August 26, 2024—Washington Monthly contributing editor, senior fellow at Georgetown’s FutureEd and author of Incomplete: The Unfinished Revolution in College Remedial Education spoke with PA Director of Higher Education, Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton, about why remedial classes can be discouraging and oppressive and the progress made to remove remedial education barriers that have negatively impacted community college students for decades. Public Advocates has not only supported two bills that would eliminate these barriers and provide support for college students getting stuck in their classes but has also enforced the law to hold colleges accountable.
“Both instructors and students see remedial education as stigmatizing and demoralizing. One such critic is Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton, who is now director of higher education for Public Advocates, a California nonprofit on the front lines of developmental education reform in the state. As a student, one of her first college experiences was remedial “basic math”—starting with addition and subtraction. ‘What that does to a student and their academic confidence is terrible,” she said. “It really deters them and sets them up for failure.’”
Raad Kim’s story to learn more about our work in California and the report!
