The Department of English is proud to announce that the First-Year Writing Program received the 2015 Award for Innovation, presented by the Council on Basic Writing (CBW) at the March 2015 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) annual meeting in Tampa, Florida. The award was for “PLUS: Project Learning, Understanding Success.” Accepting the award on behalf of Boise State University were Heidi Estrem, Director of First-Year Writing; Dawn Shepherd, Associate Director of First-Year Writing, and Karen Uehling, Associate Professor of English.
CBW’s Award for Innovation recognizes writing programs for innovations that improve student success through creative approaches that may be extended to other institutions; criteria for the award include originality, portability, and evidence-based results and benefits.
PLUS is one component of Writing PLUS, an initiative that encompasses three projects, each of which was created to address the needs of under-confident, at-risk, or struggling writers through systematic intervention with policies and institutional structures that cause students harm. These include:
· Credit-Bearing Coursework: English 101 Plus
· Learning-Centered Placement: The Write Class
· Supporting At-Risk Writers: The PLUS Project
Credit-Bearing Coursework: English 101 Plus
Our approach has demonstrated success in supporting students: In the first full semester of implementation, English 101P students (theoretically those who are more at-risk) outperformed their English 101 counterparts – in the same class, with the same curriculum. In the second and third semesters of full implementation, pass rates climbed substantially in all first-year writing classes, and English 101P performance remained at nearly the same level, or 88%. All data indicates, then, that writers who need additional support are benefiting from the English 101P model in pedagogically sound, ethical ways – while also saving money and decreasing their time toward degree completion.
Learning-Centered Placement: The Write Class
The Write Class is an innovative, online placement process responsive to best practices in the field; it does not just place students but engages them in considering course options. The full implementation of The Write Class in fall 2013 has resulted in about 120 additional students completing their first-year writing course, experiencing academic success in their critical first semester, making clear progress toward their degrees, and gaining confidence with academic writing. Further, our student population (most of whom are the first in their families to attend college) are gaining information about these courses prior to enrollment – and are being taken seriously as engaged, active learners.
Supporting At-Risk Writers: The PLUS Project
The third project within Writing PLUS supports the vulnerable student population of repeating students. The PLUS Program helps students reframe how they work in first-year writing and what they might do differently during the repeated experience. Repeating students receive an email, inviting them to complete a low-stakes survey to rethink their past attempts and identify key strategies for their success during the repeated course. They are encouraged to complete a focused, low-stakes checklist of successful student behaviors, including visiting their instructor during office hours, visiting the Writing Center, and completing an optional descriptive interview. While we have had little monetary support for this initiative, to date we have engaged over one hundred students through the survey and have conducted fifteen follow-up interviews.
The Council on Basic Writing, a standing group of CCCC, was originally founded in 1980 by Charles Guilford, Boise State Emeritus Professor of English, and Uehling served as the second Chair of the now thriving organization.