This study examines the effects of a curriculum based on self-regulated strategy instruction in an accelerated developmental education (DE) English course in a community college. Faculty at the college had established a four-week, two-credit compressed course that enabled students to enroll in an eleven-week first-year composition (FYC) course in the same semester, reducing remediation from fifteen weeks to just four weeks. The course focused on writing argumentative essays using sources. The study used a quasi-experimental design with five instructors and sixty-six students to compare the experimental curriculum to a business-as-usual control condition. In the experimental curriculum, students learned strategies for writing using sources, including strategies for critical reading and for planning and revising. In addition to writing and reading strategies, students also learned metacognitive, self-regulation strategies, such as goal setting, task management, and reflection. The study found a large positive effect (ES = .96) of the treatment on quality of an argument essay written using sources. However, no significant effects were found on a summary outline, self-efficacy, or completion of the subsequent FYC course. The study demonstrates the value of strategy instruction in DE English courses; it is the first experimental study of strategy instruction in an accelerated DE course. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of strategy instruction in corequisite courses and in FYC.

This article reports on a longitudinal study of the writing assignments students at our two-year college were given in courses outside of composition. While other studies have looked at writing assigned across the curriculum, this research typically focuses on four-year, rather than two-year, institutions. Our study of a small cohort of students suggests that at our institution there is a significant disconnect between the amount and types of writing students are assigned in composition and non-composition courses. Our findings add to the existing literature on college writing, while also informing our understanding of the goals and purposes of composition within our local context.

This article presents findings from a longitudinal study of student reading experiences at a community college and concludes that, as their experiences accumulated, these students learned how to succeed in their coursework without actually reading assigned texts.

Reviews three books: Time to Know Them: A Longitudinal Study of Writing and Learning at the College Level, by Marilyn S. Sternglass; Feminism and Composition Studies: In Other Words, ed. by Susan C. Jarratt and Lynn Worsham; The Performance of Self in Student Writing, by Thomas Newkirk.