I. How old is the problem of underpreparedness
A. On most American college and university campuses developmental education programs, faculty and students are regarded as late arrivals‹a phenomenon produced by 1960s egalitarianism and the subsequent open door admissions policies of public colleges and universities. College administrators, legislators, and the public believe that the problem of underpreparedness is a recent one‹one that results from the shortcomings of American public education of the last two decades. Unfortunately, most developmental educators would probably agree with these views even though they are, for the most part, inaccurate.
B. A more accurate view would be that developmental education programs and the underprepared students they serve are not new to higher education. Large numbers of students have been unprepared for the institutions they have attended. The field of developmental education is simply the modern version of past efforts to respond to the fact that, at their point of entry, many college students are unable to succeed without some sort of special assistance. It also represents the most recent version of American higher education’s long-standing commitment to providing access to college for all those who might profit from it.
C. Emerging state universities, small private colleges and long established prestigious institutions of higher education have all faced the dilemma of the inadequately prepared student. Institutions have had to address such questions as: What should be the role of institutions of higher education in regard to the underprepared student? Should universities admit students who are not adequately prepared for college? Should colleges and universities engage in providing academic preparation for the academically underprepared student? Should institutions of higher education offer academic work considered to be on a precollegiate level?
1. In his 1869 inaugural address as president of Harvard, Charles Eliot responded to these questions and stated that “The American college is obliged to supplement the American school. Whatever elementary instruction the schools fail to give, the college must supply.” Many American institutions of higher education have assumed the role of educating the underprepared student.
D. American institutions of higher education admitted students considered by the faculty and administration to be far below the acceptable college level long before the advent of open admissions. It is possible to establish the presence of underprepared students in American colleges since their beginnings in the early seventeenth century.
II. Colonial period
A. The first American college to be established was Harvard in 1636. It was really more comparable to a secondary school than to an institution of higher education. When it opened it was immediately confronted with a need for remediating many of its students because, like European universities, Latin was the language of instruction and of books. Many freshmen arrived without a working knowledge of Latin.
B. Consequently, it was necessary for those who wished to attend Harvard College to study Latin before they could be successful in their studies. Harvard responded by providing tutors in Latin for incoming students. The provision of such tutorial assistance may rightly be regarded as the first remedial education effort in North America‹the earliest antecedent of current developmental education in American higher education. The use of books written in Latin and the use of Latin as a language of instruction continued until after the American Revolution when English language texts and instruction became widespread. Until this happened, tutorials in Latin were a prominent feature of American colleges.
C. Eight other colleges were established during the colonial period. Like Harvard, most were established for the preservation and transmission of an intellectual culture and heritage, the education of clergy and the education of an elite class who would govern and lead society and who would make the difference between civilization and barbarians.
D. Most of the students came from wealthy aristocratic families. At that time wealth and social status, more than ability, determined who went to college. College attendance was limited to white males with the exception of a very few Native American males who studied at some of the colleges. Some students had academic abilities and interests; some did not. Many students arrived at college without a working knowledge of Latin. Latin tutorials were provided in all of the colleges.
III. Jacksonian period
A. One of the major political and philosophical forces in the United States from the early- to mid-nineteenth century was “Jacksonian Democracy.” One of its hallmarks was an appreciation of the common man combined with an effort to serve his needs and aspirations through government. The Jacksonian Period” lasted from 1824 to 1848, the period between the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency and the election of Zachary Taylor—the latter marking the decline of Jacksonian Ideals.
