Retention and Writing Instruction: Implications for Access and Pedagogy

Pegeen Reichert Powell

Composition instructors should pay attention to the discourse at their institution about retention.

It has been shown (by Astin using CIRP data) that retention rates can be predicted by the characteristics of teh students the institution allows in. Unfortunately, raw retention rates are used to rank colleges without taking student characteristics into account.

"...Eleanor Agnew and
Margaret McLaughlin, who demonstrate how a writing program’s own assess-
ment practices can prevent students from graduating: their study of the results
of placement and exit exams revealed that the presence of features of African
American Vernacular English led to an alarmingly higher rate of failure (90)."

These black students have already accessed the gate, but the assessment policies and prejudices keep them from graduating.

Access and retention will become even more important as the economy worsens.