Claiming A Seat At The Table In Defense Of Developmental Education: Constructing Common Ground Through Community And Reflection

This qualitative research study was timed to begin with the implementation of a developmental education policy, the Multiple Measures for Placement Policy, that directly impacted community colleges in North Carolina in the Fall of 2016. Despite a multitude of mandatory obligations at Mountain Community College, participants in the research study formed a community of interaction, founded on social constructionism’s tenets of educational inquiry, to examine current misperceptions related to students enrolled in or bypassing developmental education. Through a series of four professional development sessions focused on reflective inquiry, and by way of insider action research, members of the community discovered that their differences dissolved in light of common challenges. They shared and employed best practices, extended their conceptions of students and community, felt emboldened to speak up, and created a metacognitive ripple effect that positively influenced the campus-at-large.