An Examination of the Relationship and Correlations Among Standardized Reading Test Scores, the Academic Success of Students, and the Completion of a Remedial Reading Course at a Mid-Sized Suburban Community College

While considerable attention is focused on the role of community colleges in educating the nation’s workforce, concerns pervade regarding the growing number of students whose basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics are insufficient to support success at the college-level. Community colleges contend with limited resources as they endeavor to provide opportunities to underprepared students who aspire to higher education. In order to support student success while containing costs, community colleges must examine the effectiveness of developmental program offerings. Using a quasi-experimental design, this quantitative study explored whether relationships exist between students’ scores on a standardized test in reading and the success of students at a mid-sized suburban community college and whether the successful completion of a remedial reading course affects student success. The definition of success in the study included student persistence as demonstrated through consecutive semesters of enrollment as well as by academic performance. Regression analyses were used to investigate whether reading test scores could be shown to be determinants of students\u27 success. The study\u27s findings suggest that standardized reading test results are not predictors of persistence or short-term academic success at the course level, but that they may be significantly related to grade point average at graduation