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REMEDIAL ENGLISH 1

Remedial English: Does it Work?

Deborah Davis

Liberty University

Running Head: REMEDIAL ENGLISH 2

Abstract

This research seeks to determine if enrollment in remedial English courses impacts graduation

completion rates students at a four-year University in rural Appalachia. The challenge begins

with determining who the students are that are required to take remedial courses. While students

are generally assigned to remedial English as a consequence of test scores, a few students will

self-identify a need for this form of instruction. Transitions to college programs can aid students

in identifying their needs, as can a variety of tools available. Seeking assistance and making

assistance available is the next step. Then, students must identify their own learning strategies

and take ownership of their own issues. Programs, such as remedial English courses, can aid

with learning strategies. This research explores these needs and tools and programs and their

impact on graduation rates at a University in rural southern Ohio.


Remedial English: Does it Work?

The Problem

Students with Learning Disabilities (LD) are typically even more unprepared for college

level work upon graduating high school than those without learning disabilities. Consequently,

LD students are more likely to be enrolled in remedial English classes. Students without LDs are

frequently assigned to remedial coursework upon discovery that despite successful completion of

high school, their English writing skills are insufficient for college coursework.. These classes

are frequently taken for no course credit, yet are the same cost as a three unit course. This can be

discouraging to a new college student. The student who takes the course may have to take it

multiple times to prove readiness for freshman writing coursework. Consequently, students who

take remedial English courses frequently struggle throughout their college careers. These

students continue to struggle to graduation if they make it that far.

The Research

Bahr (2012) purports that “the majority of students do not attain college-level

competency in the subjects in which they require remedial assistance” (p. 661). This unfortunate

truth is applicable throughout the college population. Studies vary widely in the percentage of

incoming students requiring remediation, but place it between 20 and 60 percent. Regardless, the

problem is rooted below the college level. “Far too many secondary students struggle with

literacy” (Ruggieri , 2012, p. 9). The current remediation plan sets up students with literacy

issues for at least one extra year of college (Shaw, 2014). While the hope of common core

curricula was as increase in academic rigor in preparation for life or college the majority of states

have instead revamped their remedial programs to a more developmental approach (Shaw, 2014).

This Study’s Contribution


There is a culture gap between urban teachers and rural students (Hendrickson, 2012).

Students who make it through their rural high schools frequently fail at the college level when

faced with the need for remedial education. There is a dearth of literature on the subject as

pertains directly to Appalachia and the determination of learning disabilities, remediation, and

graduation rates. As Hendrickson (2012) points out, “The success of students in rural areas is

vital to the success of the region, as these students will make up the community of the future” (p.

48).

Objective

This project endeavors to determine a relationship between the remedial English courses

at a rural Appalachia four-year University and the graduation rates of those who take those

courses. While students are generally assigned to the course initially by test scores, the students

must pass the course and pass an achievement test to be allowed to register for the freshman

level course. It would seem likely students who take and pass the remedial English course on the

first effort are more likely to succeed in their college program. However, the students who

repeat the course until they pass demonstrate a determination that may be critical in their success.

This study will aim to determine the consequences of assignment and repeated assignment to

remedial English courses on graduation rates.

Research Question

What is the effect of assignment to and participation in remedial English courses as

measured by graduation completion rates for students at a rural Appalachian four-year-

university?

A Review of the Literature

Background


Some students enter college without the necessary skills to succeed. For many, the

enrollment in a remedial education program is intended to bring their skill sets to university

level. One problem is that secondary schools and colleges do not always agree on what these

skill sets and standards should be (Nasser & Goff-Kfouri, 2008). Another problem is the

difficulty in evaluating “the causal influence of participation in developmental coursework

compared with enrolling in college-level courses” (Bailey, 2009, p. 24). The consequence of

being underprepared is a likelihood of failure in degree completion or certification (Collins,

2013, p. 84). Having some students admitted to college with insufficient skills (Koch, Slate, &

Moore, 2012) is not only a source of controversy, but a financial burden (Nasser & Goff-Kfouri,

2008).

Assignment – Prepared for College

Testing is the bane of student existence. However, it is the tool used to measure

competency in a given subject. For students entering college, by and large it will be a test score

determining placement into a university level course or some form of remedial/developmental

course (Collins, 2008). While the tests determine placement, “about 30% of students who were

[sic] referred to remediation do not enroll in any courses” (Crisp & Delgado, 2014, p. 100).

There is likelihood that “negative feelings related to learning that they would be required to take

developmental coursework” (Koch, Slate, & Moore, 2012, p. 72) is one reason for those

choosing not to enroll. Bachman (2013) points out the need for relating a remedial requirement

with lack of preparation to aid in a shift to a more positive outlook. Credential status,

experience, and educational attainment among secondary teachers affect the remediation rates of

college-bound students (Howell, 2011). Howell (2011) also points out that “For those who find

themselves in remedial courses, the average high school GPA is an astonishingly high 3.1, better


than a B” (p. 315). This degree of academic skill is not translating into academic readiness at the

college level. Koch, Slate, and Moore (2012) found “Increased rigor due to better alignment of

standards or more challenging coursework would better prepare students for postsecondary

education” (p. 77). Better preparation would lead to less remediation and a better outcome for

these otherwise at-risk students.

Participation – Continued Effort

The skills of a student placed into remedial courses need work and work takes time. It

would seem a given that students with lower skills, placed into remedial coursework, would need

more time to complete their degree (Bahr, 2012). Bahr (2012) also notes that many of these

students will eke through, but never truly attain competency in the areas of remediation. Further,

students who succeed in each remedial course on the first try are logically more likely to

continue in the remedial progression without delay (Bahr, 2012). Loch, Slate, and Moore (2012)

noted that students successfully completing remediation felt good about their abilities having

increased self-confidence. A study by Nasser and Goff-Kfouri (2008) sought to determine the

impact of remedial on enrollment and whether or not the positive impact on future coursework

anticipated was a reality. However, Bachman (2013) found that students were highly frustrated

if they felt the work was too easy – not challenging them to enhance their skills. On concern,

expressed by Collins (2013) is a “mismatch between developmental education requirements and

those associated with students’ academic pathways” (p. 87).

Graduation – Making it All the Way

An instructor with a Master’s Degree and who applies harder tasks seems to result in

greater success within English remediation (Howell, 2011). That being said, “degree completion

for remedial students is also rare” (Bailey, 2009, p. 14). Bahr (2012) posits that to complete the


college level writing course within the first semester is the ideal. Passing the first level courses,

Collins (2013) found, was an elemental asset towards degree completion. Another asset to

remedial course was when “several students became increasingly aware of their individual

learning styles and were able to articulate preferences for particular instructional activities that

aligned to their learning styles” ((Koch, Slate, & Moore, 2012, p. 75).

Conclusion

The purpose of this study is to follow up and review the efforts made in recent years for

the progress to graduation/certification of students assigned to remedial/developmental courses at

a rural Appalachian four-year University. Prior studies have shown that better and more rigorous

work at the secondary level leads to higher success at the post-secondary level. Still, many

students enter college thinking of themselves as good students, only to find they are not ready to

perform college-level work. The consequence can be a challenge to their confidence and their

finances. Beyond that, these students will take much longer to graduate and many, if not most

will never reach certification or degree completion.

Hypotheses

Null Hypotheses

H01 – There is no statistically significant relationship between the assignment to remedial

English education and graduation rates for students at a rural Appalachian four-year

University when compared to students not assigned to remedial English education.

H02 – There is no statistically significant relationship between the failure to complete

remedial English education on the first try and graduation rates for students at a rural

Appalachian four-year University when compared to students not assigned to remedial

English education.


H03 – There is no statistically significant relationship between the successful completion

of remedial English education on the first try, and graduation rates for students at a rural

Appalachian four-year University when compared to students not assigned to remedial

English education.

Alternative Hypotheses

H1 – There is a statistically significant negative relationship between the assignment to

remedial English education and graduation rates for students at a rural Appalachian four-

year University when compared to students not assigned to remedial English education.

H2 – There is a statistically significant negative relationship between the failure to

complete remedial English education on the first try and graduation rates for students at a

rural Appalachian four-year University when compared to students not assigned to

remedial English education.

H3 – There is a statistically significant positive relationship between the successful

completion of remedial English education on the first try and graduation rates for

students at a rural Appalachian four-year University when compared to students not

assigned to remedial English education.

Participants

In the five year period 2007 through 2012, 1000 students were enrolled in remedial

English courses at a rural Appalachian university. Of those, 350 were female (35%) and 650

(65%) males. The sample size was determined by all enrollments in remedial English over the

fifteen semesters with five courses each during that period. The target population would be all

students in rural Appalachian universities who are advised to enroll in remedial English

coursework. Of these 1000 students, 875 (87.5%) were Caucasian, 50 (5%) were African-


American, 50 (5%) were Native American, and the remaining 25 (2.5%) identified as blended or

other.

Setting

The University pseudonymously named Alexandria University is located in rural

Appalachia in a town of less than 20,000 people. The university traditionally enrolls between

four and five thousand students per semester and has a 1:8 teacher-student ratio. In 2007, the

school transitioned from quarter-enrollment to a semester program. In concert with this

transition was a required change in curriculum to meet the new course length. Remedial English

courses had been in a three-part series for reading, basic writing-mechanics, and basic writing-

paragraphs. Since the transition, the reading course has been eradicated and the basic writing

courses have been expanded to ensure students with reading issues are incorporated. These

courses are limited to twenty students, but only require an enrollment of eight students to start

the course. Typically, there are ten to fifteen students enrolled, but only as many as half

maintain enrollment throughout the term.

Instrumentation

Alexandria University (AU) uses the ACT test for placement in the English composition

program. Students receiving a score of 18 or higher are authorized to enroll in the college-level

composition program while students receiving a 17 or lower are to enroll in a remedial English

course officer through the School of University Studies. For those students to whom the ACT

test was not an option, the school offers the ACT-Compass exam for placement purposes.

Additionally, the Reading, Writing Skills, and Writing Essay portions of the ACT-Compass

exam are used at the end of the remedial program to inventory the skills of the student and

determine readiness for college-level work. The test scores are recorded by the Office of


Institutional Efficiency under student identification numbers along with grades received. The

ACT is internationally recognized as a validated instrument for placement purposes. Founded in

1959 as the American College Testing program, ACT has been placing students in colleges

worldwide for the last fifty-five years. The Testing Center at Alexandria has been administering

the ACT-Compass program since the establishment of the university in the mid-1980s.

Research Design

This research will be conducted using an ex post facto causal-comparative design. The

independent variable would be the registration and participation in the remedial English course

program. The dependent variable would be the placement test scores, grades following

completion of a remedial course program, and graduation rates of participants in the remedial

program.

This is the appropriate design because the intent of the study is to determine if the

remedial program has resulted in student success as measured by completion of the remedial

English program, follow-on college-level English coursework, and graduation rates. It is ex post

facto in that it is measuring student success on a program that took place during the semesters

Fall-2007 through Spring 2014. Schenker and Rumrill (2004) state, “Causal-comparative

designs generally involve the use of pre-existing or derived groups to explore differences

between or among those groups on outcome or dependent variables” (p. 117). In this study, the

groups were pre-existing. Through the spring and summer of 2007, students were selected or

directed to enroll in remedial English courses. These assignments were made as a consequence

of test scores which were equated to the scores on the ACT-Compass testing program in use at

the University. Upon successful completion of the remedial program (as measured by a passing


grade), students took the ACT-Compass testing placement program again and, if successful,

were then authorized to enroll in college-level English coursework.

“The defining characteristic of causal-comparative research is that the independent

variables are (a) categorical and (b) not experimentally manipulated” (Schenker & Rumrill,

2004, p. 118). The independent variable in this study is the assignment to the remedial English

course program. This is a categorical variable that is not experimentally manipulated. Student

assignments are based on a cut-off score – a pass or fail mechanism – once assigned, the score

itself is insignificant. The same is true of the test when taken at the end of the coursework.

Procedures

Research at the pseudonymously named Alexandra University has a stated policy for the

use of its materials. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) will first determine if the research

conducted involved staff or students at the university – this research uses university student

records for data. The research is designed for dissemination beyond the classroom – this

research is intended for use in coursework at a different university. The university uses the

Belmont Report as guidance for all determinations. The below listed flowchart is used as a

guide.


Following the flowchart, this study requires an exempt review as it does not involve a

vulnerable population, but there is a minimal risk of a breach of confidentiality. While the

student identification numbers that identify them will be part of the study, the research will not

have access to the database that identified the students by name with their identification

numbers. The IRB application form for Alexandria University is submitted electronically and

must include not only the form itself with the usual research procedure and study questions, but

also a copy of the certificate from a recently (within 3 years) completed course of the NIH

Human Research Participants Training for all Principal Investigators. The IRB at Alexandria

University is an electronic review of the application on a rolling schedule to provide expeditious

response to researchers. The board will convene in person if needed to review and discuss any

issues of concern.


In that the data is already in existence, and no further testing or participants are required,

it is not necessary to elicit participants for the study. A pilot study will prepare a variety of

reports to determine the most efficacious method of retrieving and analyzing the data. There is

no treatment; ergo there is no need to train individuals to administer treatment. The data is to be

excised from existing databases and school records. Then, is will be compiled, examined, and

analyzed to determine the answers to the research questions. This information will then be

documented, recorded, and accordingly published.

Analysis

Independent Variable – Remedial English Coursework

Assigned (nominal)

Not-Assigned (nominal)

Dependent Variables

ACT-Compass scores (interval/ratio)

Non-remedial English course grades (interval/ratio)

Graduation (nominal)

Variables of Interest

Student Identification (ID) id numbers (nominal)

Test to be Used

In that there is one nominal independent variable with two levels and two or more

interval/ratio dependent variables, the appropriate statistical analysis would be a two-way

Multivariate Analysis of Variables (MANOVA) (Warner, 2008, p. 702).

Assumptions


The dependent variables (ACT-Compass Scores and Non-remedial English course

grades) are measured at the interval or ratio level. The dependent variable graduation is

measured as a nominal rating of “yes” or “no.” The independent variable (Remedial English

coursework) consists of two groups (assigned and not-assigned). There is independence of

observation as each student is either assigned or not-assigned to remedial English coursework.

There should be no significant outliers, which the two-way MANOVA will detect. The

dependent variable should be approximately normally distributed for each combination of the

groups of the independent variables which will be tested using Shapiro-Wilkes. There needs to

be homogeneity of variances for each combination of the groups of the two independent

variables which will be tested using Levene’s test. Preliminary analysis using a scatter plot will

be performed to ensure no violations of the assumptions of linearity, bivariate normality, and

homoscedasticity.

Effect Size

Effect size will be determined using the formula for Wilks’ Lambda for partial Eta

Squared though Pillai’s Trace would be a reasonable alternative. The alpha is p < .05.

References


References

Bachman, R. M. (2013). Shifts in attitudes: A qualitative exploration of student attitudes towards

efforts of remediation. Research & Teaching In Developmental Education, 29(2), 14-29.

Bahr, P. R. (2012). Deconstructing remediation in community colleges: Exploring associations

between course-taking patterns, course outcomes, and attrition from the remedial math

and remedial writing sequences. Research In Higher Education, 53(6), 661-693.

Bailey, T. (2009). Challenge and opportunity: Rethinking the role and function of developmental

education in community college. New Directions for Community Colleges, 145, 11-30

Collins, M. L. (2013). Discussion of the joint statement of core principles for transforming

remedial education. Journal Of College Reading & Learning, 44(1), 84-94.

Crisp, G., & Delgado, C. (2014). The impact of developmental education on community college

persistence and vertical transfer. Community College Review, 42(2), 99-117.

Hendrickson, K. A. (2012). Student resistance to schooling: Disconnections with education in

rural Appalachia. High School Journal, 95(4), 37-49.

Howell, J. S. (2011). What influences students' need for remediation in college? Evidence from

California. Journal Of Higher Education, 82(3), 292-318.

Koch, B., Slate, J. R., & Moore, G. (2012). Perceptions of Students in Developmental Classes.

Community College Enterprise, 18(2), 62-82.

Nasser, R. N., & Goff-Kfouri, C. A. (2008). Assessment of the English remedial programme at a

private university in Lebanon. Mediterranean Journal Of Educational Studies, 13(1), 85-

100.

Ruggieri, C. (2012). Benjamin Franklin meets preservice methods students: Foundations for

teaching high school English. Ohio Journal Of English Language Arts, 52(1), 7-12.


Schenker, J. D., & Rumrill, J. D. (2004). Causal-comparative research designs. Journal Of

Vocational Rehabilitation, 21(3), 117-121.

Shaw, D. (2014). Rethinking remediation for college students: Using preservice education

students in connection with high school AP classes. New England Reading Association

Journal, 50(1), 38-43.

Warner, R. (2008). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques. Thousand

Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications.

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