How Developmental Reading Courses Work
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS: Strategic reading courses provide diagnostic independent guided improvement of reading skills. Vocabulary, comprehension, and reading rate are major skill areas that will be addressed during the semester.
STUDENT RECORDS/PROGRESS: Instructors maintain extensive records to document pretest and posttest scores and create graphs to illustrate students’ average national percentile gain on norm-referenced standardized tests. Records document significant student progress in vocabulary and reading comprehension and are maintained in a manner consistent with requirements for National Association for Developmental Education certification. While the program is not currently certified through NADE, records exist to support the certification process should the university seek this certification for the program.
INSTRUCTIONAL CONTRACTS: Students’ semester work is divided into four instructional contracts, two of which are completed before midterm, and two after midterm. Students are informed in advance of work that is expected and the grading standards for each contract. The instructional contracts keep students continuously informed with respect to their grades. Contracts are stapled into folders which students use in class each day.
BLACKBOARD TECHNOLOGY: Instructors use Blackboard technology to post most daily class work assignments. Students report that the use of Blackboard is beneficial. If a student is absent, he/she has online access to class activities and assignments. When students do not finish handouts in class, instructors upload the exercises to Blackboard so that students can complete them before the next class. Due dates and explanations of contract assignments are posted on Blackboard.
Students will work independently in assigned texts and self-selected reading materials and computer-assisted instruction as well as working in small groups to improve skills in reading vocabulary, comprehension, and reading rate, as well as to promote reading for enjoyment.
