The developmental student is the fastest growing population on college campuses today and one of the least understood. As advisors, we have preconceived notions of these students and therefore we don't always understand their needs. We may look at their ASSEST or ACT scores and feel that they don't even belong in college. We give students with low scores the label of "developmental"; meaning that they are not ready to take mainstream courses such as English Composition I or College Algebra. We say that these students are not academically ready for college. We get so busy looking at their deficiencies that we forget to look at their strengths. Not only do we forget to look at their strengths, but they do also. These students are not lost causes. In fact, they can turn into academic scholars with the right advisor.
Developmental advisors have an opportunity to change how a student sees themselves and how an institution sees them. The right environment is crucial. If an advisor can make a student feel cared about and supported anything is possible. It is amazing to watch a student who is underprepared academically and who doesn't think highly of himself change when he has someone who believes in him. The fear of failure begins to be minimized in this students mind because someone believes that he can succeed.
The characteristics of underprepared students are many. Pritchard and Bloushild (1970) found these traits to be common (a) lack of academic potential, (b) inadequate understanding of the work required for college success, (c) failure to make studying the first priority, (d) interference from psychological problems, (e) failure to assume responsibility for learning and success, (f) poor communication, and (g) failure to select a college where they can be successful. Maxwell (1979) saw developmental students as those "whose skills, knowledge, and academic ability are significantly below those of the ‘typical' student in the college or curriculum in which they are enrolled". Groves and Groves (1981) and Moore and Carpenter (1985) went even further to say "it is inaccurate to assume that these students are of lower intelligence or that given the right conditions they cannot achieve success in higher education. Their previous experiences as students, particularly their secondary school experience, has often resulted in low academic self concept, lack of specific educational goals, and poor academic skills." Knowing these characteristics, we can understand the needs of these students. Until we understand their needs, we will be ill equipped to help them. As advisors we may look at an underprepared student who is sitting in our office trying to wiggle his way out of a reading, writing, or math class as lazy. By knowing the common traits of underprepared students we can understand that they are not lazy. They are afraid of failure. Many of these students have had more failures than successes in their academic career. Because this has been the rule rather than the exception, these students often avoid situations that could potentially be hard or turn into failures. Saunders and Ervin (1984) reported that underprepared students often have "difficulties with educational planning, an unrealistic image of the purpose of school and study, lack of career focus, high levels of career anxiety in test situations, and low family values for higher education, particularly among first-generation college students." Saunders and Ervin also found that some students suffered from an inability to determine how much to study, had a fear of asking questions, had difficulty in completing academic tasks, and had stress related to academic performance. Now that we better understand the developmental student we can move on to how to advise this growing population.
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