WAC Bibliography

1. Blakesley, David; Erin J. Harvey; Erica J. Reynolds. (2003). Southern Illinois University Carbondale as an institutional model: The English 100/101 Stretch and directed self-placement program. In Royer, Daniel; Roger Gilles (Eds.), Directed self-placement: Principles and practices; Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press (pp. 207-241).

Annotation: Outlines implementation of a Stretch model concurrently with directed self-placement (DSP). The authors report that as administrators, they had to train their Graduate Assistants (GAs) in depth so they understood and could explain the new system (pre-semester workshop; detailed script on what to cover about Stretch and DSP during the first two weeks of class, etc.). Authors report that students, because they had more agency through the DSP model, were not as resistant to being placed into Stretch; the morale of GAs also was improved, as their students were happier about taking the basic writing class [Gregory Glau, Stretch Courses, WPA-CompPile Research Bibliographies, No.2]. David Blakesley, Eric Harvey, and Erica Reynolds' stretch program implementation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is guided by Gregory Glau's research at Arizona State University (1996; 2007). Their decision to use DSP in the SIUC stretch program was guided by the initial research of Royer and Gilles (2003), and then confirmed as a valid placement procedure after subsequent readings on the topic of self-efficacy, confidence, and choice. The dilemma that the authors faced, and which they share in hopes that other writing program administrators may more easily overcome it, is the means by which a stretch and DSP program can be thoroughly and beneficially implemented within a complex bureaucracy. The authors see four major groups of stakeholders who need to be convinced. First are students who need access to program information. Second are the student advisors who need to disseminate information and choices to students. Third are university administrators who make financial decisions. And last are the personnel who teach in the classrooms, because they become de facto advisors. Blakesley et al. show brochures, testing procedures, and convincing analytical studies to help others implement a stretch and DSP program. Not content to rely on past research, they also produce research of their own, pointing out the need for future adopters of stretch or DSP programs to continue to collect data as the primary means of justifying adoption. Their stretch program was justified by data that showed a 9% higher pass rate for students who enrolled in the stretch program. Further figures show that while only 48% of students were aware of DSP, of those who were aware, 21% chose to enroll in the stretch program, and 93% valued their right to choose. [Asao B. Inoue, et al., Directed Self-Placement; WPA-CompPile Research Bibliographies, No. 16]

Keywords: placement, directed self-placement, self-placement, self-assessment, stretch, self-efficacy, data, stakeholder, student-opinion

2. Burnham, Christopher C. (1981). Tapping non-English faculty resources in the literacy crusade. ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 202 022.

Annotation: [Not seen]At Stockton State College (New Jersey), as part of training for faculty across the campus who volunteered for basic writing courses, teachers were taught holistic scoring. "Stockton's basic writing courses are staffed with volunteer faculty members from across the college. . . . They participate in a one-day workshop in which they complete a holistic exercise that involves reading papers and ranking them by the overall quality of writing. The holistic scoring used in the workshop session provides the 'rotating faculty' with an understanding of the elements of good writing. The third stage of training occurs in another one-day workshop the week before school begins, during which the faculty members must write under the same circumstances that students often must write under" [from the ERIC abstract]. [This is an early writing-across-the-campus initiative. The basic idea is that holistic scoring gives scorers experience with an even breadth of criteria by which student writing can be analyzed.] RHH [Rich Haswell & Norbert Elliot, Holistic Scoring of Written Discourse to 1985, WPA-CompPile Research Bibliographies, No. 27]

Keywords: WAC, Stockton State College (NJ), retraining, volunteer, not-English, faculty-workshop, holistic, teacher-training, criteria

3. Hunt, Sandra. (1981). Basic writing skills in the total academic program. Improving College and University Teaching 29.2, 78-81.

Keywords: basic, WAC, grammar, pedagogy, grammar-theory, list, checklist, proofreading

4. Miller, Carol; Thomas Brothen; Jay Hatch; Norman Moen. (1988). Beyond functional literacy: An integrated writing across the curriculum package for basic writers. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education 05.1, 5-16.

Keywords: functional literacy, WAC, basic, learning-community, history-course, environmental-science-course, FYC, University of Minnesota, critical-thinking, course-content, integrated, environmental, write-to-learn

5. Williamson, Michael M. (1988). Basic writers writing across the curriculum II: The structure of programs, implications for basic writers, and strategies for teaching. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education 04.2, 72-88.

Keywords: WAC, program, implementation, basic, pedagogy, preparation, academic, implication

6. Williamson, Michael W. (1987). Basic writers writing across the disciplines I: An historical and theoretical introduction. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education 04.1, 57-70.

Keywords: WAC, basic, history, curriculum, write-to-learn, discipline-specific, functional, social, purpose, academic, disciplinary