This is a review of evidence for contextualization, defined here as an instructional approach connecting foundational skills and college-level content. Two forms of contextualization are identified, "contextualized" and "integrated" instruction. Despite methodological limitations, the available studies suggest that contextualization has the…

As the state emerges from another recession, jobs that remain and those opening require workers with higher-order skills most often acquired in postsecondary education. Increasing numbers of adults look to community colleges to learn those skills and to find a way out of a cycle of low paying, unstable jobs. Even workers with years of experience…

Pueblo Community College has 13 correctional facilities within its service area. Former offenders are faced with numerous challenges that may prevent them from successfully redirecting their lives. The current three-year recidivism rate in Colorado is 53.2%. Data collected at the end of the first year of the HOPE Bridge Program indicates that…

In this Brief the authors first report on evidence about the effectiveness (or, unfortunately, in too many cases, the ineffectiveness) of remediation and then provide information about the progression of students through the developmental sequence. They discuss problems associated with the crucial assessments and make a brief statement about…

Based on a review of research and literature on student academic performance, provides an overview of the state of basic skills (developmental) instruction in the two-year college. Discusses the characteristics of successful basic skills programs. (DMM)

In spring 1984, a study was conducted at Sacramento City College (SCC) to explore whether students' reading and study skills improved after participation in an "adjunct" skills course (i.e., a team-taught course which presents reading, writing, and study skills education within the context of a regular college course). The study focused on 38…

An analysis of research on the effectiveness of developmental education is presented in this report. Chapter I highlights different perspectives on the role of developmental education at the college level; examines definitions and discusses the mission of developmental education; and puts forward a methodology for measuring its effectiveness.…

Basic skills training in the United States Navy has become increasingly important as the quality of the recruit population has declined and the job demands faced by enlisted personnel have expanded. This training is aimed at that group of recruits who cannot read well enough to be successful in service schools. The Navy first initiated programs…

Several years ago, the English faculty at the Schuylkill Campus of Pennsylvania State University entered into a cooperative venture with the campus learning center to use computer-assisted instruction in the basic rules of grammar as part of the remedial English course. The software used for the lab is the Houghton Mifflin English Microlab…

Drawing from an extensive literature review and interviews with faculty and administrators in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), this study report examines successful practices in basic skills instruction in community colleges. After providing background on the importance of basic skills programs in light of the increasing number…

In fall 1992, the Iowa Department of Education began pilot tests of the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System (CASAS), an assessment system evaluating reading, math, and problem solving in a life skills context for adult remedial programs. This document provides reports from the nine community colleges that served as test sites, describing…

The 1981 Basic Skills Summer School Program in Montgomery County, Maryland public schools provided intensive remedial instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics to pupils who scored very low on national standardized achievement tests. An evaluation of the program's effects found that (1) over all, participating students in grades 4-8 scored…

The workshop represented in this proceedings was conducted to stimulate dialogue on the place of remedial instruction in postsecondary education and to promote the effectiveness of remedial/developmental education and the maintenance of educational quality. The proceedings begin with an introduction to the workshop and its 14 resulting…

Highlights of a Basic Skills Learning Centers (BSLC) Project are presented at the end of two full years of the three-year program, which was designed to provide nonurban elementary schools in 20 western states with resources to help teach basic reading and mathematics skills. A description of the participating schools (489 schools in 145…

Drawing from a review of the literature and a study of 6,000 urban community college students, assesses whether students in college reading and writing courses achieve ability gains in these areas and whether their abilities improve as students advance through the curriculum. (DMM)