In 1990 Helon Howell Raines published "Is There a Writing Program in This College? Two Hundred and Thirty-Six Two-Year Schools Respond," in which she reported on her study, via survey and eight follow-up telephone interviews, of two-year college writing programs across the country. Raines asked questions about departmental and institutional…

The authors are faculty in history and English, respectively, at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York. What their students want and need, and what the institution's role in the community should be, remain open questions, with policy implications at the departmental, college, city, and even national level. Indeed, President Obama…

At the beginning of each school year, the Languages and Humanities Division at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC) meets to discuss first-year composition matters. Faculty leave the workshop renewed by the collaboration and buoyed by the promise and potential of a new semester. Yet, when classes actually begin, faculty may find that they are…

Compares models and theories of modern rhetoric and traditional composition, initially lamenting the complexities of the former and simplicity of the latter. On closer examination, the article decries the "science" of modern rhetoric, predicting an even greater departure in the future from the creative aspects of composition. (HTH)

Our students need to be able to adhere to standard written English to succeed in their other classes and to get jobs at the end of their schooling, and it's the responsibility of writing teachers to help them do so. In this article, the author provides a research-based theoretical underpinning for effective grammar instruction as well as several…

Suggests that humans discover who they are and become what they are by communicating with each other; thus, the process of communicating becomes far more important than any particular product. Advocates a rhetoric of assent that takes these assumptions into account. (other, thusBW)

Describes a method for teaching writing in which a series of passages are rewritten by the student, altered by progressively difficult transformations and manipulations, as an alternative to grammar instruction. (HTH)

Presents a five-step model for problem solving in approaching composition writing assignments. Explains how it worked in an actual classroom setting. (EL)

Questions what is going on in the highest reaches of English composition research and the distance between theories of the composition process and actual classroom practice. (CRH)

Urges the use of writing models in content area instruction to demonstrate to students exactly what they are asked to produce and suggests that content area faculty join forces with English faculty in the teaching of composition. (AEA)

Presents a theoretical model of the writing process and suggests having students create a picture collage as an introduction to the various roles and stages in the writing process. (HTH)