Description
Students at community colleges are being placed into developmental writing classes at significantly high rates, as high as 80% at some colleges. Many of these students are students of color, and the need to help them persist and succeed is of increasing importance. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the most promising practices by community college developmental writing programs. Presented first is a metasynthesis of more than 245 publications from over 450 authors, synthesized down to 36 validated studies with the goal of informing scholars and practitioners of the current state of the field. Then, a nationwide study was conducted of 42 successful developmental writing faculty. An empirical framework was developed, and structural, curricular, andragogical, and relational domains emerged. This dissertation supports, challenges, and recommends how to better serve students in the developmental writing context. The hope is to change how colleges implement developmental writing practices so that practitioners will be given the best tools to help all students succeed.
