ABSTRACT
Rona F.Flippo
Fitchburg State College
Jeanne Shay Schumm
University of Miami
Due to the rapid growth of college reading assistance programs throughout the United
States, assessing the reading abilities and reading needs of entering college students has
become a fairly standard practice. As many as 30% of students in 2-year institutions and
18% of students in 4-year institutions are in need of remediation in reading (Boylan,
Bonham, Bliss, & Claxton, 1992). Despite critics from government, academia, and the
general public who maintain that remedial reading courses at the college level are
expensive and indicative of lower academic standards (e.g., Williams, 1998), most public
and many private institutions of higher education continue to provide academic support
for underprepared students. Indeed, 99% of 2-year public, 52% of 4-year public, and 34%
of 4-year private institutions offer at least one remedial reading course (U.S. Department
of Education, 1995).
