Greetings! My colleague and I have developed a learning community that links developmental reading and basic writing. I am happy to say that the community is working well; the least prepared students on our campus are successfully attaining the goals of the courses (for the most part,) and we are thoroughly enjoying the camaraderie of working together to serve the needs of these students. Our next challenge is to prepare assessment instruments for the learning community and its effect on student success and retention. Clearly, a long-term comparison of GPAs and retention rates of those who are part of the learning community and those who are not will be a good measure, but we also need some short term instruments to prove that the work we are doing with these students is making a difference. I would appreciate your advice and experiences about this issue. Angela Huettl English Lecturer Indiana University South Bend South Bend, IN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To access the LRNASST-L archives or User Guide, or to change your subscription options (including subscribe/unsubscribe), point your web browser to http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html To contact the LRNASST-L owner, email [log in to unmask]