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Cognition and Student Learning

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Attention, Memory, and Executive Functions in Written Language Expression in Elementary School Children

Year: 2006
Name of Institution:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Goal: Efficacy and Replication
Principal Investigator:
Hooper, Stephen
Award Amount: $1,596,398
Award Period: 4 years
Award Number: R305H060042

Description:

Purpose: At the time of this study, the researchers aimed to establish a stronger scientific foundation for educational practice within the writing domain by using the current advances in cognitive science and neuroscience. Through this study, they planned to examine

  1. the ontogeny of writing skills (text generation) for students at risk for writing problems and typically developing students
  2. the specific cognitive underpinnings of writing skills for students at-risk versus those not at-risk for writing problems and how these relationships change over time with respect to a theoretical model (the simple view of writing) of written expression
  3. the impact of an evidence-based treatment program on the developmental trajectories of written expression in students at risk for writing problems.

Project Activities: The researchers proposed a longitudinal experimental study design that examined written language development and writing problems for students in grades 1 to 4. They aimed to understand changes in written language skills associated with a developmentally appropriate and evidence-based intervention. They followed 120 students who were deemed at risk for writing problems in first grade. These students were randomly assigned into a non-treatment at-risk group (n = 60) and a treatment at-risk group (n = 60). The treatment group received weekly developmentally appropriate interventions targeted to improve early writing skills and were followed through the fourth grade. The students completed cognitive measures during each of the four phases of the project that assessed linguistic functions, working memory, short- and long-term memory, attention, executive functions, and graphomotor speed and coordination.

Structured Abstract

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT DESCRIBES THE PROJECT AT THE TIME OF FUNDING

Setting: The schools are located in a public school system in North Carolina.

Sample: Participants will include a prospective group of first-grade students (n = 180), 120 of whom are at risk for writing problems, and a randomly selected sample of 60 who are not at risk. Intervention students will be selected based on their at-risk status in written expression, as defined by falling below the 25th percentile on the WIAT-II Written Expression Composite. The students will be followed longitudinally from the first through the fourth grades. The diversity of the groups will be facilitated by the selection of a school-based sample comprising a wide array of socioeconomic strata and ethnicities.

Intervention: The treatment group will receive weekly developmentally appropriate, evidence-based interventions, namely writing lessons from the Process Assessment of the Learner, that aim to improve early writing skills in each of the four grades. In this intervention, at-risk students will receive 24 lesson plans focusing on handwriting automaticity, letter-word writing, and transfer to composition in the first grade. In second grade, they will receive 24 lesson plans focusing on alphabetic principle, phonemes to graphemes, transfer to word spelling, and composition. In grades 3 and 4, they will receive 38 lesson plans focusing on alphabetic principle for spelling, spelling context, structure of words, and expository writing in informational and persuasive essays. The initial interventions focus on the mechanics of writing letters and words. However, in advancing grades students will be asked to engage in more text generation and narrative transcription. These interventions follow a developmental sequence, and the researchers are testing the role of using this sequence to track how written expression changes over time.

Research Design and Methods: This project will employ a longitudinal design that will permit examination of written language development and writing problems for students in grades 1 to 4, and the change in written language skills associated with a developmentally appropriate and evidence-based intervention. In grade 1, the 120 students who are deemed at risk will be randomly assigned into a non-treatment at-risk group (n = 60) and a treatment at-risk group (n = 60).

Control Condition: The non-treatment at-risk group and the non-risk group will receive only the writing instruction offered by the regular curriculum.

Key Measures: Utilizing the simple view of writing model, children will receive cognitive measures during each of the four phases of the project that will assess linguistic functions, working memory, short- and long-term memory, attention, executive functions, and graphomotor speed and coordination. Selected aspects of the social environment (socioeconomic status) and associated child (reading skills, ADHD) and classroom variables (teacher-student relationships) also will be examined.

Data Analytic Strategy: Key data analyses will include use of growth curve modeling of written expression for all three groups, with a particular focus on the treatment at-risk group.

Related IES Projects: Written Language Problems in Middle School Students: A Randomized Trial of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) Model Using a Tier 2 Intervention(R305A120145), An Examination of Response to Intervention in the Early Writing Skills of At-Risk Preschoolers (R305A170529), Cross-Sectional Examination of Writing Quality in Elementary School Students: An Exploration of an Empirical Based Model of Writing Factors Across Grades 1 to 5 (R305A190405), Effectiveness Replication of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) Instructional Model for Writing in the General Curriculum (R305R220020)

Products AND Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.

Select Publications:

Book chapters

Zins, J.M., and Hooper, S.R. (2012). The Interrelationship of Child Development and Written Language Development. In E.L. Grigorenko, E. Mambrino, and D.D. Preiss (Eds.), Writing: A Mosaic of New Perspectives (pp. 47–64). New York: Psychology Press.

Journal articles

Hooper, S.R., Roberts, J.E., Nelson, L., Zeisel, S., and Kasambira, D. (2010). Preschool Predictors of Narrative Writing Skills in Elementary School Children. School Psychology Quarterly, 25(1): 1–12.

Hooper, S.R., Roberts, J.E., Sideris, J., Burchinal, M., and Zeisel, S. (2010). Longitudinal Predictors of Reading and Math Skills for African-American Youth Across Two Studies: An Examination of Similar Predictors at Different Developmental Time Points. Developmental Psychology, 46(5): 1018–1029.