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[llanfair]

I don't give truly awful/incomplete papers back, simply because I no longer accept late work with penalty.  Giving it back to them would just give them extra time to work on the paper than students who actually tried to do well got, with no penalty, and that's hardly fair.  I grade what they give me, as much as it hurts on occasion.

[femmawatts]

Sure it would be nice for me if writing centers would just fix student errors, but this is not what they do.

Nor should it be, regardless of whether it would be "nice for you" or not. Writing centers should help students understand how to fix their own errors.

I think this is generally helpful for most students, including second language learners, but I worry that this sometimes doesn't help my dyslexic students, as what they seem to need is a good copy editor, or some better form of spell check.

No, what they need is someone trained to work with their disability, of which writing is only a manifestation. Emphasis on the word "trained." Writing center staff are generally not disability specialists, and ought not be expected to perform in that capacity. This is why schools have disabilities offices. And the students are responsible for contacting those offices and speaking with them about accommodations, which may include working with a specialist if one is available.

VP

I don't ask students what their disabilities are, but some students registered with disabilities services don't seem to get the help that they need.  If you are wondering how I know the specifics of some disabled students it is because some who do not get enough help from disability services disclose. I've noticed that several of these students over the years are dyslexic, and complain that they are not offered any help with their errors.  Also my daughter also has dyslexia and error patterns similar to hers sometimes show up with students that are registered with the disabilities office. But I'm not an expert, of course, and do not assume that such similarities are in any way conclusive.  But I'm just not really sure what the disabilities office has to offer students who make a lot of errors.  Does anyone know?

[polly_mer]

But I'm just not really sure what the disabilities office has to offer students who make a lot of errors.  Does anyone know?

Depends.

Some places offer private or very small group tutoring for disability management.  I know that we have eleventy-bazillion opportunities for people who need help with organization, with organizing thoughts, and with processing difficulties.

However, some places may not have any of those programs.  What the student needs then is to find someone who tutors how to deal with dyslexia.  I don't know what that would be since I'm not an expert in the field, but I know that restructuring how to approach writing, keeping track of common errors to triple check, and such is part of the process.

Vox is absolutely right, though, that what the students don't need is copy editors instead of the kind of directed teaching on how to catch one's own errors while practicing techniques that result in fewer errors.

[docsavage]

I used to have a policy that explained to students my specific point-deduction scheme for spelling, grammar, proofreading, and punctuation errors. They knew of this policy ahead of time. The positive result of this policy was that students actually proofread their papers. The negative result was that they b!tched and b!tched. I was told by my department (an English department) that "we don't typically, as a department, penalize for these mistakes, so you should rethink this." So I got rid of that policy. The result? I received carelessly thrown together papers, and papers that featured sentences that I couldn't comprehend. My forehead was sore from the repeated head-desk moments.

My dean gave me advice: at the third or fourth grammar/spelling/punctuation/typographic error, hand the paper back and tell the student that the work is not yet ready to be submitted. He has done this himself, and found that it works quite well, in part because of the shame factor. But he also told me that he doesn't recommend penalizing the grade on the assignment at all when this happens, because the student would then get discouraged, and discouraged students don't learn as well from this experience. (I had a minor head-desk moment at this last suggestion, but I'm going to follow it, because I don't have tenure.)

I have yet to try the dean's suggestion, but plan to when I get my first batch of papers this semester. I like it in theory: it's a little bit like a "revise and resubmit" for undergrad papers.

[prof_cj]

Ugh...

I recently had to modify my paper refusal policies because of the mess that Major Paper 1 (out of 4) turned into. As tiered projects, papers are turned in w/the initial thesis proposal, the previously-read/reviewed/checked-off drafts as well as the final draft, plus a rubric.

I used to allow for less time between the checked-off draft and final draft, but they started to take advantage of that, throwing a draft at me when it was too late to see (10 pm the night before the final draft was due) and gauge, but technically meeting criteria. I threw them all for a loop by making the cutoff point for the checked-off draft at 2 days before the final one is due now. Anything after that I can't accept because it's now classified as "late."

I know it seems harsh, but this also makes sure they have no excuses on not making corrections or taking into account my comments and notes when smoothing out the final draft.