Prepublication Manuscript. Pending final revisions, the following manuscript has been accepted for publication in the Learning Assistance Review during 2002 A Memory Sometimes Ignored:

The History of Developmental Education Often the history of Developmental Education is ignored or minimized by many higher education historians. Various reasons are postulated by the author of this article for this occurrence of memory distortion. Acknowledging the role and importance of developmental education presents potentially uncomfortable statements about the historical state of higher education. Most education historians have focused on the traditional topics and histories of the majority White male class and not those of women, students of color, and those of disadvantaged academic and economic background. The silence by some and the near oversight by many education historians concerning the long-term and widespread use of Developmental Education requires scrutiny. Overview A review of the history of developmental education and learning assistance within the United States provides an intertwined and intimate relationship with postsecondary education. “It can be asserted accurately that bridging the academic preparation gap has been a constant in the history of American higher education and that the controversy surrounding it is an American educational tradition ” (Brier, 1984, p. 2). However, there are few comprehensive historical reviews on this subject in the professional literature and when reference is made, it is often only a few sentences or paragraphs over the course of the entire manuscript. A notable exception is Curti an