Online credit recovery is becoming a popular choice for students needing to recover lost graduation credit due to course failure. The problem is that high school students who take online credit recovery classes in order to gain writing credit for graduation are failing the writing section on the state merit exam (MME). At-risk students and districts with similar programs would benefit from this study given the limited number of studies on at-risk students in online writing courses. The purpose of this quasi-experiment was to determine how online credit recovery completers performed in writing compared to traditional credit recovery completers. Traditional instructional methods include writing instruction as a process, a method based on the constructivist learning theory, and missing from the online method. The research questions focused on the impact of, and variables related to, the completion of online credit recovery on student writing achievement. Test scores belonging to 68 high school students who completed either online or traditional credit recovery and took the merit exam in their junior year were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance. Method of instruction and gender were the independent variables. The results indicated a non-significant difference between males and females as well as between methods of instruction. Based on the literature and test data that showed a majority of scores below the mean for at-risk online credit recovery students, it is recommended that online credit recovery instructors receive professional development in writing and that the instructional design of both programs be analyzed. Implications for positive social change include instituting professional development that improves writing skills of at-risk students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]