As part of a study conducted by the Learning Assessment Retention Consortium to develop a student outcomes evaluation model, data were collected on the characteristics and skill levels of 7,500 remedial writing students from 29 community colleges in Fall 1986. Three methods of data collection were used: pre-testing of reading comprehension, "sentence sense," and writing ability; pre-testing for measurement of student educational goal satisfaction; and data collection from college records for determining student persistence and performance. This preliminary report provides a description of findings from the pre-tests and pre-questionnaire and describes students in the sample in regard to their initial skills levels and their demographics. These findings include the following: (1) the study sample was comprised primarily of day students, young in age, attending full-time, desiring to transfer to four-year colleges, and taking the remedial writing course to acquire the skills necessary to advance in postsecondary education; (2) the students' assessment test scores indicated that they were accurately and consistently placed in appropriate level courses and that skill levels did not vary greatly among colleges; (3) minority groups were overrepresented in the remedial writing classes; (4) there were more females in the higher-level English courses; (5) more than half of all students were under 20 years of age; and (6) over 50% had been enrolled in an English writing course within the last year. The bulk of the report consists of college detail tables. The appendices include a list of the college participants with enrollments given; an interpretation of the reading and writing scores; and copies of the pre- and post-questionnaires. (LAL)