Developmental education is designed to provide students with weak academic skills the opportunity to strengthen those skills enough to prepare them for college-level coursework. The concept is simple enough--students who arrive unprepared for college are provided instruction to bring them up to an adequate level. In practice, developmental…

When scholars write about their research in writing programs' archives, they often face the ethical question of whether to name the administrators who were involved in documents. The author identifies and provides examples of three basic orientations to this issue, which he calls overt-historical, covert-qualitative, and hybrid-institutional.…

Kaplan Educational Centers and Sylvan Learning Centers, private remedial instruction programs, are being used increasingly to move students through college remedial programs more quickly, either through oversight or teaching. One uses its own instructors; the other hires teachers already employed by client colleges. Some find the services…

Successful college instruction programs have two features that are associated with increased grade point averages and retention: (1) they are comprehensive and meet student needs, and (2) they are better institutionalized into the academic mainstream of the college or university. Several program characteristics are crucial to learning improvement,…

Remedial or developmental courses are the most common policy instruments used to assist underprepared postsecondary students who are not ready for college-level coursework. However, despite its important role in higher education and its substantial costs, there is little rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of college remediation on the outcomes…

Papers presented at the 1980 National Conference on Reasoning, Piaget, and Higher Education are presented which address the implications of Piaget's research on the teaching of reasoning skills in higher education. Contents include the following: "Piaget: An Agenda, Not an Answer for the 80s," by Catherine M. Warrick; "Project…

Issues pertaining to research on college reading and study skills programs are analyzed, based on a literature review. It is suggested that before educators can provide quality instruction, they need to differentiate practices that are conducive to learning. Evaluative criteria are needed to make such decisions, as well as to design and evaluate…