We pilot tested an identity-based relevance-writing intervention designed to support developmental community college students' (N = 54) educational commitment, value, and persistence. The intervention was embedded within regular journal assignments in two study skills courses with a third section serving as a comparison group. The intervention…

Student writers labeled "underprepared" by colleges often have trouble imagining themselves as scholars. Challenges these students routinely encounter include difficulty forming original insights and translating ideas to the page. Although the usage of the term "underprepared" varies across institutional contexts, the…

As an instructor of the developmental reading and writing course at Texas State University, Barrie McGee is required per state mandate to design a course as an accelerated version of an integrated reading and writing (IRW) course. Furthermore, she is uniquely positioned as a student enrolled in the program in developmental education to access…

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the impact of project-based learning on the writing, communication and interpersonal skills of students in a college skills course. This course was required for students who were enrolled in at least one or more developmental courses. The purpose of this course was to equip the students…

This article details the efforts that the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) office at a large research university made toward piloting, refining, and scaling corequisite courses for students who require developmental education. House Bill 2223, passed by the Texas Legislature in June of 2017, requires public institutions to increase the percentage of…

As part of the Community College Research Center's (CCRC) Analysis of Statewide Developmental Education Reform Learning Assessment Study, Wake Technical Community College's partner team believes the recommendation and implications in the CCRC's Developmental Reading and English Assessment in a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership. Working Paper No.…

This article describes a two-semester study of mixed (native and non-native speaking) writing groups in developmental college writing classes. The teacher assigned and observed writing activities and collected survey and interview data to determine the impact on the students' perceived writing abilities and attitudes toward paired and small group…

This article presents strategies for using two types of essay-writing rubrics in a developmental English class of students transitioning into college-level writing. One checklist rubric is student-facing, designed to serve as a guide for students throughout the writing process and as a self-assessment tool. The other checklist rubric is…

Students taking developmental mathematics courses resist attempting word problems when they are presented to them. Although word problems can help students contextualize learning, develop better understanding of the concepts and apply world knowledge, they constitute an impediment to students' progress in developmental mathematics courses. A…

This qualitative research study was aimed at examining the experiences and perceptions of students at a four-year college in New York City who were enrolled in an integrated reading and writing course designed to help students connect the literacy skills learned in the course to other contexts. Focusing on three students enrolled in the course,…

Development of intercultural skills is recognized as an essential outcome of a college education, but in order to facilitate students' growth effectively, we must understand the points of the developmental journey at which students enter the college classroom. This study tests four hypotheses developed on the basis of leading models of…

This article adds to existing literatures on "developmental students," or those placing into non-credit-bearing reading and/or writing classes, by exploring their own personal experiences of attending community college. The findings of this qualitative study, based on a set of semistructured interviews with 18 developmental students in…

Some teaching strategies grow out of the curricula educators inherit or develop through professional reading; others originate in the aromatic humus of their autobiographies. This article presents a proposal that has its origins in the latter. The author recognized that what delights her in prose or poetry is the figurative language a writer uses…

Developmental composition courses serve a sizable and growing number of Generation 1.5 students, or long-term U.S. resident language learners, and it is believed that language challenges may be part of Generation 1.5 writers' difficulty in controlling the academic register. The current study investigates possible similarities and differences…

The number of linguistically and culturally diverse students has been rapidly increasing in the United States. English language learner (ELL) enrollment has increased more than 50 percent from 1995-1996 to 2005-2006, composing about 10 percent of the total number of Pre-K-12 enrollment. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that 40 percent of the…