Pre-College Education Research Reports

Research and policy perspectives on enrollment and outcomes for students participating in pre-college (developmental or remedial) programs and Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST).

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Pre-College Education

• Precollege Education and First Year Outcomes, April 2018
• Role of Pre-College (Developmental and Remedial) Education 2009-10 Public High School Graduates Who Enroll in Washington (Research Report 12-02, December 2012)
  This report describes pre-college enrollments for students attending community and technical colleges within the first year after graduating high school and total state-supported pre-college enrollments for all students in 2010-11.
• Role of Pre-College (Developmental and Remedial) Education 2008-09 Public High School Graduates Who Enroll in Washington Community and Technical Colleges in 2009-10 (Research Report 11-03, revised April 2012)
  This report describes pre-college enrollments for students attending community and technical colleges within the first year after graduating high school and total state-supported pre-college enrollments for all students in 2009-10.

Basic Skills and I-BEST

• Guiding students from basic education through college and beyond (Research Report 20-1, March 2020) Basic education adult students who transition to college-level have been part of our first-time college cohort in our earlier reports; however, their participation and results have not been disaggregated and reported separately. In this report we identify 10,915 basic education students who are included in an overall population of 105,720 first-time in college students who started between 2010 and 2013. This time period provides an early-baseline for our reform initiative.
• High School 21+ Outcomes This report examines early outcomes for Washington’s High School 21+ program, comparing demographics, postsecondary completion, and employment placement rates with outcomes data of those passing the GED®. 
• 2012 I-BEST Review: Lessons Being Learned from Traditional Programs and New Innovations - Next Steps and Issues for Scaling Up (Research Report 12-01, June 2012)
  This paper examines both the early results of I-BEST for Developmental Education (I-BEST for Dev Ed) programs in nine colleges and the results of a longer-term look at the traditional I-BEST Professional-Technical model.
• Contextualized College Transition Strategies for Adult Basic Skills Students: Learning from Washington State’s I-BEST Program Model (CCRC Publication, December 2012)
  This report seeks to understand aspects of the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program that best support student learning, progression, and completion. 
• How I-BEST Works: Findings from a Field Study of Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (CCRC Publication, September 2010)
  Quantitative analyses of the I-BEST model indicate that the program is effective in improving educational outcomes. This report is geared toward college administrators and higher education officials interested in implementing similar programs. It describes how colleges in Washington state implement I-BEST and how I-BEST programs operate.