For decades, colleges and universities have been grappling with the task of closing the readiness gap for underprepared writers entering the higher education system. Traditional developmental education models are costly and inefficient at best, and detrimental to the matriculation of students at worst. Bridge programs have had moderate success,…

This paper considers the impact of technological processes on human thought, specifically the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on writing instruction. The main purpose of this paper is to present instructional considerations that will elevate human voice and reduce student temptations to turn to AI unreasonably to produce a piece of…

This study was conducted to specifically analyze the experiences of Haitian students during their college developmental education writing classes. The rationale was to fill the gap with scientific knowledge about better ways to help developmental education writing students since there is a need to improve their success rate. The following research…

Tableau Theatre is an instructional method that fulfills two of the most timely needs in developmental education today: enhancing student motivation and providing engaging learning activities. As a form of highly contextualized learning, the use of total body engagement stimulates brain activity, a prerequisite for learning and allows space for a…

This retrospective article presents the results of a pilot study on student perceptions of a corequisite model for developmental writing. Qualitative survey data was collected at the beginning, middle, and end of Fall 2013 at a large public university in central Texas. A total of 21 students participated in this study. Eleven students who were…

This paper describes a corequisite pairing of Integrated Reading and Writing (INRW) and Humanities (HUMA) 1301 taught at San Jacinto College North in Houston, Texas. The authors describe their planning process, which combined course learning outcomes with cognitive theory and best-practice resources for effective teaching. These complementary…

The state of Colorado is committed to closing the attainment gap and strengthening its economic fabric. Policy changes in required cut scores for college admission have been designed to facilitate a smoother transition from high school to higher education, particularly for students with developmental writing needs. This study utilized a cluster…

This dissertation study examines new strategies for building a critical, liberatory curriculum in Developmental Writing (DW) courses. It addresses the research question: "What benefits will students demonstrate and describe when experiencing a critical asset-based curriculum, and what would a specific course lesson look like that reflects…

Research suggests that far more students are referred to developmental education courses than necessary, and that developmental education presents a barrier to students' success. As a result, many in the field have called for reforms to developmental education to address these challenges. This report documents developmental education practices…

Executive Order (EO) 1110, a major policy adopted by the California State University System (CSU) Chancellor's Office in August 2017, requires CSU campuses to eliminate non-credit-bearing developmental courses in written communication and math/quantitative reasoning, and change how students are placed into entry-level courses in these areas. The…

Only 25% to 38% of secondary education graduates in the United States are proficient readers or writers but many continue to postsecondary education, where they take developmental education courses designed to help them improve their basic academic skills. However, outcomes are poor for this population, and one problem may be that approaches to…

Research suggests that far more students are referred to developmental education courses than necessary, and that developmental education presents a barrier to students' success. As a result, many in the field have called for reforms to developmental education to address these challenges. This report documents developmental education practices…

This article reports a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that use regression discontinuity to examine the effects of placement into developmental education. Results suggest that placement into developmental education is associated with effects that are negative, statistically significant, and substantively large for three outcomes:…

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…

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate a measure of motivation for use with basic college writers that would measure self-efficacy, achievement goals, beliefs, and affect. As part of a design research project on curriculum for community college developmental writing classes, 133 students in 11 classes completed the motivation…