The vast majority of students entering California’s community colleges are under-prepared for college, testing into "basic skills" or "developmental" classes; and many will never make it to the credit-bearing courses necessary to earn a degree. In response, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation began an initiative to identify interventions and design more effective models for teaching mathematics and literacy at this level.

In the course of its work with 11 campuses participating in the Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) initiative, Carnegie found a need for shared responsibility for developmental education. At a recent SPECC convening, Carnegie spoke with a community college president, and two others who work with basic skills education on their campuses on what it will take to transform the community college student’s experience.