Strategies to Advance College-Ready Writing Competency

While many college students at two-year public colleges need Basic Writing classes before entering college-level writing courses, only 34% have successfully passed their Basic Writing classes (Ternes, 2008). Troyo (2000) maintained that the reason students failed in Basic Writing classes was that more effective teaching strategies need to be identified and implemented. This book investigated strategies to advance college-ready writing competencies in a two-year technical college. Designed as a case study, this research involved 15 Basic Writers and the instructor at a Pre-College Writing class at Juniper Technical College. The students were interviewed three times, respectively at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the semester. The students were asked about their writing challenges and the teaching strategies they found effective. The instructor was also interviewed regarding her knowledge and observations of the students, and her teaching strategies to address their writing challenges.