A Good Start?: The Impact of Texas’ Developmental Summer Bridge Program on Student Success
Abstract
Summer bridge programs have long been utilized by postsecondary institutions to improve the college readiness of students; however, the research on their effectiveness is limited. This study presents evidence from an experimental study of one summer bridge program model specifically designed for recent high school graduates who placed into developmental education. The program took place at eight open access colleges in Texas during the summer of 2009, and participants were followed for two academic years. To provide needed context, we first describe site selection, random assignment, and program implementation. Quantitative results indicate that the program had no effect on the average number of credits attempted and earned or student persistence in postsecondary education. The program did have an impact on first college-level course completion in math (p < 0.05) and to a lesser extent writing (p < 0.10); there was no impact on first college-level course completion in reading. Our findings are consistent with those of other rigorously evaluated programs for developmental education students and suggest that persistence in postsecondary education is a complex issue that cannot be solved with any one program.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
(2002) · Cited by 13,211 · see citing works
Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2009) · doi:10.1515/9781400829828 · Cited by 9,467 · see citing works
Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition
Bean, J. P., & Tinto, V. (1988) · The Journal of Higher Education · doi:10.2307/1982243 · Cited by 7,408 · see citing works
(2005) · Cited by 3,554 · see citing works
Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition
Schwartz, S. J., & Tinto, V. (1987) · Academe · doi:10.2307/40250027 · Cited by 2,763 · see citing works
(2006) · US Department of Education · Cited by 1,586 · see citing works
How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research
Bray, N. J. (2006) · The Journal of General Education · doi:10.2307/27798045 · Cited by 1,537 · see citing works
(2005) · Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley · Cited by 1,462 · see citing works
Methods of Educational and Social Science Research: An Integrated Approach
Krathwohl, D. R. (1992) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 918 · see citing works
Referral, enrollment, and completion in developmental education sequences in community colleges
Bailey, T., Jeong, D. W., & Cho, S.-W. (2010) · Economics of Education Review · doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2009.09.002 · Cited by 845 · see citing works
Going to college: How social, economic and educational factors influence the decisions students make
Scott, C. H. (2001) · Economics of Education Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7757(99)00074-6 · Cited by 772 · see citing works
New Evidence on College Remediation
Attewell, P. A., Lavin, D. E., Domina, T., & Levey, T. G. (2006) · The Journal of Higher Education · doi:10.1353/jhe.2006.0037 · Cited by 732 · see citing works
Differences in the Decision to Attend College among African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites
Perna, L. W. (2000) · The Journal of Higher Education · doi:10.2307/2649245 · Cited by 647 · see citing works
Bailey, T. (2009) · New Directions for Community Colleges · doi:10.1002/cc.352 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Addressing the Needs of Under-Prepared Students in Higher Education: Does College Remediation Work?
Bettinger, E., & Long, B. T. (2005) · doi:10.3386/w11325 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
College and University 1975–1986
(2023) · Bloomsbury Academic eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781350295865.ch-022 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
College knowledge: what it really takes for students to succeed and what we can do to get them ready
(2005) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.43-1711 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
Paulsen, M. B., Hossler, D., Schmit, J., & Vesper, N. (2001) · The Journal of Higher Education · doi:10.2307/2649342 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Help or Hindrance? The Effects of College Remediation on Academic and Labor Market Outcomes
Martorell, P., & McFarlin, I. (2010) · The Review of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1162/rest_a_00098 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
(1986) · College and university · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Strayhorn, T. L. (2010) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764210381871 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Calcagno, J. C., Crosta, P. M., Bailey, T., & Jenkins, D. (2007) · Research in Higher Education · doi:10.1007/s11162-007-9053-8 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Boatman, A., & Long, B. T. (2018) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.3102/0162373717715708 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Paths to Persistence: An Analysis of Research on Program Effectiveness at Community Colleges
Bailey, T. R., & Alfonso, M. (2005) · doi:10.7916/d89s1p3r · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Remediation in the Community College
Levin, H. M., & Calcagno, J. C. (2007) · Community College Review · doi:10.1177/0091552107310118 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Increasing Access to College: Extending Possibilities for All Students
Tierney, W. G., & Hagedorn, L. S. (2002) · State University of New York Press eBooks · doi:10.1353/book4530 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
The Social Prerequisites of Success: Can College Structure Reduce the Need for Social Know-How?
Deil‐Amen, R., & Rosenbaum, J. E. (2003) · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/0002716202250216 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Increasing Access to College: Extending Possibilities for All Students
Tierney, W. G., & Hagedorn, L. S. (2002) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 147 · see citing works
First Year Seminars Produce Long-Term Impact
Schnell, C. A., & Doetkott, C. D. (2003) · Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory & Practice · doi:10.2190/nkpn-8b33-v7cy-l7w1 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
(2019) · Review of higher education/The review of higher education · doi:10.1353/rhe.2019.0082 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Bridge to Success: Insight Into Summer Bridge Program Students' College Transition
Walpole, M., Simmerman, H., Mack, C., Mills, J., Scales, M., & Albano, D. (2008) · Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition · doi:10.65005/154230708813694883 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Murphy, T. E., Gaughan, M., Hume, R., & Moore, S. G. (2010) · Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis · doi:10.3102/0162373709360064 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Bahr, P. R. (2009) · Review of higher education/The review of higher education · doi:10.1353/rhe.0.0128 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Effectiveness of Summer Bridge Programs in Enhancing College Readiness
Kallison, J. M., & Stader, D. L. (2012) · Community College Journal of Research and Practice · doi:10.1080/10668920802708595 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Shape Up or Ship Out: The Effects of Remediation on Students at Four-Year Colleges
Bettinger, E., & Long, B. T. (2004) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w10369 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Summer Bridge: Improving Retention Rates for Underprepared Students
Garcia, P. (1991) · Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition · doi:10.65005/154230791813696564 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Visher, M. G., Weiss, M. J., Weissman, E., Rudd, T., & Wathington, H. D. (2012) · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Benefits of Summer Bridge Programs for Underrepresented and Low-Income Students.
Ackermann, S. P. (1991) · College and university · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Bettinger, E., & Long, B. T. (2005) · National Bureau of Economic Research · Cited by 46 · see citing works
College Knowledge: What it Really Takes for Students to Succeed and what we can do to Get them Ready
McManus, A. (2006) · Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education · doi:10.1177/016146810610800511 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
McCormick, A. C. (1999) · Education statistics quarterly · Cited by 38 · see citing works
The Benefits of College Discovery Prefreshman Summer Program for Minority and Low Income Students.
Rita, E. S., & Bacote, J. B. (1996) · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Unsuccessful and Successful Mathematics Learning: Developmental Students' Perceptions
Howard, L., & Whitaker, M. L. (2011) · Journal of developmental education · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Sparks, D., & Malkus, N. (2013) · National Center for Education Statistics · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Summer Bridge Programs: Supporting All Students. ERIC Digest.
Kezar, A. J. (2000) · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Early Intervention Programs: Opening the Door to Higher Education. ERIC Digest.
Fenske, R. H., Geranios, C. A., Keller, J. E., & Moore, D. E. (1997) · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Investing Early: Intervention Programs in Selected U.S. States. Millennium Research Series.
Cunningham, A. F., Redmond, C., & Merisotis, J. P. (2003) · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Student Recruitment into Postsecondary Educational Program
Pretlow, J. (2013) · Community College Journal of Research and Practice · doi:10.1080/10668926.2013.790306 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationToward a more accurate cost of developmental education: An update of Breneman & Haarlow (1998)
Pretlow, J., & Wathington, H. D. (2010) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationWathington, H. D., Pretlow, J., & Mitchell, C. (2010) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citation(1993)
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Still being checked.
- Authors
- Wathington, H., Pretlow, J., & Barnett, E.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University (US)
- ORCID
- Pretlow, Joshua
- Venue
- The Journal of Higher Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016
- Volume
- 87
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 150-177
- ISSN
- 0022-1546 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4640
- OpenAlex
- W2254658312
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 11.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Higher Education (publishedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › Mathematics Education and Programs
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and Military Integration
- Keywords
- summer bridge programs, remedial education, college readiness, student persistence, high school graduates
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review