Academically underprepared postsecondary students make up a large proportion of college campuses. Recent estimates indicate that up to 70 percent of incoming students at two-year community colleges and up to 40 percent of incoming students at four-year colleges enroll in developmental courses. There has been some criticism of the effectiveness of…

This annual newsletter contains updates on the latest CCRC research, new publications and details of upcoming presentations at major conferences. The feature article in this issue, "Addressing the Needs of Underprepared Students," by Thomas Bailey, summarizes the discussion found in the paper "Challenge and Opportunity: Rethinking…

Argues that instructors involved in academic assistance must become familiar with the academic demands their students face in different content courses. Discusses four methods to gather such information, and shows how to identify relevant strategies for students to practice with actual course texts. (SR)

Describes a philosophy course offered at East Carolina University through the Special Studies Program for marginally-admissable students. The program uses selected readings from Russell, James, Sartre, and others and the Personalized System of Instruction to build critical thinking, reading, and study skills, while introducing students to the…

Describes a basic reading course designed to meet the specific needs of the weakest basic writers enrolled in a large midwestern university with an open admissions policy. Shows how the developmental course improved the students' reading comprehension so they could better understand the texts they would encounter in college courses. (SKC)

Describes Sacramento City College's Higher Education Learning Package (HELP), which integrates reading, writing, study skills, and content instruction within the regular classroom to improve basic skills and personal development of nontraditional, high-risk students. Considers the HELP program's team-teaching approach, three-phase implementation…

Describes LaGuardia Community College's two-phase developmental studies program, which consists of a basic skills program (in which students are assigned a package of courses based on their abilities) and basic skills instruction integrated into content area courses. Covers program content and administration, teacher training, and evaluation…

Three techniques for teaching effective reading--using students' textbooks, reading modules, and individual instructional packets--have proven successful in reducing reading time while improving comprehension skills for students in a reading and study skills course at a Texas university. Students assigned to the course use their content area…

The University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire has attempted to solve the problem of underprepared freshmen by offering adjunct classes to freshman level content courses. Currently ten adjunct classes in seven departments are taught and are used to integrate the teaching of learning and study skills into the teaching of the regular course content. Two…