Grant Closed

The Read-Write Cycle: An Integrated Model for Instruction and Assessment of Reading Comprehension Through Reading and Writing in the Disciplines

NCER

Program: Education Research Grants

Program topic(s): Literacy

Award amount: $1,549,795

Principal investigator: Robert Calfee

Awardee:

University of California, Riverside

Year: 2005

Project type:

Development and Innovation

Award number: R305G050069

Purpose

In this project, the researchers aimed to create an effective and generalizable instructional method that teachers could implement across subject areas and grade levels to improve students' reading comprehension. In particular, the goal was to improve reading comprehension to support student knowledge building in content areas. In upper elementary school, students are increasingly expected to master content knowledge independently, and yet many students struggle with reading comprehension and the acquisition of knowledge from text. At the conclusion of this project, researchers aimed to have modified the Read-Write Cycle for use across several content areas and to have data to support its potential effectiveness.

Structured Abstract

Setting

A public school district in southern California is the setting for this research study.

Sample

Approximately 1,080 students in grades 3 through 6 are participating in this project. The student body of the participating district is ethnically diverse (55 percent Hispanic, 32 percent White), contains 24 percent of students classified as English language learners, and serves primarily low-income families (75 percent of students district-wide qualify for free or reduced-price lunch). In addition, 36 elementary school teachers are participating in this project.

Intervention

The intervention being studied in this project is the Read-Write Cycle, a comprehensive model for reading/writing instruction and assessment that was originally designed for use in science classes. In this project, the Read-Write Cycle is being developed for use across additional content areas.

Research design and methods

During the first phase of this project, teachers receive professional development in the Read-Write Cycle. Content-area literacy curricula and assessment materials are also being developed in Year 1. In phase 2 and 3, experimental teachers are implementing the Read-Write Cycle techniques in their classrooms during content-area instruction. Twenty-four teachers are being randomly assigned to the experimental group, and twelve teachers are being assigned to the control group. All students participating in the research project in phase 2 are being followed into phase 3.

Control condition

Control group teachers receive no training in the Read-Write Cycle and are continuing with their previous content-area instructional methods throughout the academic year.

Key measures

Both standardized and researcher-developed measures of reading and writing outcomes are being collected. Both quantitative and qualitative measures are being used, and longitudinal case studies of 15 experimental teachers are being collected.

Data analytic strategy

Hierarchical linear modeling is being used to examine the effects of the treatment, and variation in effects as a function of student characteristics.

People and institutions involved

IES program contact(s)

Emily Doolittle

Team Lead for Social Behavioral Research

NCER

Products and publications

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

Select Publications:

Book chapters

Calfee, R.C., and Miller, R.G. (2005). Breaking Ground: Constructing Authentic Reading-Writing Assessments for Middle and Secondary Students. In R. Indrisano, and J. Paratore (Eds.), Learning to Write, Writing to Learn: Theory and Research in Practice (pp. 203-219). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Calfee, R.C., and Miller, R.G. (2005). Comprehending Through Composing: Reflections on Reading Assessment Strategies. In S. Paris, and S. Stahl (Eds.), Children's Reading Comprehension and Assessment(pp. 215-233). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Calfee, R.C., and Miller, R.G. (2007). Best Practices in Writing Assessment. In S. Graham, C. Macarthur, and J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Best Practices in Writing Instruction (pp. 265-286). New York: Guilford Press.

Calfee, R.C., Miller, R.G., Norman, K.A., Wilson, K.M., and Trainin, G. (2006). Learning to do Educational Research. In R.J. Sternberg, and M. Constas (Eds.), Translating Theory and Research Into Educational Practice(pp. 77-104). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Supplemental information

Co-Principal Investigator(s): Miller, Roxanne; Chapman University

Questions about this project?

To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.

The Read-Write Cycle: An Integrated Model for Instruction and Assessment of Reading Comprehension Through Reading and Writing in the Disciplines

Purpose

Structured Abstract

Setting

Sample

Research design and methods

Control condition

Key measures

Data analytic strategy

People and institutions involved

IES program contact(s)

Emily Doolittle

Products and publications

Supplemental information

Questions about this project?

Questions about this project?

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