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Remedial Education * print Print * document PDF * list Cite * link Link
This article reviews the need for remedial education, and why it has yielded limited results. Remedial education, also known as basic education or developmental education, refers to instruction provided to children, adolescents, and adults who lack fluency in reading, writing, mathematics, and other skills. Selected factors that account for the large number of students who leave high school not having learned basic skills are discussed, as well as what teachers need to know to present more effective instruction in reading, mathematics, and writing. Remedial education does not represent a short-term trend in the United States. Each year, many first-year college students must enroll in a remedial reading class, a remedial mathematics class, or in a remedial writing class. The magnitude of the need for remedial education may be greater than generally recognized because many first-year college students avoid enrolling in remedial classes despite their lack of fluency in basic skills.
Keywords Basic Education; Developmental Education; No Child Left Behind; National Assessment of Educational Progress; Non-Visual Information; Prior Knowledge; Remedial Education; Reading Fluency; Visual Information
Overview
Students in public schools throughout the United States have not shown significant improvement in reading or mathematics since the first National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in 1969. Referred to as "The Nation's Report Card," NAEP assesses student performance of thousands of students periodically in a wide range of subjects including reading, mathematics, writing, science, and U.S. history. The majority of individuals who have received remedial education have lacked fluency in reading, mathematics, or writing fluency or a combination of these basic skills. The term