Project Activities
The researchers iteratively developed the Project WILLD writing intervention, tested and refined the intervention, and conducted a small, randomized pilot test to investigate its promise for improving writing outcomes for students with LLD.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The research took place in elementary schools in New Jersey that serve 4th and 5th grade students.
Sample
The participants included 55 students with LLD who qualified for special education services under the qualifying categories of Specific Learning Disability or Speech Language Impairment, or Other Health Impairment and 15 educators (SEs and SLPs who worked with students with LLD).
The project developed a language-based intervention to improve writing outcomes in students with LLD. Written cohesion was the focus of the intervention as it has word, sentence, and discourse level implications for improving writing. The intervention incorporated well-accepted educational practices for working with students with special education needs including explicit and direct instruction, strategy-based instruction (including metacognitive, metalinguistic, self-regulatory) and integration of spoken and written language. At the word level, the intervention focused on cohesive ties. At the sentence level, the intervention focused on sentence expansion, combining, and complexity strategies. At the discourse level, the intervention focused on constructing cohesive paragraphs. As part of informative writing, students wrote expository paragraphs about a science related topic.
Research design and methods
This project involved an iterative developmental design. In the first year, the researchers developed the intervention materials, had the content validated by experts, obtained qualitative feedback from educators who conducted practice lessons after short instruction, and collected data on usability. The following year, the 24-session intervention was delivered by 4 educators as part of special education or related services to 15 students with LLD using a within-subjects pre-test post-test design. The intervention and professional development materials were further refined based on participant outcome data and end-user feedback. A randomized pilot study was conducted with 6 SEs and SLPs delivering the 32-session intervention at schools with 21 students. In the final year, the researchers conducted secondary analyses and finalized the intervention materials to share on the project website.
Control condition
The control condition for the pilot study was business-as-usual small group IEP special education instruction provided by SEs or SLPs.
Key measures
The student outcome measures included norm-referenced standardized measures of oral language (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition), academic achievement in reading and writing (Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement-IV), and a researcher developed proximal measures developed in the first year of the project and used to quantify sentence combining and complexity skills. In addition, macrostructure and microstructure writing measures were derived from student writing samples that were informative paragraphs. Data was collected from SEs and SLPs using fidelity observation measures and satisfaction surveys to measure intervention delivery fidelity and user satisfaction. Data were also collected on costs of materials and time needed to implement the intervention.
Data analytic strategy
The researchers used a multilevel analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model to test for the primary impact of the intervention and facilitated the testing of moderation and mediation models to explain for whom and why the intervention worked.
Cost analysis strategy
Cost analysis for implementing the intervention was conducted, with ingredients limited to materials and time needed by educators for both the treatment and BAU comparison conditions.
Key outcomes
The main findings of this project, as reported by the principal investigator, are as follows:
- The Project WILLD intervention received favorable feedback from end-users who were educators and students with LLD across all three iterations.
- The fully developed Project WILLD intervention was implemented with fidelity and shown to have usability and improved student outcomes across two studies in school settings.
- A small randomized-controlled trial demonstrated significant improvements on writing measures of cohesive tie knowledge and informative paragraph length and quality for students in the intervention versus the business-as-usual conditions.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Project website:
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Select Publications:
Koutsoftas A.D. & Puranik, C. (2025). Informative paragraph writing in students with language based learning disabilities: Comparing measures across two different prompts. Communication Disorders Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/15257401251337736
Puranik, C. & Koutsoftas, A.D. (2024). Writing in elementary students with language-based learning disabilities: A pilot study to examine feasibility and promise. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 55(3) 959-975. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_LSHSS-23-00187
Marble-Flint, K. & Koutsoftas, A.D. (2023). A feasibility study in virtual assessment procedures of a sentence-writing probe for use with intermediate-grade students. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(4), 349-366. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1097/TLD.0000000000000322
Questions about this project?
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