Developmental education, also termed remedial education, refers to curricula intended to improve the academic skills and knowledge of students who are underprepared for undergraduate coursework, particularly in the areas of mathematics, reading, and writing. Many practitioners and researchers agree that developmental education should be improved,…

Describes six myths about reading which often result in poor reading habits and inability to complete assigned readings. (RB)

Advocates the teaching of study skills in place of speed reading in college reading programs. (RB)

Notes that as student enrollment in colleges and universities has increased, there has simultaneously been a proliferation of developmental skills programs. Presents some empirical evidence of the effectiveness of three reading skills courses. Suggests that underprepared readers' success in college is directly related to taking and passing a…

Proposes that the difficulty of many developmental/remedial college students is not a specific reading or writing problem but insufficient precollege experience with written discourse. Discusses the impact of reading instruction on writing and of writing instruction on reading. (Author/FL)

Determines whether the time of day when reading is taught has an effect on below-grade-level students' mastery of reading skills. Indicates an overall increase in mean scores for the mastery of reading skills for afternoon instruction as compared with morning instruction. (HB)

Reviews the literature in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on college reading programs. (RB)

A course for improving Dutch reading proficiency of entering university students was developed by the Linguistic and Literacy Studies department of the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands. Dutch secondary school students receive instruction in text-specific approaches to reading but no instruction in reading methodology. The course focuses on…

Analyzes students enrolled in a college developmental reading class and their use of critical literacy techniques to improve reading and writing skills. Considers three areas of students' progress: reading and writing connections, language and vocabulary, and purposes for reading. Stresses the importance of introduction and mastery of these areas…

This paper illustrates how the Kelly repertory grid and the Thomas focusing technique can be used to help teachers and learners become aware of learners' purposes for reading, and how these purposes can be used in a program for improving competencies in reading for learning. The grid elicitation and focusing techniques are briefly described. Four…

Assesses the feasibility of using a statewide database containing standardized test scores to examine the utility of developmental reading programs in Texas. Suggests that a wide range of academic experiences may pull most students up in terms of reading competence. (TB)

One reason that university students fail to achieve optimally in course work is their lack of reading skills. The higher education student needs to achieve skills appropriate to the involved task in reading. Through diagnosis, it is possible to ascertain weak links in the reading achievement of students. For students to achieve optimally from…

The performance of 35 students with low and medium reading scores who took a reading and study skills course at a community college was compared with that of 27 students who had similar reading skills (as judged on a standardized test) but who did not take the reading course. Comparisons were made in the areas of the number of semester hours each…

Describes a team effort by an historian and a college reading specialist in which volunteer undergraduate students participated in hopes of improving their history papers. Weekly sessions involved summarizing history assignments. Results indicate the importance of both reading levels and reading styles. (KC)

Presents a framework for teaching the use of context clues in reading which contains 15 strategies (6 syntactic clues and 9 semantic clues). Notes teaching suggestions. (SR)