Education Commons^™

Accuplacer Placement Cutoff Scores As Predictors Of Freshman Performance: A Correlational Analysis, Lulani Tomaszewski

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

There is uncertainty on how to maximize freshman performance in an English course when students have competing placement scores. Students who have scored above the cutoff score on one of the English placement tests (either reading or writing) and scored below the cutoff score on the other are not systematically placed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ACCUPLACER placement cutoff scores in reading and writing predicted performance in first-semester English courses and first-semester cumulative GPA among incoming students at a community college in the Pacific Northwest during the 2015−2016 and 2016−2017 school years. Two research questions guided …

Community College Discipline Faculty Perceptions Of Role As Literacy Educators, Kristen H. Gregory, Monique Colclough

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Approximately a quarter of community college students are entering college-level courses underprepared for the literacy and critical thinking skills required to be successful in discipline courses (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2013). Discipline faculty are considered experts in their content area and are often not trained in pedagogy and literacy instruction, yet they are faced with meeting the diverse literacy needs of their students while still maintaining high content-focused expectations within their courses. This phenomenological case study investigated community college discipline faculty’s perceptions and practices regarding integrating literacy instruction within their disciplines. Data were collected from community college faculty through …

A Multi Case Study Of Community College Discipline Faculty’S Participation In A Disciplinary Literacy Professional Learning Community, Kristen Howell Gregory

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Many students enter college with inadequate reading, writing, and critical thinking skills to successfully navigate discipline-specific college-level coursework (Duff, 2010; Hyland, 2006; Lea & Street, 1998; Tsui, 2002). As such, college faculty, and specifically community college faculty, are challenged to meet the multiple literacy needs of their students while still maintaining high expectations within their discipline-specific courses. One option is for discipline faculty (e.g., history) to integrate disciplinary literacy instruction within their courses. As discipline faculty are deemed experts in their content area and often not trained in literacy, professional development focused on disciplinary literacy could provide the knowledge and …

Understanding The Language Learning Strategies Of English Language Learners In The Community College System, Steven Kean

Theses

This study focused on English language teaching and learning through the lens of language-learning strategies, and how strategies-based instruction is implemented within the community college system. The intent of this study was to determine the extent to which language-learning strategies are taught to second-language learners in a community college district, the specific strategies that language-learners use, and whether improvements to strategies-based instruction in the community college system are needed. This research used a customized version of Rebecca Oxford’s Strategies Inventory for Language Learners. It also queried instructors who teach English as a Second Language (ESL), and it analyzed ESL course …

Effective Teaching Techniques And Study Strategies For English Language Learners In Esl Community College Classes, Dorothy M. Steiner

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this field project, Effective Teaching Techniques and Study Strategies for English Language Learners in ESL Community College Classes, is to provide guidance to the busy instructors who work with adult ESL students, particularly in non-credit programs. This field project can also be used by instructors of credit community college ESL classes, Adult schools, or (Community Based Organizations) CBOs. The handbook is designed to be a resource on the many areas that present common challenges in the ESL classroom such as diverse needs, low literacy levels, building academic rigor and vocabulary, communicative language teaching, increasing engagement and …

Integrating Multiple Instructional Mediums To Teach Critical Literacy With The Adult Linguistically Diverse Learners, Kaemanje Thomas

Publications and Research

Critical reading is the apex of tertiary education and the chief focus in higher education courses as they prepare adults for the workforce. Without significant improvements in academic preparation and support, many linguistically diverse [LD] students will have higher drop out rates in their first year of college. Developmental reading instruction practices are designed to emphasize moving the first-year LD students from sub-par reading levels towards the application and development of critical reading skills, as demanded by their college courses. Many community colleges across the United States prepare assessments tests in reading and mathematics for most, if not all, newly …

Using Multiple Instructional Mediums To Foster Critical Literacy Skills With The Adult Lingusitic Diverse Learner, Kaemanje Thomas

Publications and Research

Critical reading is the apex of tertiary education and the chief focus in higher education courses as they prepare adults for the workforce. Without significant improvements in academic preparation and support, many linguistically diverse [LD] students will have higher dropout rates in their first year of college. Developmental reading instruction practices are designed to emphasize moving the first-year LD students from sub-par reading levels towards the application and development of critical reading skills, as demanded by their college courses. Many community colleges across the United States, prepare assessments tests in reading and mathematics for most, if not all, newly admitted …