Many higher education institutions offer drop-in tutoring programs hosted by writing specialists to support struggling students while others may also/alternatively embed tutors directly into courses. In this quasi-experimental study, we compared survey results from 100 students in basic/developmental courses that featured embedded peer tutors with…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This report first offers a…

In this project, I investigated student perceptions of dynamic written corrective feedback (DWCF), a specific method of providing accuracy feedback, in developmental writing classes for multilingual students. Via a quasi-experimental design using treatment and control sections of a developmental writing program's three levels, I collected and…

Building on previous studies of college students' writing self-efficacy beliefs, this article presents the empirical foundation for a reconceptualized understanding of this identity process. The study assessed 131 college freshmen enrolled in a developmental writing course who were evaluated holistically using grounded theory methodology. The…

In order to improve student success within developmental programs, we conducted a study of 1st year students taking required, developmental mathematics courses at a large, urban public university. Findings suggest that merely the number of years of mathematics that students take in high school is not a precise indicator of student readiness and…

This qualitative study examines the experiences of Latinas/os in community college English and math developmental education courses. Critical race theory in education and the theory of validation serve as guiding frameworks. The authors find that institutional agents provide academic validation by emphasizing high expectations, focusing on social…

This qualitative study examines the experiences of Latinas/os in community college English and math developmental education courses. Critical race theory in education and the theory of validation serve as guiding frameworks. The authors find that institutional agents provide academic validation by emphasizing high expectations, focusing on social…

Nearly two-thirds of students require some form of remediation before taking college-level classes, and community colleges have become increasingly important in providing this education. Unfortunately, relatively few students complete the developmental courses required to make a transition to college-level work. Based on a three-year study of over…

Recent efforts to improve developmental education have included references to learning communities as examples of effective practices in basic skills education. The study "Basic skills as a foundation for student success in California community colleges" (2007) cited research from Tinto that suggested that learning communities and…

This research explored the efficacy of blended learning for developmental reading courses by studying the relationship between learners' experience, success, and persistence rates in a blended learning setting of a developmental reading course. Using the model of the blended learning studies done at the University of Central Florida in the 1990s,…

The critical literature abounds with examples of possible educational uses of Web 2.0 technology in which students become active participants in the production of knowledge through blogging, social networking, creation of podcasts, and other forms of constructivist education. At the same time, teachers, whom the data indicate are somewhat…

When the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges compiled best practices for serving basic skills students in 2002-2003, assessment practices were notably absent. In this paper, problems with current assessment and placement practices with regards to basic skills are explored. The paper begins with a review of the matriculation process…

"Informed math self-placement," a program implemented at American River College in Sacramento, California, to determine students' readiness for college-level math, has been in place for three years. This case study describes the development and implementation of math self-placement at American River. Math self-placement consists of a…