An Investigation of the Impact of the 6 + 1 Trait® Writing Model on Student Achievement

Regional need and study purpose. Writing proficiency is low among grade 4, 8, and 12 students in the Northwest Region. This study will determine the impact of the 6 + 1 Trait® writing model, published by the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory on the writing achievement of grade 5 students in 74 Oregon elementary schools.

Intervention description. The 6 + 1 Trait writing model integrates assessment with instruction, targeting seven traits of effective writing: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. Its 10 strategies include having students score and justify their scores on writing samples and using a writing process that emphasizes planning, analysis, and revision.

Study design and period. The design is cluster randomized, with schools randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. Within districts the two schools with the highest percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches were randomly assigned to the two conditions, then the next highest pair, and so on. A total of 74 elementary schools in Oregon were selected for the study, which focuses on approximately 3,000 grade 5 students. The study period is 2006–10.

Key outcomes and measures. The key outcome of interest is student achievement in writing, with proficiency assessed by raters trained to score essays.

Data collection approach. Pretest writing samples are collected in September of each data collection year; posttest samples, the following May. Teacher implementation of the 10 instructional strategies is measured using teacher surveys.

Analysis plan. The framework for the data analysis is a two-level hierarchical model, with students nested within schools. The May essay scores are used in the outcome analysis, with the September scores as baselines for individual students. School performance on the grade 4 Oregon writing assessment is also used to reduce the between-school variance and improve the efficiency of the design.

Principal investigators. Michael T. Coe, PhD, Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment.

Additional Information. Region, contact information, and references

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