Research has shown upwards of 40% of adult learners entering community college may need developmental education intervention in reading and writing skills. Of those who enroll in developmental education, a large portion will never receive college-level credit and will leave the community college. This research investigated a compressed reading and…

This study investigates the critical literacy practices of adult learners at a community college. Student participants were selected from four different leveled reading courses. In this study, four guiding questions that were adopted from Klenner and Sandretto (2011): (1) How do students make personal connections to text?; (2) In what ways do…

Effective engagement with course readings can provide a pathway to success for students in higher education. However, only about one-third of college students are completing assigned readings and among those who do, many students struggle with successful interpretation and analysis of the content (Intersegmental Committee of the Academic Senates…

Researchers, organizations, companies, non-profits, practitioners, and to some extent, the public, are clamoring for massive reform in developmental coursework in higher education (American Association of Community Colleges, 2018; Edgecombe et al., 2014; Complete College America, 2012). One such reform is the push for integrated reading and…

The traditional textbook model is problematic for students who either buy expensive textbooks and add to their already considerable student debt, opt out of buying expensive textbooks, or opt out of enrolling in courses known to require expensive textbooks. Switching to open textbooks directly addresses these problems by decreasing costs, removing…

The ability to read in a second language (L2) for academic purposes is essential for higher education students. Dutch colleges increasingly use materials in English or teach in English. This can be challenging for L2 readers, especially students entering higher education from vocational studies, who may have less experience with L2 academic…

With the developmental education (DE) reform movement at postsecondary still apace, this qualitative study seeks to understand the policy impacts of Florida Senate Bill 1720, major legislation mandating developmental education reform in the state of Florida. The body of literature thus far has focused on quantitative analyses of secondary data…

This research project addresses the decline in student engagement, retention, and academic performance in a college Reading 100 course at a local community college in Arizona over a threeyear period. Catering to students with low reading proficiency, including international students learning English, the course faced new challenges brought on by…

The workforce system offers work readiness training through nearly 2,400 American Job Centers (AJCs) nationwide. However, people in recovery can face unique barriers to employment not covered in traditional work readiness curricula. New Hampshire has a work readiness program called WorkReadyNH, which it offered free of charge to customers…

The traditional remedial, stand-alone reading and writing courses at one community college were redesigned to create a single integrated reading and writing developmental course (IRW). Unlike a truly accelerated course, this IRW course combined two courses at the same level and therefore highlights the impact of integrating reading and writing.…

More U.S. community college students are enrolling without the requisite reading skills to be successful. Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students are following a similar pattern with a little less than half requiring remedial instruction when entering college. College-age readers were the first population that we studied to learn about reading and…

Complex noun phrases (CNP) are a major vehicle of academic written discourse (Halliday, 1988/2004). However, despite the view that they pose significant challenges to English language learners, they are rarely taught in college-based English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs, especially for the purposes of improving reading comprehension. This…

An increasing number of students are enrolling in colleges underprepared for the demands of college-level coursework. There is a need for innovative approaches for developmental reading instruction to improve long-term academic and career success. The purpose of this study was to investigate adult developmental reading students' attitudes…

Student's low reading and writing proficiency in higher education has been the subject of a large body of research (e.g., Bahr, 2011; Bailey, 2010; Carlino, 2005, 2010, 2012; Flink, 2017; Jaggars, 2014 Pacello, 2014; Perin, 2011; Perin et al., 2013). The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how students in a first-year developmental…

Twenty adult ESL students at a community college participated in a semester reading intervention. Participants received a modified extensive reading treatment, and some participants received an additional repeated reading direct instruction reading intervention. The author examined the impact of the reading interventions on ESL students' reading…