A study developed an objective approach to measuring the effects of collaborative learning techniques, and assessed the impact of collaborative learning on reducing writing problems for developmental students. One-hundred two developmental English students participated in an experimental writing class that used only collaborative learning techniques. The study measured the effects of collaborative learning on sentence structure, word usage, verb form, and an overview of the writing samples through the category of problems detected. Results indicated that collaborative learning appears to have a greater impact in the areas of sentence length, the use of passive voice, the use of the verb "to be," and overall number of problems. There seems to be less impact in the areas of coordination and subordination, and the impact in the word usage areas is inconclusive. Results also demonstrated a need for better grammar-checking computer software for use in future objective-qualitative studies. Finally, findings suggest the validity of the conventional subjective attitude among developmental instructors that developmental students are not necessarily inferior in any intrinsic way, and appears to indicate that, overall, collaborative learning has a positive effect on the writing skills of developmental students. (Eleven tables of data are included.) (PRA)