In 1990 Helon Howell Raines published "Is There a Writing Program in This College? Two Hundred and Thirty-Six Two-Year Schools Respond," in which she reported on her study, via survey and eight follow-up telephone interviews, of two-year college writing programs across the country. Raines asked questions about departmental and institutional…

The word "idea" assumed special meaning in composition studies when Stephen M. North, in "The Idea of a Writing Center," showed how an idea can evoke and ignite intense expectations and aversions surrounding literacy instruction. In particular, North lamented the "false sense of knowing" that made getting a message through (in this case, about…

Discusses the benefits in extending writing center services to teachers both for inservice training and to help instructors see themselves as writers and teachers of writing. (AEA)

Describes and discusses the Rio Grande Holistic Scale (a grading scale developed at the Rio Grande Campus of Austin Community College). Notes that the scale has been so successful that it now undergirds the entire basic writing program, crystallizing student thinking about the process of writing, unifying grading criteria, informing course…

Describes the Coastal Georgia Writing Project, a part of the National Writing Project. Argues that more two-year college English teachers should join the National Writing Project network. (HB)

Argues for a continuing focus on writing across the curriculum. Explores one community college which encouraged writing across the curriculum through a cross-curricular committee, staff development, and a common book program. Concludes that a single writing teacher or department cannot promote writing as well as such a unified effort can. (SG)

Describes the National Center for Community College Education (NCCCE) at George Mason University, which links courses about the history, philosophy, and mission of the American Community College with courses within the doctoral student's teaching discipline to prepare community college professionals. Discusses the university environment, the…

The Doctor of Arts in Community College Education (DACCE) program at George Mason University is committed to Ernest Boyer's philosophy of integration; it encourages better pedagogy and it revitalizes the two-year college classroom. This program prepares students to be leaders in undergraduate education. In addition to expertise in a selected…

Focuses on how writing center directors can use the resource of peer tutors and discusses the rationale for, the selection of, and the evaluation of tutor applicants. (AEA)

Describes several diagnostic tools used to determine specific problems of students referred to a writing lab, including structured interviews, protocols (asking a student to compose aloud for 15 to 20 minutes on a short topic), and back-pedaling (questioning what a student already knows about a given topic). (AEA)

This instructional note describes the successful application and adaptation of teacher-student conference techniques as suggested by Donald M. Murray in his book "A Writer Teaches Writing." Athanasourelis states that while he believes that Murray overestimates students' abilities when he describes the conference process as "the working talk of…

Discusses a managerial training course which uses concepts from literature to illustrate interpersonal attributes. Describes four activities to aid course participants in developing and applying managerial skills. (RS)

Describes a freshman composition course which was broadcast twice weekly over a local cable television service. Notes that despite technical problems and complicated recordkeeping procedures, the instructors found that students improved their writing skills as much as their counterparts in traditional classes. Notes that a large number of highly…

Explores issues, problems, and procedures involved in large English departments which use portfolio assessment and where part-timers and full-timers need to collaborate in this process. Offers recommendations involving the relationship of part-time and full-time teachers in such programs. (SR)

Describes an innovative curriculum project at Piedmont Community College in North Carolina called CONCUR, which designed classes specifically for developmental students, applying the principles of contextual learning by creating the context of a publishing company. Discusses motivation, grading, the reading workshop, providing books, pages…