Instructors’ Voices: Experiences with State-Mandated Accelerated Integrated Developmental Reading and Writing Coursework in Texas Community Colleges

From Considerate to Challenging Texts: A Four‐Tiered Text Approach to Thematic Reading

“…Lampi et al (2017) found that the instructional materials, including textbooks, for many IRW courses were composition oriented. Paulson et al (2021) posited that the connected approach found in IRW courses was “almost always described in the direction of reading in service to writing instead of the other way around,” which could result in an “enhanced composition course” instead of a truly integrated reading and writing course (117). Given that writing faculty generally outnumber reading faculty, and that IRW courses are widely perceived as the inclusion of reading in composition courses, this is not surprising.…”

“…The evident gap between what faculty perceive to be college reading competencies and students’ reading proficiency necessitates the need for more effective reading instruction from college faculty, particularly English faculty whose courses are developed to acclimate students to college‐level literacy. What’s more, sweeping changes in developmental education and placement have led to massive reductions and/or elimination of reading courses (Ganga et al, 2018; Jaggars et al, 2014), which has resulted in the integration of reading and writing in a single course and faculty teaching unfamiliar terrain (Paulson et al, 2021).…”