Ithaca College

Do students with low placement scores who take remedial courses in reading and writing do better in courses such as introductory psychology that rely heavily on reading fluency and comprehension?

 The article, written with colleagues and a student from Broome Community College explores whether placement exam scores help predict performance in introductory psychology, and the effectiveness of reading and writing remediation classes in helping students, particularly those with low placement scores.

A relevant finding from this study is that although placement test scores help predict successful course completion, remedial courses’ value in students’ success appears to be relatively small or non-significant.

We propose solutions that may be more effective, involving embedding the remediation in the course, or in closely linked ancillary sections.

The article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211008493