Education Commons^™

Writing For Keeps-Instruction And Achievement, Jason Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted in a small rural Texas district. Students within the district were struggling with successful writing initiatives. Achievement and accountability within the district were below state and regional averages consistently for many years. Writing instruction in the district needed attention to help students and teachers experience writing success. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: (1) What instructional practices do Frazier ISD teachers utilize to teach writing? (2) What aspects of writing do Frazier ISD students struggle to understand? (3) To what extent does the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test impact …

Examining The Read-To-Write Strategy And Its Effects On Second Grader’S Writing Of Sequential Text, John Neal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Writing is so important. It is important in school and in our careers; writing is found to be helpful physiologically and psychologically. Experts wonder, with writing so important, why is writing not being adequately taught in the schools. The answer may be that writing is complex and teaching it is even more complex. The Read-to-Write Strategy is a writing model based on the study of exemplary models of text and children are explicitly taught how to write the way an author writes through a process of the teacher modeling how to write this way; the teacher sharing the writing task …

The School Librarian’S Role In Writing Instruction: Research, Perceptions, And Practice, April M. Dawkins, Karen W. Gavigan

Faculty Publications

The degree to which librarians are actively involved in developing the writing skills of students has primarily been studied in academic libraries (Bronshteyn and Baladad 2006, “Librarians asWriting Instructors: Using Paraphrasing Exercises to Teach Beginning Information Literacy Students.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32 (5):533–536; King 2012, “Essentials of Basic Writing Pedagogy for Librarians.” Community & Junior College Libraries 18:55–66. Accessed March 20, 2016. doi:10.1080/ 02783915.2012.700211; Smith 2001, “Keeping Track: Librarians, Composition Instructors, and Student Writers Use the Research Journal.” Research Strategies 18:21–28) and has rarely been researched in terms of K-12 settings either in the United States or internationally. …

The Effectiveness Of Using Speech-To-Text Technology To Support Writing Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Jennifer Adams

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of using Speech Recognition (SR) technology to create more cohesive writing for students with learning disabilities as compared to the use of paper and pencil. Six students with IEPs from general education classrooms, ages 7 years old to 9 years old, participated in this study.

Prior to the start of this study, the subjects completed a baseline assessment to measure their expressive writing abilities in response to a narrative prompt. The students were required to include a topic sentence, beginning, middle, and end, and demonstrate understanding of the conventions of writing. There was not a …

Student-Centered Approaches To Teaching Grammar And Writing, Lindsay J. Jeffers

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article questions the continued reliance on traditional approaches to the teaching of grammar, particularly the memorization of parts of speech and grammar rules. Years of studies show that grammar instruction out of the context of writing is detrimental to students. Despite much progress toward student-centered instruction, traditional methods of teaching grammar are still a cornerstone of writing instruction in many English classes. The article suggests more effective, student-centered approaches that focus on students developing as writers and readers. Through modeling and inquiry, students focus on writing as a craft and make choices as writers. It’s essential that research about …

How Interacting With Teacher Feedback Impacts Students’ Writing, Kristen Bankers Saxhaug

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The following research question is investigated in this paper: How does purposeful interaction with teacher feedback impact the writing outcomes of high school students? The literature review explored the topics of writing development, feedback, and motivation and self-efficacy in writing. A mixed methods approach was used to investigate whether purposeful, directed interaction with teacher feedback led to improved outcomes in students’ writing. Participants were a cohort of 36 racially diverse, at-risk students who were behind their grade-level peers in the development of age-appropriate literacy skills in a co-taught intervention English class. The data revealed that teaching students how to interpret …

Embedding Self-Regulation Strategy Instruction Into The Genre-Based Writing Curriculum, Peter Hagenson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed by this project is: how can teachers embed self-regulation strategies into their writing curriculum for students who struggle to write independently? This project documents the author’s attempt at merging genre-based pedagogy borrowed from Systemic Functional Linguistics with Rebeca Oxford’s Strategic Self-Regulation (S2R) model of learning. The resulting instructional unit, developed with the guidance of Wiggin’s and McTighe’s Understanding by Design framework, teaches secondary students how to write in the genre of persuasion. Additionally, it systematically engages students with opportunities to practice cognitive, affective, and sociocultural-interactive strategies that researchers have found to be characteristic behaviors of effective …

How Self-Regulated Strategy Development In Writing Eases The Transition From Special Education To Regular Education For Students With Learning Disabilities, Charlene K. Irvin-Brown

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The author’s own and her students’ struggles with writing encouraged her to research best practices in teaching written language in order to ease the transition of students with learning disabilities to the regular education classroom. She found that Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) along with teaching the writing as a recursive process had the highest effect size. She narrowed her research by focusing on the stages of SRSD and best practices for teaching writing. She also reviewed the Minnesota writing standards for third through fifth grade. The author created an eight-lesson curriculum that incorporated the stages of SRSD for teaching narrative …

Teaching The Language Of A Lab Report: A Guide For Science Teachers, Lori A. Ward

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Academic language in the register of science is often challenging for students to compose, and their science teachers may struggle to support their language development. This project explores the question, what are the language structures science teachers must teach for secondary students to be able to write successful science lab reports? In this paper I report the strong link between language and knowledge in science. Students must develop strong language skills in science not only to communicate scientific ideas but also to gain understanding of scientific concepts. Supporting the development of language in the register of science is a challenging …

On Cheating And Prosperity, Trey Conatser

Greater Faculties: A Review of Teaching and Learning

At the outset of a new academic year, we'd do well to reflect on how we pitch academic integrity—and the concept of cheating—to our students. Not only does it affect how they see us as teachers and scholars; it also affects in profound ways how we see (or don't see) students as complex human beings. And this asks us to go against our gut reactions to the apparent moral legibility of cheating. If we understand cheating as an evasive concept, and as a product of our institutions, we're much less likely to incentivize it.

An Exploration Of Alternative Scoring Methods Using Curriculum-Based Measurement In Early Writing, Abigail A. Allen, Apryl L. Poch, Erica S. Lembke

Special Education and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This manuscript describes two empirical studies of alternative scoring procedures used with curriculum-based measurement in writing (CBM-W). Study 1 explored the technical adequacy of a trait-based rubric in first grade. Study 2 explored the technical adequacy of a trait-based rubric, production-dependent, and production-independent scores in third grade. Results of Study 1 suggest that the rubric holds promise as a valid measure of sentence writing ability in first grade and has utility as a supplemental scoring procedure when using CBM-W as a screening tool. Results of Study 2 show that correct word sequences maintained the highest correlation coefficients across time with …

Teacher Self-Efficacy In Writing And Instructional Choices: A Correlational Study, Beth Burke

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This quantitative study focused on examining the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and their use of writing practices in teaching writing. Participants included elementary kindergarten through fifth grade teachers in a large school district in northeastern United States. The following research questions guided this study: Is there a statistically significant relationship between overall teacher self-efficacy and the amount of time teachers spend using specific practices in writing instruction? Is there a statistically significant relationship between teaching self-efficacy factor of personal self-efficacy and the amount of time teachers spend using specific practices in writing instruction? Is there a statistically significant relationship between …

Building Research Skills In The Macalester Economics Major, J. Peter Ferderer, Gary Krueger

Faculty Publications

Economics majors at Macalester College have won numerous awards for their research papers, and this success has helped them land jobs in finance, consulting, and the nonprofit sector, as well as gain admission to top graduate programs. This article describes how the Economics Department at Macalester promotes economic research among its students.

Writing Attitudes And Practices Of Content Area Teachers After Participating In The Central Utah Writing Project Summer Institute, Joseph P. Anson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study of four case studies looks at how secondary math, music, science, and social studies teachers' attitudes and classroom practices were affected by their participation in the Central Utah Writing Project (CUWP) summer institute. Participant interviews, observations, and artifacts were analyzed by looking at themes for effective professional development: a participant's personal interpretation of the experience (phenomenon), construction of one's own learning, active learning/participation in the professional development, the inclusion of authentic tasks, collaborative support community, inclusion of prior knowledge and/or experience, self-efficacy regarding one's own writing and the teaching of writing, motivation as a teacher, motivation as a …

Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition In Middle School: An Examination Of Three Instructional Conditions, David B. Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The importance of vocabulary knowledge gained through incidental learning is well documented. The growth of incidental vocabulary knowledge is especially crucial for middle school students due to the complex words encountered in their studies. However, research on incidental vocabulary acquisition for middle school students is lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of three instructional conditions (reading, writing, and reading and writing) on incidental vocabulary acquisition and retention with middle school students in an English as a first language (L1) environment.

In this within subjects repeated measure study, 263 eighth-grade participants received treatment in three …

Effective And Engaging Online Learning A Research Based Blended Curriculum In The Middle School Language Arts Classroom, Emily Eggers

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

As technology becomes more prominent in today’s society, teachers need to be prepared to integrate technology into their classrooms. This capstone was made to answer the question “What is the best method to facilitate student learning in the online environment?” It documents one teacher’s creation of an all encompassing unit of study that incorporates many online learning strategies. Based on the Understanding by Design method of curriculum development, the unit includes learning outcomes, forms of assessment, and daily activities to help deepen students’ understanding of the material with the integrated use of technology. The methods of technological instruction are selected …

How Can The Orton-Gillingham Approach Be Used As An Effective Tool To Receive A Deeper Understanding Of Syllables And Word Spelling For Students Who Are Hard Of Hearing?, James D. Grota

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing come to school with limitations to learning that the average student does not have. Being able to hear words and sounds is an important part of learning to spell those words. This paper will identify some characteristics in the development of learning word syllable recognition and phonics, as well as, strategies to help improve learning for students who are deaf and hard of hearing by using the Orton-Gillingham Approach. The OrtonGillingham Approach uses a multisensory strategy that includes audio, visual, and feeling to help solidify word recognition and spelling. Although the approach …

Incorporating Effective Practices Into An Intermediate Classroom To Improve Student Writing, Heidi M. Shannon

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, How can the teaching of effective writing practices support struggling intermediate students? This study documented the experience of an intervention coach working with fifth grade teachers to improve writing instruction using research based practices. The motivating factor for this capstone was to improve student writing. The study documented lessons and resources that were implemented during the teaching of three fifth grade writing standards and how students improved in their writing. Data was collected through the use of proficiency scales, spreadsheets, reflections and surveys. Results of the study showed student growth in writing. …

Malp® In The Classroom With A Focus On New Activities For Learning To Improve Linguistic Complexity In Writing For English Learners Seventh-Grade Students, Jehan Hanna Rehayem

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to answer the following question: Can MALP® help raise the ELP of our EL students in writing by focusing on new activities for learning to improve linguistic complexity? Based on the existing literature, I designed my study to incorporate tried strategies pertaining to the implementation of MALP® in Writing with a focus on linguistic complexity in the classroom. I carefully documented my students’ progress using established assessments. At the end of five months, more than fifty percent of my students rose to the next level on the ELP rubric for Writing, a much more promising progress …

How Reading Through Literary Lenses Impacts The Quality Of High School Students’ Arguments, Craig D. Zimanske

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this study was: how does teaching high school students to analyze text through literary lenses impact the quality of students’ arguments? Topics explored in the review of the literature include the context of struggling readers, literary theory and literary lenses, teaching literary theory to secondary students, and argument writing. A cohort of 18 struggling readers in a co-taught high school English class were instructed to shift their reading focus from finding meaning to constructing meaning. To accomplish this, students were familiarized with the tenets of three literary lenses (social-class, gender/feminist, and psychological) and guided through …

Teaching Writing To English Learners: Professional Development For Content Teachers By Ell Teachers, Elizabeth D. Gillaspey

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question for this project was: what is the best format and content for a professional development class designed to help middle school content teachers improve their skill-set for teaching ELL writing? After presenting literature on different types of professional development as well as best practices for teaching ELL writing, a modified version of train-thetrainer was used to develop four professional development sessions. The sessions were designed to be presented in a school by that school's ELL teachers and they each have a separate focus: background information, pre-writing strategies, during writing strategies, and post-writing strategies. The project contains slides …

“But Mom, I Want To Make A Cartoon”: Approximation And Letting Go In Teaching Composition, Adrienne Jankens

English Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Self-Regulated Strategy Development On The Persuasive Essay Writing Of Seventh Grade Students With Disabilities, Amanda Scrivani

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) on the persuasive essay writing of seventh grade students with disabilities. Specifically the study analyzed the effects of SRSD on (a) essay length, (b) number of essay parts, and (c) essay quality. In addition, student satisfaction with SRSD was evaluated for social validity. Eight seventh grade students, seven male and one female, participated in the study. All students were classified with either learning disabilities (LD) or other health impairment (OHI). A single-subject multiple baseline across participants design was used. During the baseline phase, students wrote …

Exploring Self-Efficacy And Anxiety In First-Year Nursing Students Enrolled In A Discipline-Specific Scholarly Writing Course, Kim M. Mitchell, Tom Harrigan, Torrie Stefansson, Holly Setlack

Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées en formation infirmière

Background: Very few studies measuring writing self-efficacy or anxiety in undergraduate nursing students exist in the education literature. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify if changes to writing self-efficacy and writing anxiety will occur in first-year baccalaureate nursing students who are exposed to a discipline-specific scholarly writing course employing scaffolding strategies as the primary instructional method. Concurrently, this study was the pilot test for a new measure assessing writing self-efficacy, The Self-Efficacy Scale for Academic Writing.

Method: A one-group pre-test/posttest design was employed. Sixty-four (64) paired questionnaires were available for analysis. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and a scaffolding …

Spring 2017 New Writing Series, The University Of Maine College Of Liberal Arts And Sciences

Cultural Affairs Distinguished Lecture Series

Please see Program description

Culturally Responsive Grammar: Utilizing Contrastive Grammar Analysis To Support Knowledge Of Modern Dialects In The High School Classroom, Katie Corrigan

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Varying dialects are spoken depending on the speaker’s location and community. While each one of these dialects has very clear patterns and rules, only one dialect, Standard American English, is regarded as “correct grammar” according to academic and professional associations. For this reason, students learn the rules of Standard American English in school. However, this practice leaves students who speak other dialects at a significant disadvantage. This capstone addresses this dichotomy by providing curriculum that includes grammar instruction using a contrastive approach. Students are simultaneously taught grammatical rules in both Standard American English and African American Vernacular English in order …

Sfl In The Secondary Classroom: Writing Procedural Recounts To Describe Thinking When Solving Algebraic Equations, Theresa Brunker

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research questions addressed in this classroom study were, after explicit instruction, do students choose language structures inherent to procedural recounts, such as technical verb processes, precise nouns, sequence words and causal phrases to describe their mathematical thinking? Additionally, do student self-perceptions of their mathematical abilities change after learning to write procedural recounts to describe their thinking processes? This study examined the use of these language structures prior to explicit instruction in writing procedural recounts and compared it to post-intervention writing samples. The author documents the use of these writing structures by participants before and after intervention and finds relational …

Using Social Interaction To Elevate And Enrich Student Expressive Vocabulary In Writing, Elizabeth Swenson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

How does social interaction in vocabulary instruction impact students writing? This action research project explores the impact of using social interaction in vocabulary learning to increase the accurate usage of new vocabulary in student writing. This mixed-methods approach utilized pre and post surveys on student attitudes toward word learning, a vocabulary pre-assessment, four vocabulary unit assessments and analysis of student writing. Four different vocabulary instructional treatments were applied over the course of three vocabulary units. Findings suggest that utilizing discussion in word learning can have a positive impact on student writing and enjoyment in word learning.

An Integrated Social Studies And Writing Curriculum Guide For Primary Grade English Language Learners, Gayle E. Hammer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Two guiding questions are addressed in this project. The first is: How can primary teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) use a Comprehensive Curriculum Integration Guide (CCIG) to integrate the teaching of social studies content and standards with ELD? The second questions: How can using Student Learning Experiences for Engagement (SLEE) provide support for English Language Development (ELD) in the domains of speaking and writing for ELLs in the primary grades? It provides the research and rationale for creating a guide, which includes instructions, templates and resources for unit planning, weekly lesson planning, SLEE and suggested scaffolds and supports for …

A Review Of Lead Pd Writing In The Content Areas: Measures Of Teacher Self-Efficacy And Student Performance, Andrea Paige Greene

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Data from recent college and career readiness measures indicate an alarming number of students are beginning college courses unequipped with the necessary writing skills to meet the demands of these courses. This, in addition to the Common Core State Standards, leave many teachers feeling underprepared to effectively teach writing. The current study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of LEAD PD: Writing in the Content Areas, a writing professional development initiative for teachers grounded in the writing standards and best practices of writing instruction. In partnership with a university of higher education, teachers from a local middle school were trained to …