After years of poor Accuplacer scores slotting thousands of students into developmental math and English, officials at some Massachusetts community colleges are being encouraged to consider alternative measures of college readiness. The goal: to get more students enrolled in credit-bearing classes — and, if all goes right, improve completion rates across the state.

The path to college and career success begins before students ever set foot on campus.

Across the country, community colleges are pushing to reduce the number of students enrolled in remedial math courses. But are all of the learners enrolled in remedial math really that far behind? Or did they simply fail to adequately prepare for the placement test? A new study from Columbia University’s Community College Research Center considers the problem of student preparation.