Northwest Indiana Postsecondary Regional Partnership

English Language Arts

The English Working Group determined particular student traits that are exhibited by college ready students. These could be divided into two classes: those dealing with attitude and study habits, and those dealing with content knowledge and conceptual understanding. A brief list of these characteristics are:

1. Attitude and Study Habits. A student that is college ready exhibits the following characteristics:
   • Completes homework assignments and views it as a means to learn material.
   • Views attendance as important to success in course.
   • Willing to adapt to learning environments not compatible with his or her learning style.
   • Self motivated. Seeks needed information without prompting.
   • Asks 'when, why and what if' questions.
2. Content knowledge and Conceptual Understanding. Students prepared for college English courses have these characteristics:
   • They are critical readers and thinkers, meaning they understand and practice skills such as:
     • Skimming large texts
     • Summarizing information
     • Searching for and recognizing key concepts
     • Annotating
     • Synthesizing information and ideas from various sources
   • Their writing process shows competence in areas such as:
     • Thesis development
     • Essay organization
     • Prewriting activities, including generating ideas, narrowing subjects, and determining audiences
     • Composition processes, including drafting, collaborating, evaluating, and revising
     • Library research
     • Evidence
     • Analysis
     • Argument
   • They obtained 8 credits for honors or advanced language arts
   • They earned credit for English 9, 10, 11, 12 without repeating a course

• Attitude and Study Habits for English. gives a complete list of the attitudes and study habits exhibited by college ready students.
• Content Knowledge for English gives a complete list of the content knowledge possessed by college ready students.
• Samples have been gathered, assessed, and annotated to demonstrate the many elements that will prepare students for the demands of the college composition classroom. These samples reflect the work of both high school seniors in traditional and advanced placement English courses, as well as college students enrolled in Introductory English courses and Purdue University Northwest. State standards and course objectives have both been referenced to highlight the cohesive relationship between high school and college composition courses; the fundamental components of composition are present at both levels, yet the expectations of students' understanding and performance are elevated These extensive writing samples (with comments) relating to college readiness in English are below.
  1. Exceptionally well prepared:
     • Exceptional Sample 1 (pdf) or Exceptional Sample 1 (docx)
     • Exceptional Sample 2 (pdf) or Exceptional Sample 2(docx)
     • Exceptional Sample 3 (pdf) or Exceptional Sample 3(docx)
  2. Prepared:
     • Prepared Sample 1 (pdf) or Prepared Sample 1 (docx)
     • Prepared Sample 2 (pdf) or Prepared Sample 2(docx)
     • Prepared Sample 3 (pdf) or Prepared Sample 3(docx)
  3. Marginally Prepared:
     • Marginally Prepared Sample 1 (pdf) or Marginally Prepared Sample 1 (docx)
     • Marginally Prepared Sample 2 (pdf) or Marginally Prepared Sample 2(docx)
     • Marginally Prepared Sample 3 (pdf) or Marginally Prepared Sample 3(docx)