditional developmental education model for 77% of students who place in a developmental education mathematics course and for 67% of students who place in a developmental English language course.

(B) Improved policies, programs, and practices are essential to address the systemic inequities that exist in postsecondary education in this State, such as the disproportionate enrollment of Black students in developmental education courses.

(8) To support further reform to developmental education in mathematics, additional work needs to be done in order to more adequately define the math pathways and the various ways that students satisfy mathematics credit requirements depending upon their academic and career pathways.

(Source: P.A. 101-654, eff. 3-8-21.)