This study developed and tested a curricular supplement called the Content Comprehension Strategy Intervention (CCSI) with developmental education students at three community colleges. The CCSI provided students with guided, self-paced practice in reading comprehension and writing skills, contextualized in either science text or traditional developmental education text. A quasi-experimental methodology was used in several cycles of piloting and testing the intervention, involving randomized assignment to text conditions within intervention classrooms and the inclusion of a purposive, business-as-usual comparison group. The findings suggest that self-paced, guided practice in selected literacy skills holds promise for improving outcomes for community college developmental education students.
This project was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
