1976
James Sledd's crusade against the abuse of TAs excalates, and the Texas legislature investigates the matter, making recommendations about how to curtail the assignment of TAs at all Texas collegs and universities. Sledd testifies before the legislature alleging: English TAs are poorly trained to teach first-year writing; English faculty avoid teaching writing in favor of their own research and upper-division literature courses; E 398T (the teaching practicum for new teachers) is a sham course that never meets. Many faculty and administrators concede that the training of TAs has been wanting, but claim that the English department made important reforms to 398T in 1975, responding to recommendations made by the Trimble Report.
After conducting a survey of faculty and examining a range of student papers James Sledd reported that students were struggling with mechanical issues in their writing. Kinneavy's 1975 syllabus, therefore, was modified to include more attention to grammar and style and to better incorporate a handbook. The Advanced Placement Exam, which previously allowed nearly half of UT undergraduates to test out of E 306, became stricter and more focused on students' knowledge of grammar and style. As a result, the number of students testing out of E 306 fell to 30%.
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