ERIC Number: ED274385
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1986
Pages: 24
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Comparative Study of Students in English Preparatory Courses, Spring 1986.
Harris, Howard L.; Hansson, Claudia J.
In fall 1985, a study was conducted at Cosumnes River College (CRC) to obtain information about the college's PREP (Personal development, Reading/writing skills, Educational goals, and Preparing for the future) program, follow-up data on students who have enrolled in remedial and non-remedial courses, and enrollment data on remedial students and PREP participants. The study sample was drawn from students who were tested by the CRC Assessment Center during spring and fall 1983, including 50 students who took no remedial English courses, 50 who took remedial English, 25 who were enrolled in developmental writing, and 25 who were enrolled in the PREP program and remedial English courses. Study findings included the following: (1) Hispanics and Blacks were over-represented in the study sample in comparison to the CRC population as a whole; (2) the mean grade point average (GPA) for the entire sample was 1.80; (3) 66% of students in the remedial group had GPA's of 2.0 or better, compared to 26% of the non-remedial group; (4) by fall 1985, 90% of the remedial group had completed 12 or more units, compared to 34% of the non-remedial group; (5) for the performance measure of units completed, the strongest predictor variables were the number of English courses, enrollment status, and remedial courses; (6) in comparison to other remedial students, PREP students had greater gains in reading but lower gains in English; (7) 60% of the PREP students had GPA's of 2.0 or higher, compared to 72% of the non-PREP students; and (8) a greater percentage of non-PREP students than PREP students moved from remedial to college-level English courses. (LAL)
Descriptors: Achievement Gains, College English, Community Colleges, Comparative Analysis, Developmental Studies Programs, English Curriculum, Enrollment Trends, Followup Studies, Grade Point Average, High Risk Students, Predictor Variables, Reading Achievement, Remedial Programs, Remedial Reading, Student Characteristics, Two Year College Students, Two Year Colleges
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Cosumnes River Coll., Sacramento, CA. Office of Research.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A