As a result of an open admissions policy, the City University of New York (CUNY) was faced with large numbers of students in need of instruction in the basic skills. Each college had to develop testing programs to determine placement and to diagnose individual students needs, and each was faced with the necessity of creating larger programs in…

A questionnaire survey of all colleges and universities in the United States, to which 1,269 institutions (45%) responded, yielded findings about the academic preparation of incoming undergraduate students and the ways in which their deficiencies are being remediated. First, 85 percent of the responding institutions perceive poor academic…

Describes goals and development of an instructional resource center, the development of a writing skills assessment test, the collection and dissemination of basic skills instruction and progress, and the establishment of a national testing network in writing. (EL)