Do Accelerated Developmental Integrated Reading and Writing Courses in Texas Prepare Students for College-Level Coursework?

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 75
  In Roundtable Session: Readiness and Retention

Abstract

A recent curricular directive in Texas mandated that the exit levels of developmental Reading and developmental Writing coursework be combined into a single developmental course termed Integrated Reading and Writing (INRW) that accelerates the developmental education sequence. Accessing a comprehensive statewide database that houses individual student-level records, we used a quasi-experimental methodology involving propensity score matching with a student population of over 1.5 million community college students to compare the effectiveness of accelerated INRW coursework against non-accelerated, stand-alone developmental Reading and developmental Writing courses. Findings include that students who completed the accelerated INRW course are significantly less likely to pass their first college level Reading-intensive or Writing-intensive course than matched students in non-accelerated, stand-alone developmental Reading and Writing courses.

Authors

• Eric J. Paulson, Texas State University

• James P Van Overschelde, Texas State University

• Afi Y. Wiggins, The University of Texas - Austin