Evaluating the impact of first-year writing course grades on college-student persistence

Abstract

Informed by Tinto’s model of persistence, this large-scale evaluation study (N = 8916) centers on intersections of first-year composition (FYC), grades, and persistence at a career-focused, polytechnic university in a midwestern U.S. state. It presents a replicable design exploring a pathway through Composition 1 and Composition 2 to graduation and suggests theoretical and practical implications for early-alert, student-support intervention. Results of binary logistic regression indicate that, accounting for demographic and enrollment factors, grades significantly predict whether students take Composition 2 immediately after Composition 1, whether they persist to Composition 2 at all, and whether they graduate. We propose that the linked sequence of writing courses may allow students to build skills over a year-long sequence, enhancing self-efficacy and grade-reinforced senses of belonging, while factors related to ethnic identity and first-generation status pose barriers at critical points along the first-year sequence. We conclude with suggested points of student-support intervention and future research on grades, first-year writing coursework, and college-student persistence related to writing self-efficacy and senses of belonging.