Review Protocols
Not all students enrolled in college are prepared to do college-level work in all subjects. Anticipating this need, most colleges have established processes that are intended to identify students who are not prepared to do college-level work. For example, colleges may establish a threshold score on an entrance test, such as the SAT or ACT, and/or require that students take a placement test. Students who are not prepared for college-level work would then be placed into developmental (or remedial) education, which involves taking courses that are intended to help students succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis; therefore, they do not count toward graduation requirements. Alternatively, students who are not prepared for college-level work may be offered corequisite remediation, which involves coupling mainstream, credit-bearing college classes with mandatory non-credit remedial support.
WWC reviews in this topic area focus on developmental education interventions that help incoming and current postsecondary students prepare for college-level coursework, increase academic achievement, improve course completion rates, improve labor market outcomes, and increase degree or certification attainment. Systematic reviews of evidence in this topic area address the following research questions:
- Which developmental education interventions are effective at helping students improve access and enrollment in college?
- Which developmental education interventions are effective at helping students increase credit accumulation and persistence in college?
- Which developmental education interventions are effective at helping students improve academic achievement?
- Which developmental education interventions are effective at helping students complete college?
- Which developmental education interventions are effective at helping students improve their prospects in the labor market?
- Is the reviewed intervention more or less effective for certain subgroups of students (including first-generation college students, women, racial/ethnic minorities, academically underprepared students, or students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds [e.g., Pell Grant recipients], and/or community college students)?
Prior versions available for download.
Protocol Details
- Version: 4.0
- Released: August 2019
- Version: 3.1
- Released: October 2015
- Version: 3.0
- Released: November 2014
What is a Protocol?
Starting in January 2021, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) uses the Study Review Protocol in combination with the Procedures and Standards Handbook to guide reviews of all studies. In particular, the Study Review Protocol provides additional information on eligible outcome domains for all topic areas reviewed by the WWC and provides examples of outcome measures that fall within each domain.
When conducting systematic reviews, the WWC uses the Study Review Protocol to review studies and an accompanying topic area synthesis protocol to define the parameters of the systematic review. The synthesis protocol provides criteria for the literature search; guidance on how to identify and prioritize relevant studies for review and inclusion in evidence synthesis products; and guidance on intervention, sample, and outcome eligibility criteria for the synthesis.
Prior to 2021, studies were typically reviewed using a topic-specific synthesis protocol and the corresponding version of the Procedures and Standards Handbook. In addition to defining the parameters for the review, these protocols described any topic-specific applications of the design standards, such as how to establish baseline equivalence between samples when required.