Project Activities
Although the ability to express one's thoughts in writing is critical for success in school and life, current approaches to writing instruction are failing our children with only 28% writing proficiently by fourth grade. Children who experience difficulty writing are at risk of school dropout and mental health problems. A need to better understand early writing to prevent the negative influences on education and health and to provide teachers with the resources needed for data-based decision making (DBDM) exists. Research studies on existing models of kindergarten and first grade writing include only one writing genre, focus solely on measures of transcription (e.g., handwriting, spelling), or use norm-referenced assessments. The project aims to better understand the full scope of early writing to identify valid and fair writing assessments that can be easily applied by teachers to the writing generated for multiple purposes daily.
Research plan
This project leverages archival narrative, opinion, and informational writing samples previously collected from 747 children during the initial validation study of the Early Elementary Writing Rubric (EEWR) (McKenna et al., 2022). During Study 1, secondary data analysis will occur by coding previously collected writing samples with linguistic and discourse methods that encompass all skills within the Simple View of Writing Theory. A combination of structural equation modeling techniques will be applied to identify the strength of the discrete writing measures and the relationship between the discrete writing measures and writing quality as measured by the EEWR. Measurement fairness across racial, socioeconomic, and academic subgroups or different genres will be assessed and an exploration of how writing quality varies across characteristics will occur. The relationship of language and reading skills to writing quality will be evaluated. A trajectory of instructional goals corresponding to skills needed for different writing genres will be classified to respond to the calls of researchers and policymakers for DBDM. In Study 2, new data will be gathered to reveal teacher-level malleable factors for DBDM. Teachers will participate in interviews that will be thematically analyzed using an inductive process. Findings will include perceived acceptability, feasibility, and usefulness of the assessments and goals within the conceptual framework developed in Study 1 for DBDM.
Career plan
To support this program of research and the PIs career development, the PI will (1) participate in mentoring and training activities to obtain advanced content and procedural knowledge; (2) increase knowledge of instrument development; and (3) establish innovative writing and dissemination skills to reach a diverse audience.
Through a career development plan, the PI intends to accomplish the following goals: (1) obtain advanced content and procedural knowledge to develop and carry-out a cohesive line of research to advance knowledge of early writing development and approaches to writing assessment for data informed instructional decision making; (2) increase knowledge of instrument development through the use of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to expand upon methodological expertise and broaden the scope of the research questions answered; and (3) establish innovative writing and dissemination skills to reach a diverse audience. These goals will be accomplished through frequent mentorship meetings; consultation with experts in the proposed quantitative and qualitative methodologies; input provided by the writing and equity advisory board members; participation in professional growth and development opportunities such as methodological and grant writing workshops, a writing coaching program for pre-tenured faculty, and attendance at an international writing conference.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Products: This project will result in advance knowledge of early writing development and assessment for data informed instructional decision making in kindergarten through first grade. The project will also result in publications and presentations as well as other dissemination products (e.g., social media postings, infographics, videos, podcasts, and a project website) that will reach a wide audience including researchers, policymakers, administrators, teachers, teacher support professionals, and research-to-practice organizations.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Supplemental information
Mentors: Gerde, Hope; Hadley, Pamela
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
