Book excerpt: The purpose of this study was to examine current policies and practices in developmental mathematics education in public, two-year institutions of higher education in Missouri. The study focused on: the organizational structure of developmental mathematics programs; the policies and practices of developmental mathematics programs with regard to assessment and placement, transferability of credits, and academic support services; the evaluation of developmental mathematics programs; and the professional development of developmental mathematics faculty and staff. These four program components were chosen because these components were among those most frequently mentioned in the literature as being related to the highest number of success measures and have been identified as the components that ought to be considered a minimum for a fully effective developmental education program. The literature review discussed the historical background of developmental education in the United States, the debate over the need for developmental education, K-16 coalitions, the organizational structure, policies and practices, evaluation of developmental education programs, and the professional development of faculty and staff in developmental education programs. Methodology was presented and included the research questions, the development and instrumentation of the survey instrument, and population and data collection. The research design used a mixed model of quantitative and qualitative components.