|
|
“Write Like College”: How Remedial Writing Courses at a Community College and a Research University Position “At-Risk” Students in the Field of Higher Education by M. Kate Callahan & Donalda Chumney - 2009Background/Context: Twenty percent of first-year students in public 4-year institutions and 42% of first-year students in public 2-year institutions in the United States enroll in remedial courses. Yet despite widespread remediation across U.S. colleges and universities, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how remedial courses develop the academic skills and habits of mind required for students to succeed in college-level courses. Remediation at the college level is a widely debated practice, yet there is a dearth of research that assesses the efficacy of postsecondary remediation. In addition, there is evidence that student outcomes differ depending on whether students participated in remedial coursework at a community college or a 4-year institution. A theoretical analysis of first-year students’ experiences of remediation in both contexts may help to reveal the institutional structures that act to maintain or reduce this disparity in outcomes.
Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Two questions guided this study: (1) How do first-year developmental writing courses at a research university and a community college compare? (2) How do differences in institutional provisions of course content, instruction, and tutoring resources to remedial students at a research university and a community college impact students’ self-reported experiences in the first year of college? To address these questions, we analyze the relationship between postsecondary institutional structures and the efficacy of remedial writing instruction for underprepared students by examining the experiences and outcomes of remedial writing students enrolled in two institutions, an urban community college and an urban research university. We apply Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice and consider remedial writing as a position in the field of higher education.
Research Design: A qualitative comparative case study approach was used, including three primary methods of data collection: ethnographic observations of students and instructors during one semester of course meetings; taped interviews with instructors, students, and a college writing program director; and a compiled catalog of course documents including course syllabi, class notes, assignments, and samples of student writing provided by instructors. Both course instructors also provided data on student performance. Using Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software, we coded and categorized field notes and interview transcripts to facilitate the development of theoretical concepts.
Conclusions/Recommendations: Although remedial writing can be viewed as a subordinate position in the overall field of higher education, our ethnographic study reveals that institutions further determine the advantage or disadvantage of remedial students by controlling their access to cultural capital and the supportive academic resources that are critical for navigating the field of higher education successfully. In addition, although all students in the two courses seemed to possess a college-going habitus, only students enrolled in the remedial writing program at the 4-year university acquired a habitus of what is required to be successful once enrolled. We believe that these findings may inform postsecondary remediation practices and add a new angle to the debate over whether remedial courses have a place at 4-year institutions. In particular, our findings suggest that it is not the type of institution but the confluence of curriculum, pedagogy, and level of resources afforded to students by the institution that influences students’ experiences with remediation.
To view the full-text for this article you must be signed-in with the appropriate membership. Please review your options below:
|
|
- A Study of the Functions of Physical Education in Higher Education
- A Catalyst for Inter-American Higher Education
- American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges, 2nd edition
- Closing the African American Achievement Gap in Higher Education
- Themes, Theories, and Therapy: The Teaching of Writing in College
- A New Agenda for Higher Education: Shaping a Life of the Mind for Practice
- Education And Community
- Nontraditional Students and Community Colleges: The Conflict of Justice and Neoliberalism
- Catching Up in Community Colleges: Academic Preparation and Transfer to Four-Year Institutions
- The Rhetoric of Remediation
- Getting It in Writing: The Quest to Become Outstanding and Effective Teachers of Writing
- Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know
- Teaching Children to Write: Constructing Meaning and Mastering Mechanics
- “Can you believe the student said…?” Capturing Critical Teachable Moments After Communication Missteps
- The Challenge of Writing Remediation: Can Composition Research Inform Higher Education Policy?
- Writing and Experiential Education: Practical Activities and Lesson Plans to Enrich Learning
- Say This, NOT That to Your Professor: 36 Talking Tips for College Success
- Improving Writing and Thinking through Assessment
- Advancing the Culture of Teaching on Campus: How a Teaching Center Can Make a Difference
- Linguistic Minority Students Go to College: Preparation, Access, and Persistence
- Real World Writing for Secondary Students: Teaching the College Admission Essay and Other Gate-Openers for Higher Education
- Inspiring Writing through Drama: Creative Approaches to Teaching Ages 7-16
- The Influence of Co-Enrollment on the Success of Traditional Age Community College Students
- Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality
- Finishing College: Sociodemographic Inequalities and Life Course Transitions
- Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay
- Higher Education and the Public Good: Imagining the University
- The Poverty of Skills Thinking in Higher Education
- Writing Instruction That Works: Proven Methods for Middle and High School Classrooms
- Cultivating Inquiry-Driven Learners: A College Education for the Twenty-First Century
- “They Never Told Me What to Expect, So I Didn’t Know What to Do”: Defining and Clarifying the Role of a Community College Student
- District, School, and Community Stakeholder Perspectives on the Experiences of Military-Connected Students
- Literary Learning: Teaching the English Major
- Understanding For-Profit College and Community College Choice through Rational Choice
- Empowering Young Writers: The “Writers Matter” Approach
- Higher Education in America
- The Graduate Advisor Handbook: A Student-Centered Approach
- Evaluating The Undergraduate Research Experience: A Guide for Program Directors and Principal Investigators
- Transforming Talk into Text: Argument Writing, Inquiry, and Discussion, Grades 6-12
- College for All and Community College for None: Stigma in High-Achieving High Schools
- Student Writing: Give it a Generous Reading
- A Teacher's Guide to Organizational Strategies for Thinking and Writing
- Re-Envisioning Higher Education: Embodied Pathways to Wisdom and Social Transformation
- Alma Mater, Historia Crudelis: Writing Institutional History Without Losing Your Mind or Your Soul
- STEM Models of Success: Programs, Policies, and Practices in the Community College
- Redesigning America's Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success
- Teaching Arguments: Rhetorical Comprehension, Critique, and Response
- Readers Writing: Strategy Lessons for Responding to Narrative and Informational Text
- Questioning the Effectiveness of Writing-to-Learn
- Critical Reading in Higher Education: Academic Goals and Social Engagement
- A Multilevel Analysis of Community College Students' Transfer to Four-Year Institutions of Varying Selectivity
- The Effect of Earning an Associate Degree on Community College Transfer Students’ Performance and Success at Four-Year Institutions
- The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education: Origins, Discontinuations, and Transformations
- Enhancing Writing Skills
- The Teacher-Writer: Creating Writing Groups for Personal and Professional Growth
- Coaching Teacher-Writers: Practical Steps to Nurture Professional Writing
- Intersectionality & Higher Education: Theory, Research, & Praxis
- Engaging Higher Education: Purpose, Platforms, and Programs for Community Engagement
- The Aims of Higher Education: Problems of Morality and Justice
- Student Affairs Leadership: Defining the Role Through an Ecological Framework
- Understanding Writing Transfer
- Youth Gangs, Racism, and Schooling
- A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education
- Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics
- Exploring the Community Impact of Research-Practice Partnerships in Education
- Love the Questions: Reclaiming Research with Curiosity and Passion
|
|
- M. Callahan
Temple University E-mail Author M. KATE CALLAHAN recently received her PhD in urban education at Temple University. Her dissertation is entitled "Relative Advantage: Honors Programs and Stratification in American Higher Education." For the past two years, she was a research associate on a Lumina Foundation-funded study of how resource allocation in U.S. higher education affects the quality of education that students receive across sectors. Her research interests include stratification and inequities in American education. She is the coauthor of “Female Faculty in the Community College: Approaching Equity in a Low Status Sector” with Kate Shaw and Kimberly LeChasseur. This chapter is included in the forthcoming book, Unfinished Business: Women, Gender, and the New Challenges of Higher Education, edited by Judith Glazer-Raymo.
- Donalda Chumney
Temple University,
Mercy College E-mail Author DONALDA CHUMNEY is an aspiring principal at the New York City Leadership Academy, a New York City Department of Education-sponsored fellowship program that selects and supports new principals. She previously earned a master's in urban education at Temple University and a master's in special education through the New York City Teaching Fellows program at Mercy College. Donalda is a special educator with an interest in the intersection of policy, systemic structures, and student outcomes as they relate to the achievement gap. Her research interests include remediation, social stratification, and effective inclusion and transition practices for students with dis/abilities.
|
|
|
|
|