The developmental writing program at Michigan State University offers special attention to students who enter the university at a competitive disadvantage with respect to their ability to express themselves in writing. The primary goal of the program is to seek to empower students so that they will be able to express themselves in writing for the…

The provision of developmental education to the academically underprepared student in colleges and universities in the United States is traced historically. U.S. colleges admitted underprepared students before the advent of open admissions and equal opportunity policies. In fact, the presence of underprepared students in American colleges has been…

Retention of college students in a special developmental program in the School of General Studies at Purdue University, Calumet (Indiana), was studied. Data were gathered from fall 1981 through spring 1984 on 245 students who completed developmental studies program requirements (24 hours) and transferred to a degree-granting school. Success was…

Drawing from the literature of the 1950s and more recently published articles from the 1980s, this essay attempts to analyze the extent to which the field of developmental education has changed and/or remained the same over the past 30 years. Comparisons are drawn with respect to the following: (1) the cognitive and affective scope of…

Although Monroe County Community College (MCCC) has been concerned about students with academic deficiencies since its founding in 1964, attempts to address this problem have been unsuccessful. Remedial courses, offered between 1965 and 1969, were discontinued due to lack of enrollment, and diagnostic testing of students for counseling and class…

This report discusses trends and issues related to developmental/remedial education in the United States; examines developmental/remedial education efforts in Nevada's public colleges and universities; and presents the results of a study of developmental programs in the two universities and four community colleges in the University of Nevada…

A study was conducted to compare the academic success of students who completed developmental education courses at Northwest Technical College with that of students who did not take such courses, but whose placement test scores indicated that they should. Subjects of the study were selected from 499 students who were advised, based on their test…

Following a discussion of various methods of evaluating the effectiveness of developmental programs, this paper presents a research design for the evaluation of a developmental math program. First, the paper examines the objectives and benefits of conducting formative and summative program evaluations. The paper then identifies the single group…

A literature review on the effectiveness of developmental studies programs is presented, along with the results of a survey of developmental studies programs at predominantly white and predominantly black colleges in the southeast. Information is also provided on a survey of black college athletes' views of their academic environment. A total of…

In 1974, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia created the developmental studies program in response to a growing number of entering freshmen who were inadequately prepared for curricula assuming mastery of the basic skills. Early attempts to evaluate developmental programs in Georgia simply used standard survey techniques to…

The Survival Skills Center described in this report operates at Columbia College, CA, to provide individualized instruction in basic reading, writing, and math skills using a series of modules which focus on problems commonly encountered in everyday life. After discussing the need for such instruction among nontraditional students, the paper…

Describes a basic reading course designed to meet the specific needs of the weakest basic writers enrolled in a large midwestern university with an open admissions policy. Shows how the developmental course improved the students' reading comprehension so they could better understand the texts they would encounter in college courses. (SKC)

Discusses the importance of academic support services in ensuring the effectiveness of developmental programs. Describes the Learning Assistance Support System developed in Washington's community college system and Luzerne County Community College's Institute for Developmental Educational Activities. (DMM)

Analyzes the effect of written assignments on improvement of reading. Describes a study conducted with 40 first-quarter college freshmen in a developmental reading program in which one group had written assignments and the other had none. Concludes that writing has a positive influence on reading. (JG)

Identifies problems resulting from the inability to spell correctly. Assesses current writing programs as inadequate for remedying spelling deficiencies. Recommends individualized instruction to meet learners' needs. Confirms the importance of visualization to spelling ability, examining the relationship between field dependence-independence and…