Kaplan Educational Centers and Sylvan Learning Centers, private remedial instruction programs, are being used increasingly to move students through college remedial programs more quickly, either through oversight or teaching. One uses its own instructors; the other hires teachers already employed by client colleges. Some find the services…

Argues that instructors involved in academic assistance must become familiar with the academic demands their students face in different content courses. Discusses four methods to gather such information, and shows how to identify relevant strategies for students to practice with actual course texts. (SR)

Describes a model of developmental education for college students used with great success by the Reading and Writing Center at the University of Florida. Discusses how it uses reading tests, think-alouds, and conferences to promote an exchange of learning between instructor and student. (SR)

Describes the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), which places African American students on the path to careers in math, science, and engineering. As a result, 90 percent of its students go on to college, and more than 60 percent pursue technology degrees. (EV)

Presents examples of developmental students who support each other both personally and academically during the transitional first year of college. Describes the learning communities program, in which linked developmental classes specifically encourage cross-disciplinary learning and peer collaboration. Emphasizes the necessity for students to take…

Stresses the importance of questioning as a key element in the art of learning. Defines three types of questions: (1) multisystem, which considers more than one relevant viewpoint in thinking through a problem, issue, or question; (2) one-system, which can be tested with a multiple-choice format; and (3) no-system, which are matters of sheer…

Describes the developmental studies program at Prince George's County Community College, a successful effort to improve retention rates and graduate students with high levels of academic competence. Stresses the importance of testing and remediation in reading, English, and mathematics; coordination with high schools; the learning community…

Presents a report of 21 developmental college students speaking out about their success or failure in college. Discusses students' explanations of why they feel they were either successful or unsuccessful in obtaining high grades and/or honors in their pursuit of a higher degree. (SC)

Explores the current research on the effectiveness of remedial courses. Defines remediation in relation to developmental education, discusses the purpose of such courses, and explores the circumstances under which remedial courses succeed or fail in the accomplishment of their goals. Asserts that all students who require remediation should expect…

Claims developmental education has been the central medium of upward social mobility for the American lower and middle classes. Outlines the accomplishments of developmental educators as well as the national trends that bear directly upon the work of developmental educators. (NH)

Proposes a comprehensive theory that focuses on the developmental education environment. Unites three basic concepts in this perspective--demandingness, responsiveness, and self-regulation--and uses them to organize, explain, and predict useful techniques for practitioners. Seeks to stimulate further research on developmental education practices…

Presents an interview conducted with John N. Gardner, Senior Fellow of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina, regarding developmental education. Discusses topics that include: beginning college experience, student learning needs, a new paradigm for developmental…

Truly a pioneer in the field of learning assistance and developmental education, Martha Maxwell has mentored hundreds, if not thousands, of professionals and students as well as authored a variety of reference shelf publications. Her career spanned 50 years. In her classic, Improving Student Learning Skills, she says there are seven persons named…

Attrition statistics for first-year students in many tertiary environments suggest that students face a wide variety of obstacles. Students in developmental education programmes usually have one additional obstacle: They have a history of failure in academic settings. Therefore there are emotional and psychological barriers in addition to academic…

Four elements contribute to a classroom's success or failure as a learning environment: student needs, instructor approach, course content, and institutional setting. This chapter discusses the challenge of aligning these elements in the developmental classroom.