The Bridge to English 101: Redesigning the Intersession Reading and Writing Workshop

ABSTRACT

Developmental interventions for reading and writing often take place at community colleges during the winter or summer. These brief, intersession workshops are examples of compressed acceleration, as they give students the opportunity to exit developmental coursework and enroll in credit bearing courses the following semester. As college readiness assessments have shifted from high-stakes tests to multiple measures, so too have the curriculum and focus of these compressed interventions which can last as few as ten days. Little to no research exists about how such brief reading and writing boot camps, with a focus on college readiness and soft skill development, can affect learning outcomes. This research presents findings from a recent developmental reading-writing workshop at a community college where faculty emphasized the importance of time management, study skills, support networks, and integrated instruction of these skills within condensed reading and writing assignments. Such efforts of this pilot study significantly impacted reading and writing outcomes as well as student attitudes toward vital campus resources, like the Campus Writing Center (CWC).