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
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.
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.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
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.
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