Writing Instructional Practices: A Survey of U.S. Third and Fifth Grade Teachers’ Use, Confidence, Experiences, and Perceived Proficiency

Description
Research suggests that current teachers' writing instruction does not prepare students for the demands of college and career writing, a problem that has persisted for decades. The purpose of this survey study of third- and fifth-grade teachers (N=159) across the

Research suggests that current teachers' writing instruction does not prepare students for the demands of college and career writing, a problem that has persisted for decades. The purpose of this survey study of third- and fifth-grade teachers (N=159) across the U.S. was 1) to determine changes in teachers’ frequency teaching writing using a set of 20 previously-researched effective instructional practices and 2) to investigate whether other writing indicators (confidence teaching writing, experience as writers, and perceived proficiency as writers) predict teachers' writing instruction. Results revealed teachers' confidence teaching writing using all of the instructional practices varied; the frequency that teachers reported using several of the instructional practices monthly and yearly was greater than prior research, while teachers’ more frequent use of the instructional practices (weekly and daily) was less frequent than prior research; most teachers' experiences as writers using the set of instructional practices was as K-12 students; and teachers’ perceived proficiency as writers using the set of instructional practices was a predictor and correlated with teachers' confidence and frequency teaching writing using the set of instructional practices. These findings have implications for teacher educators, administrators, teachers, and researchers as it relates to teachers' preparation to teach writing in all phases of their lives as writers and teachers of writing. Results support that teachers will benefit from experiences writing and in learning how to teach writing in all timeframes included in the survey (as K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, and during inservice teacher education).

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2024
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2024
  • Field of study: Learning, Literacies and Technologies

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • 143 pages
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

Middle School Students' Engagement with Grammar in a Transfer-Minded Approach to Instruction

Description
This qualitative, classroom-based study investigates how 24 middle school students engaged with grammar in an instructional approach that bridged “grammar in context” practices with writing transfer practices. This “transfer-minded” approach invited students to monitor and reflect on their grammar choices

This qualitative, classroom-based study investigates how 24 middle school students engaged with grammar in an instructional approach that bridged “grammar in context” practices with writing transfer practices. This “transfer-minded” approach invited students to monitor and reflect on their grammar choices in writing as a way to foster metacognition; it also guided students to consider other and future writing contexts where they could use the grammar they were learning as a way to foster transfer and long-term writing development. The dissertation findings detail the role of individual factors on student engagement with grammar in this study. The findings also share how students thought about and used grammar in their writing. Finally, the dissertation reveals how students engaged with the instructional practices, helping map successful and promising areas for effective grammar instruction.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2022
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2022
  • Field of study: English

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • 239 pages
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

Writing Motivation and Writing Performance of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Elementary School Students

Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between writing motivation and performance for students in grades three to five, and whether scores differed based on students’ language status, gender, or grade level. Three student language groups were

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between writing motivation and performance for students in grades three to five, and whether scores differed based on students’ language status, gender, or grade level. Three student language groups were included: (1) emergent bilingual students currently receiving services for English language development (ELD); (2) reclassified bilingual students who had exited ELD programs; and (3) native English-speaking students. The district administered a performance measure and a motivational measure to participating students (N = 1126). Intrinsic and self-regulatory motivation scores were significantly higher for emergent bilingual students (intrinsic M = 2.07; self-regulatory M = 2.48) and reclassified bilingual students (M = 1.99; M = 2.71) than their native English-speaking peers (M = 1.67; M = 2.30). On extrinsic motivation for writing, reclassified bilingual students (M = 2.69) scored significantly higher than both emergent bilingual students (M = 2.49) and native English speaking student (M = 2.57). Fourth and fifth graders scored significantly higher than third graders on extrinsic (M = 2.68, 2.74, 2.31, respectively) and self-regulatory motivation (M = 2.53, 2.59, 2.21 respectively), while only fourth graders scored significantly higher than third graders on intrinsic motivation (M = 1.90, M = 1.76). The only significant difference by gender was found on extrinsic motivation, where girls (M = 2.67) scored higher than boys (M = 2.53). On the district writing test, native English speaking students (M = 5.15) scored significantly higher than both reclassified (M = 4.95) and emergent bilingual students (M = 3.94). Reclassified bilingual students scored significantly higher than emergent bilingual students. In terms of grade, gender, and performance, fifth graders (M = 5.58) scored significantly higher than fourth (M = 4.56) and third graders (M = 4.31), and girls (M = 5.07) scored significantly higher than boys (M¬ = 4.64). Finally, after accounting for significant variance in district writing scores according to language status, gender, and grade (R2 = .22), the motivational incentives for writing significantly predicted an additional 1% of the variance. Findings are discussed according to the Writer(s)-Within-Community model (Graham, 2018).

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2021
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2021
  • Field of study: Learning, Literacies and Technologies

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • 134 pages
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

Learning Disabilities or Language Proficiency? Mapping a School’s Understanding of English Learners’ (In)competence

Description
Special education identification processes related to English language learners (ELs) in the United States have puzzled the field for decades. The phenomenon of referrals, the first step toward identification, is complex since it requires deciphering the root cause of students’

Special education identification processes related to English language learners (ELs) in the United States have puzzled the field for decades. The phenomenon of referrals, the first step toward identification, is complex since it requires deciphering the root cause of students’ learning struggles—e.g., second language (L2) factors, the possibility of a learning disability (LD), or the combination of multiple other influences. To investigate the various influences contributing to learning difficulties, I centered this study on three potential sources, individual, institutional, and interpersonal. I aimed to answer, how did sociocultural influences mediate a teacher’s understanding of ELs’ competence? How did sociocultural influences mediate whether a teacher referred ELs to special education services? Using a cultural-historical theoretical approach, I sought deeper theoretical and empirical understandings into how institutional factors (e.g., tiered intervention contexts, policies), combined with other influences, mediated ELs’ referral decisions. I used a multiple parallel case study design following two fifth-grade ELs who faced the possibility of a referral. Interested in the interpersonal domain (e.g., interactions and communication among people), I zoomed in to a local process, student-teacher conferences to examine how classroom processes shaped teachers’ thoughts of students’ competence, and ultimately, referral decisions. I video-recorded teacher-student conference sessions over 14 weeks, and audio-recorded viewing sessions of the recorded conferences to understand teacher and student interpretations of learning competence. To understand how other dimensions (individual and institutional) contributed to teachers’ overall views about the student competence, I interviewed parents and school personnel, wrote observational field notes, and examined archival documents related to student learning over the entire fifth-grade year. I used inductive and iterative qualitative analytical approaches to craft the findings. My findings reaffirmed the complexity involved in finalizing ELs’ referral decisions. I found cultural factors intertwined with structural forces, driving students’ special education candidacies in divergent directions: one evaluated (LD); the other, retained. I also found the referral decisions were based on narrow understandings of learning and behaviors, lack of attention to students’ L2 needs, and faulty and overpowering structural forces which undermined teacher’s professional opinions about the referrals. These findings have implications for research, practice, and policy.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2020
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • Doctoral Dissertation Special Education 2020

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • 312 pages
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

Writing About Books of Choice: Building a Classroom Community in a Middle School English Language Arts Classroom

Description
This qualitative dissertation study examines the use of shared writing about books of choice in an eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom. Drawing on data collected from 23 eighth-grade students, this study investigates how sharing writing in a classroom community impacts

This qualitative dissertation study examines the use of shared writing about books of choice in an eighth-grade English Language Arts classroom. Drawing on data collected from 23 eighth-grade students, this study investigates how sharing writing in a classroom community impacts how students connect with a novel and how sharing writing helps to shape students’ writing practices and identity. The qualitative data collected for this study includes open-ended surveys, written reflections, interviews,teacher-researcher field notes, and examples of student work and writing. The findings of this study demonstrate the value of book choice, the benefits of peer interaction and feedback, and the usefulness of multimodal composition. These findings present ways that secondary teachers can improve both writing instruction and literature study.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2020
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • Doctoral Dissertation English 2020

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • 156 pages
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

May the choice be with you?: the effects and perceptions of choice on writing for college students

Description
An explanatory sequence mixed methods design was used to examine the effects of choice on the writing performance and motivation of college students (n = 242). The randomized control trial was followed by semi-structured interviews to determine the perceptions students

An explanatory sequence mixed methods design was used to examine the effects of choice on the writing performance and motivation of college students (n = 242). The randomized control trial was followed by semi-structured interviews to determine the perceptions students (n = 20) held on the experiment as well the importance of choosing writing topics in college writing assignments. The effects of choice were tested as part of a real writing assignment that was included in nine sections of an introductory special education course. Results from hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses found choice had a statistically significant negative effect on holistic writing quality, number of words written, and intrinsic writing motivation. Findings from the semi-structured interviews provided context for understanding the unexpected quantitative results.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2018
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • thesis
    Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2018
  • bibliography
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-190)
  • Field of study: Learning, literacies and technologies

Citation and reuse

by April Angelique Aitken

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • viii, 217 pages : illustrations (some color)
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

The impact of strategy instruction on source-based writing

Description
This study examines the effects of providing persuasive writing and reading comprehension strategy training on source-based essay writing. Strategy training was administered through the use of the Writing Pal and the Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART).

This study examines the effects of providing persuasive writing and reading comprehension strategy training on source-based essay writing. Strategy training was administered through the use of the Writing Pal and the Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART). The impact of both individual (writing or reading) and blended strategy training on source-based writing was investigated. A total of 261 participants completed the study; after removing incomplete and second language participants the source-based writing and system performance was assessed for 175 participants (n no instruction = 48, n iSTART =41, n Writing Pal =41, n blended =45).

Results indicated that participants who received blended strategy training produced higher quality source-based essays than participants who received only reading comprehension, writing strategy training, or no training. Furthermore, participants who received only reading comprehension or writing strategy training did not produce higher quality source-based essays than participants in the no-training control group. Time on task was investigated as a potential explanation for the results. Neither total time on task nor practice time were predictive of group differences on source-based essay scores. Analyses further suggested that the impact of strategy training does not differ as a function of prior abilities; however, training does seem to impact the relation between prior abilities and source-based essay scores. Specifically, prior writing ability was unrelated to performance for those who received writing training (i.e., Writing Pal and blended conditions), and prior reading ability was unrelated to performance for those received the full dosage of iSTART training. Overall, the findings suggest that when taught in conjunction with one another, reading comprehension and writing strategy training transfers to source-based writing, providing a positive impact on score. Potential changes to the Writing Pal and iSTART to more closely align training with source-based writing are discussed as methods of further increasing the impact of training on source-based writing.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2015
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • thesis
    Partial requirement for: Ph. D., Arizona State University, 2015
  • bibliography
    Includes bibliographical references (pages 68-76)
  • Field of study: Psychology

Citation and reuse

by Jennifer L. Weston

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • xii, 108 pages : illustrations (some color)
Open Access
Peer-reviewed

Perceived control of the attribution process: measurement and theory

Description
The primary objective of this study was to develop the Perceived Control of the Attribution Process Scale (PCAPS), a measure of metacognitive beliefs of causality, or a perceived control of the attribution process. The PCAPS included two subscales: perceived control

The primary objective of this study was to develop the Perceived Control of the Attribution Process Scale (PCAPS), a measure of metacognitive beliefs of causality, or a perceived control of the attribution process. The PCAPS included two subscales: perceived control of attributions (PCA), and awareness of the motivational consequences of attributions (AMC). Study 1 (a pilot study) generated scale items, explored suitable measurement formats, and provided initial evidence for the validity of an event-specific version of the scale. Study 2 achieved several outcomes; Study 2a provided strong evidence for the validity and reliability of the PCA and AMC subscales, and showed that they represent separate constructs. Study 2b demonstrated the predictive validity of the scale and provided support for the perceived control of the attribution process model. This study revealed that those who adopt these beliefs are significantly more likely to experience autonomy and well-being. Study 2c revealed that these constructs are influenced by context, yet they lead to adaptive outcomes regardless of this contextual-specificity. These findings suggest that there are individual differences in metacognitive beliefs of causality and that these differences have measurable motivational implications.

Details

Contributors
Date Created
2014
Resource Type
Language
  • eng
Note
  • thesis
    Partial requirement for: Ph. D., Arizona State University, 2014
  • bibliography
    Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-117)
  • Field of study: Educational psychology

Citation and reuse

by Evan Jacob Fishman

Additional Information

English
Extent
  • viii, 127 p. : ill
Open Access
Peer-reviewed