The current study investigated the efficacy of using a writing intervention based in the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) approach for teaching paragraph writing skills to three students with epilepsy who struggled with writing. Individuals with epilepsy often have difficulties with the same cognitive processes that are involved in the writing process such as attention, working memory, and self-regulation. The study used a multiple baseline approach and participants' paragraphs were examined across the following WIAT-II paragraph scoring domains: number of words written, mechanics, organization, vocabulary, and total paragraph score. Effects on participants' self-efficacy beliefs towards paragraph writing were also examined. Results revealed an improvement in number of words written, paragraph organization, overall writing quality, and self-efficacy towards writing for all participants following the ten week intervention. Limitations to the study and implications for educators are discussed. / Graduate / 0525 / 0529

The current study investigated the efficacy of using a writing intervention based in the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) approach for teaching paragraph writing skills to three students with epilepsy who struggled with writing. Individuals with epilepsy often have difficulties with the same cognitive processes that are involved in the writing process such as attention, working memory, and self-regulation. The study used a multiple baseline approach and participants' paragraphs were examined across the following WIAT-II paragraph scoring domains: number of words written, mechanics, organization, vocabulary, and total paragraph score. Effects on participants' self-efficacy beliefs towards paragraph writing were also examined. Results revealed an improvement in number of words written, paragraph organization, overall writing quality, and self-efficacy towards writing for all participants following the ten week intervention. Limitations to the study and implications for educators are discussed. / Graduate / 0525 / 0529

Process writing research began with adult writers, eventually expanding to include school age children and more recently, emergent writers. Research at the early childhood level has often been directed at specific aspects of writing development rather than an examination of process writing development. This study used pre-existing writing samples to examine writing development in kindergarten and first grade over the course of the school year following the district-wide implementation of a writing process based intervention. The intervention utilized a writing workshop approach to teach the writing process with the addition of two elements: picture plans were used to support emergent writers’ prewriting plans, and teachers focused on a single teaching point to target writing instruction. Beginning and end of year samples from 138 kindergarten and 106 first-grade students from three elementary schools in a medium-sized, public school district in the southwestern United States were used for this study, yielding a total of 488 samples. The samples were scored to investigate the change over time on four outcome measures: quantity of words produced, attributes of prewriting picture plan, evelopmental level, and handwriting. In addition, the impact of fidelity to the intervention features was explored in relation to the four outcome measures. Fidelity to implementation was scored on each of the 10 separate aspects of the intervention: student choice for topics, reading-writing connections, prewriting, peer conferencing, teacher conferences, minilessons, revision, editing, publishing, and modeling. Overall, the study found that the greatest change over time in kindergarten and first grade was in the developmental level. There were also large effects for quantity of words produced and handwriting. A regression analysis was conducted to determine which aspects of the intervention feature were most critical to early writing development. Student choice had a significant positive association with all four dependent measures. Minilessons had a significant association with developmental level and handwriting; other significant positive associations included revision with quantity of words produced, and editing with planning. The findings suggest these features of writing workshops should be included in interventions designed to foster early writing development.

This quantitative study explored the impact of literacy integration in a science inquiry classroom involving the use of science notebooks on the academic language development and conceptual understanding of students from diverse (i.e., English Language Learners, or ELLs) and low socio-economic status (low-SES) backgrounds. The study derived from a randomized, longitudinal, field-based NSF funded research project (NSF Award No. DRL - 0822343) targeting ELL and non-ELL students from low-SES backgrounds in a large urban school district in Southeast Texas. The study used a scoring rubric (modified and tested for validity and reliability) to analyze fifth-grade school students’ science notebook entries. Scores for academic language quality (or, for brevity, language) were used to compare language growth over time across three time points (i.e., beginning, middle, and end of the school year) and to compare students across categories (ELL, former ELL, non-ELL, and gender) using descriptive statistics and mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA). Scores for conceptual understanding (or, for brevity, concept) were used to compare students across categories (ELL, former ELL, non-ELL, and gender) in three domains using descriptive statistics and ANOVA. A correlational analysis was conducted to explore the relationship, if any, between language scores and concept scores for each group. Students demonstrated statistically significant growth over time in their academic language as reflected by science notebook scores. While ELL students scored lower than former ELL and non-ELL students at the first two time points, they caught up to their peers by the third time point. Similarly, females outperformed males in language scores in the first two time points, but males caught up to females in the third time point. In analyzing conceptual scores, ELLs had statistically significant lower scores than former-ELL and non-ELL students, and females outperformed males in the first two domains. These differences, however, were not statistically significant in the last domain. Last, correlations between language and concept scores were overall, positive, large, and significant across domains and groups. The study presents a rubric useful for quantifying diverse students’ science notebook entries, and findings add to the sparse research on the impact of writing in diverse students’ language development and conceptual understanding in science.

abstract: An explanatory sequence mixed methods design was used to examine the effects of choice on the writing performance and motivation of college students (n = 242). The randomized control trial was followed by semi-structured interviews to determine the perceptions students (n = 20) held on the experiment as well the importance of choosing writing topics in college writing assignments. The effects of choice were tested as part of a real writing assignment that was included in nine sections of an introductory special education course. Results from hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses found choice had a statistically significant negative effect on holistic writing quality, number of words written, and intrinsic writing motivation. Findings from the semi-structured interviews provided context for understanding the unexpected quantitative results. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2018

The present study sought to build on the large body of past research into written disclosure of traumatic memories. This research has consistently found that participants who write about their traumatic experiences realize long-term physiological and psychological health benefits. More recently, it has been found that those participants who realize the most benefits are those who progressively include more elements of a good narrative, or story, in their writing about a traumatic experience over several sessions. Therefore, research has begun to examine the role of language and the structure of language in the health benefits gained from written disclosure of traumatic memories. A guided written disclosure protocol was designed for the present study, which sought to aid participants in supplying an increasing amount of narrative structure to their written disclosures of a single traumatic experience. Participants (N = 30) completed several measures of psychological and physiological health prior to and one month after completing the guided written disclosure protocol. Analyses revealed that participants who completed all four writing sessions showed statistically significant reductions in symptoms of general psychological distress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and intrusive and avoidant symptoms related to the traumatic experience. No significant self-reported physiological health benefits were found. The clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed.

Although academic writing skills are central in the core content of the Swedish nationalcurriculum for English, Swedish upper-secondary school pupils struggle withcomposing academic texts. Both international and national research have formulatedseveral models for effectively constructing ESL (English as a second language)academic writing modules. However, these models in the school are often notimplemented or misinterpreted in the Swedish school. Therefore, to find a best practiceexample that can be implemented in the English upper-secondary classroom, this studyinvestigates the research-based design of a beginner ESL academic writing course atMalmö University with focus on constructive alignment and instructor feedback. Thedata included three data sets: i) lectures and other course materials, ii) ten studentpapers across three drafts, 30 draft submissions in total, and iii) instructor feedback onthe first two drafts. All data was subjected to different types of content analysis. Afeedback classification system synthesized from previous research was specificallydeveloped for the data analysis of instructor feedback. The main findings were that theacademic writing course investigated was in-fact constructively aligned providing thestudents with qualitative academic writing instruction; therefore, it may arguably serveas a model for academic writing interventions also in the school. Furthermore, themulti-dimensional feedback classification system developed for this study may guideeducators’ reflection over their feedback practices.

Background: Shame is a painful human experience that is positively associated with self-criticism and psychopathology and negatively associated with self-compassion. Compassion-based interventions may be particularly helpful for treating shame and self-criticism. This randomized controlled pilot study examined a brief online self-compassionate letter writing intervention for individuals with high shame. Method: Participants were 68 undergraduates with high shame. Participants were randomly assigned to a 16-day self-compassionate letter writing intervention (n=29) or a waitlist control group (n=39). Participants completed baseline measures, post-assessment measures, and follow-up measures one month later. Results: Participants who received the self-compassionate letter writing intervention evidenced greater reductions in global shame, external shame, self-criticism, and general anxiety compared to those in the control group. Conclusion: This study examined the efficacy of self-compassionate letter writing as a stand-alone intervention for individuals with high shame. This brief, easily accessible and self-administered practice may be highly beneficial for a host of internalizing symptoms. Clinical implications are discussed. / Psychology

Elementary students who demonstrate accuracy and speed in handwriting are better equipped to generate higher quality, longer composition. Unfortunately, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to encounter significant difficulties with legibility, size, and speed of handwriting. The present study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design across participants to examine the effects of CASL (Center for Advancing Student Learning) Handwriting intervention on handwriting accuracy and speed for three early elementary students with ASD. The dependent variable was correct letter points (CLP) and error letter points (ELP) as measured on a 90-s sentence copy probe. The intervention was delivered over eighteen, 20-min sessions which included alphabetic knowledge activities, explicit instruction in handwriting, and timed practice with goal-setting, praise, performance feedback, and self-graphing. After starting intervention, all students showed immediate increases in overall handwriting accuracy. Throughout intervention, handwriting accuracy continued to improve for each student, and handwriting speed increased for 2 of 3 students. However, the observed gains fell short of high levels of accuracy needed to achieve fluency as a learning outcome. Results extend prior research on handwriting intervention for students with ASD, the CASL Handwriting Program, behavioral fluency theory, the Instructional Hierarchy, explicit instruction, and timed practice.

abstract: High school students with high-incidence disabilities and struggling writers face considerable challenges when taking high-stakes writing assessments designed to examine their suitability for entrance to college. I examined the effectiveness of a writing intervention for improving these students’ performance on a popular college entrance exam, the writing assessment for the ACT. Students were taught a planning and composing strategy for successfully taking this test using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model. A randomized control trial was conducted where 20 high school students were randomly assigned to a treatment (N = 10) or control (N = 10) condition. Control students received ACT math preparation. SRSD instruction statistically enhanced students’ planning, the quality of their written text (including ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use), the inclusion of argumentative elements in their compositions, and the use of transition words in written text. Limitations of the study, future research, and implications for practice are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2017