This article investigates a Basic Writing program shared between a University of California campus and a local community college in which the curriculum, assessment practices, and larger programmatic structures were heavily influenced by an exit exam modeled after the UC system's Analytical Writing Placement Exam (AWPE). Drawing from scholarship…

Despite the push for all institutions of higher learning to embrace a corequisite model for writing instruction, there is limited evidence that suggests this model is desirable for all students. This study seeks to expand our understanding of the characteristics of students enrolled in Basic Writing at a 4-year comprehensive university, and the…

After eliminating a developmental writing course and creating an accelerated "Studio" composition course for basic writers, I investigated these students' needs (uninterrupted time, quiet spaces, social support, and academic help) and the resources that met those needs. Qualitative analysis of interviews with forty-nine students…

A consistent challenge of implementing blended learning is the support that students should receive when using online courseware outside of class time. For blended learning to be successful in terms of student learning, the online courseware would need to be able to support the learning of students outside of class time. An interactive, digital…

At a four-year public comprehensive university in 2017, a mandated attempt to implement a corequisite model for Basic Writing education challenged assumptions about the types of students enrolled in the existing program. Students, who by institutional placement measures (ACT scores) would be placed in First-Year Writing, were voluntarily enrolling…

This study analyzed the grammatical control of verbs exercised by 145 monolingual English and Generation 1.5 bilingual developmental writers in narrative essays using quantitative and qualitative methods. Generation 1.5 students made more errors than their monolingual peers in each category investigated, albeit in only 2 categories was the…

This article examines two course redesigns undertaken to improve student support, learning, and retention in the basic writing program at Oakland University, a doctoral research university in southeast Michigan, where support for developmental writers has fluctuated dramatically between nurture and neglect over the past fifty years. However,…

Describes and discusses the Rio Grande Holistic Scale (a grading scale developed at the Rio Grande Campus of Austin Community College). Notes that the scale has been so successful that it now undergirds the entire basic writing program, crystallizing student thinking about the process of writing, unifying grading criteria, informing course…

Presents a questionnaire that helps gather valuable information about students' attitudes toward mandatory placement in basic writing courses. Concludes that with the kind of information gleaned from responses to questionnaires similar to this one, educators can better understand the strengths and weaknesses of basic writing programs and revise…

The report discusses the findings of a study on the reading and writing demands of college-level courses at Maryland's Charles County Community College (College of Southern Maryland as of July 1, 2000). The Language and Literature Department wanted to determine whether its developmental courses were actually preparing students for the reading and…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether college juniors and seniors view their freshman-writing instruction as beneficial and to assess its impact on the writing they do within their specific disciplines. Although a great deal of theory surrounds the teaching of freshman writing, very little research has been done to assess its…

This guide is intended for use in conducting a reading lab for a broad group of workers ranging from nonreaders to persons reading at a fifth-grade level. Presented first is a course overview that includes the following: information on the course's targeted population, student selection process, and demographics; strategies for adult remediation;…

The purpose of this study was to investigate student responses to a developmental writing instructor's feedback on their writing assignments in college-preparatory writing courses at a community college. Using observation, analysis of teacher responses on a writing assignment, surveys, and interviews, the research investigated how students…

Presents preliminary results from a continuing study of academic locus of control (ALOC). Describes ALOC differences between development/nondevelopmental students, males/females, and based on class status and number of developmental courses taken. Reveals a more highly developed sense of internal control among nondevelopmental students. Includes…

Discusses barriers adult developmental-writing students face due to family, community, and work responsibilities. Explains how non-writing commitments affect the writing process, particularly by placing time constraints on students. Offers instructors classroom activities to help students contextualize their writing situations and to learn methods…