History of Supplemental Instruction (SI): Mainstreaming of developmental education

Abstract

Postsecondary institutions throughout the nation’s history have provided developmental education and learning assistance programs to meet the academic standards expected of admitted college students. This history of developmental education provides a context for the creation of the Supplemental Instruction (SI) model in 1973 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to meet immediate needs at the institution due to a high attrition rate among students enrolled in professional schools. The national, and eventually international, dissemination of the SI model was due to it meeting similar needs at other institutions as well. SI has become a widely adopted method of mainstreaming the best practices of developmental education with college-level courses.