Welcome!

Welcome to the new DEI website and blog! Our updated, more outwardly focused website will accommodate a growing number of requests from practitioners outside of the initiative to share in what we’re learning. The majority of our resources are now available on the public side of the website. Here at the “Accelerating Achievement” blog you’ll find posts about current news, learning, and research as well as highlights of the work that’s being done in DEI colleges and states. We’ll share our viewpoint on how this learning can be taken up on other campuses and states—and we hope you’ll share your perspective, too.

We’ll update weekly—and as inspiration strikes. But just to show you all of the impressive happenings, we’ll be posting even more frequently for the next two weeks. Our blog entries will focus on eight main topics:

• Statewise. DEI’s state policy teams, coordinated by Jobs For the Future, are pushing state community college systems and legislatures to change outdated and cumbersome rules, funding, and incentive structures that stand in the way of innovation. Look here for examples of how policy teams and front-line innovators are working together.
• Talking About Dev Ed. Varied definitions and passionate opinions can make conversations about developmental education tricky, so we’re developing messaging strategies that practitioners, college leaders, and policymakers can use to garner support. We’ll share them here.
• In the News. We’ll keep an eye on media coverage of developmental education—and spice it up with a little analysis and conversation starters.
• Scaling Up. MDC is harvesting the latest thinking on scaling from the social innovation and enterprise field. We’ll serve it up here, calling attention to tools and resources that can help colleges and states increase the impact of their innovation.
• Innovation Highlight. Colleges inside and outside the Initiative are developing new strategies to get students through dev ed successfully. In this section, we’ll get the inside scoop on all that innovation.
• Tales of Technical Assistance. Our colleges are making use of the DEI Technical Assistance Providers to overcome barriers to expanding effective programs. We’ll spotlight some successes on the loop of continuous improvement.
• DEI Dispatches. There’s a lot going on in the DEI network of colleges, states, and partners. We’ll be highlighting learnings from our exchanges of information and ideas here. 

If you have any feedback or ideas about how we can make this blog more informative or interesting, please be in touch. We’re excited. Can you tell? If you’ve got recommendations about people, innovations, or anything else we need to know about, send us an email.

Maggie Shelton is MDC's Senior Program Director for the Developmental Education Initiative.