This mixed methods study combining a single-subject experimental design with an embedded case study focuses on the impact of a visual treatment on the handwritten and typed output of a struggling male writer during his 5 th through 7 th grades who has undergone a longitudinal remedial phase of two and a half years creating text-only material as well as graphic novels (on paper, on the computer, and online). The purpose of this research was to develop and assess the effectiveness and practicability of a visual treatment in order to help this high-achieving student with excellent comprehension and oral skills but impaired execution of writing tasks to produce cohesive, well-organized stories within a given time. It was hypothesized that by breaking up the assignments into visual chunks (speech bubbles), taking away the threat of a blank page to be filled by text only, exercising his artistic capabilities, and fostering pride of authorship and achievement through (online) sharing, this treatment would improve the participant's written output in quality, quantity, and pace. The 6+1 Trait ® Writing Scoring Continuum (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, early 1980s) was employed to assess the participant's writing performance, and the Flanders Interaction Analysis Categories (FIAC) (Flanders, 1970) were used to note his on-task/off-task behavior and the categories of his responses during tutoring sessions. An auditor was employed to confirm the investigator's evaluations; if contradictions occurred, the artifact in question was omitted from the study. The participant underwent extensive educational assessment regarding his reading and writing predilections and habits prior to study begin (quantitative data) in the form of rating scales, such as the Classroom Reading Inventory, the Elementary Writing Attitude Scale, and others. He was further observed during clinical supervision (audio- and videotaping), and underwent qualitative assessment (content analysis of written output) during the study, and post-study performance tests (quantitative and qualitative data). Baseline graphs were employed to establish the traits of his writing behavior during all three experimental stages (pre-treatment, treatment, post-treatment), and tutor logs shed further light on the participant's feelings and behavior under each condition. The interwoven mixed data revealed that the participant enjoyed the tutoring sessions, and even cried twice when he missed one, but that his attention deficit and off-task behavior severely interfered with the organization and quantity of his written output. The Flanders analysis showed that the slightest distraction through his environment (tutor, second tutee, etc.) took his focus off his writing tasks, and that the tiniest thing out of order (e.g., a wrong digital display of the current time of day on his computer screen) could occupy his thoughts for minutes, or trigger an exaggerated outburst after half an hour. Flanders also confirmed, as the higher quality of his output had shown, that the boy was strongly motivated by what interested him (Star Wars), and that he would put extra care in the creation of corresponding tasks. It can be concluded that self-chosen material, and not the format of graphic novels, motivated the participant to work. The content analysis of his post-treatment essay as compared to his pre-treatment essay showed that he was able to finish it, that the length had augmented, that the chronological order of events was maintained thanks to having learned organization through panels, but that the creativity and ideas had declined. Finally, the analysis of The 6+1 Trait ® Writing Scoring Continuum, which examined ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation of ten writing samples per stage, showed that the participant had scored 30.2 in the pre-treatment stage, 29.2 in the treatment stage, and 32.8 in the post-treatment stage. Given that the participant had matured during the two and a half years of study, the gain was not important enough to justify a graphic novel intervention to improve the writing of this specific student. The astonishing low score in the easiest stage, the treatment stage itself (where he only had to fill in speech bubbles) was a result of the genre itself (which called for less descriptive written output) and of the fact that the participant thought this stage was “easy” (as per interview from 05/17/2011) and might have felt not sufficiently challenged. It can be concluded that the graphic novel treatment was effective in helping with the chronological organization within the participant's texts, but this goal could maybe also have been achieved by structuring through sub-headings or perhaps voice recordings of a list of steps. Due to the high off-task behavior and time consumption, this treatment would not be feasible in a classroom setting, but might work in a resource room. During the treatment, the participant revealed himself as auditory, not just visual learner, who was motivated by sound and music, especially in combination with his online Star Wars photo story; he was planning on an animated story with movie features. In the future, this highly articulate child would benefit from self-chosen writing tasks that include the creation of online stories with pictures, animation, and sound. His behavior needed more remediation than the quality of his written output. Future studies should investigate the effectiveness of writing workshops using graphic novels within the classroom setting, as proposed by Thompson (2008), and also assess the benefits of digital story-telling (Burke & Kafai, 2012) as an additional motivational factor, while putting special emphasis on students who display autistic and ADHD behavior.

In this dissertation, I present the findings from a qualitative case study of the digital literacy integration of a teacher and the digital literacy practices of three students with literacy-related learning difficulties within her classroom. As a researcher, I was interested in the ways students with literacy- related learning difficulties navigated digital tools in a technology-infused environment created by a teacher who has experience using digital tools for instructional and student-learning purposes. My research was guided by the following questions: (1) What was the context, content, and structure of the teacher’s technology instruction? (2) In what ways did the students use technological tools? (3) How did students with reading difficulties compose during digital literacy events? The data for this case study included classroom observations, interviews, field notes, work samples, and lesson plans. Through the use of both inductive (Phase I and II) and a priori (Phase III) analysis, the data highlight several important findings to inform the research questions: (a) Knowledge of Technology Does Not Ensure Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (b) Students with Reading Difficulties Still Have Difficulty with Reading Despite Technology Integration and (c) Change in Writing Tool (technology) does not Guarantee Change in Writing Performance.

Voice is an integral part of writing instruction, and over half of state writing assessments include voice on scoring rubrics; yet, there is a dearth of research on voice and writing instruction with adolescents. Increasingly new literacies and digital tools are being used in the high school English classroom but with relatively little known about how these tools can teach voice during writing instruction. This qualitative single-case study examined how a public school, ninth-grade English teacher used new literacies to develop voice in students' writing and participants' perception of these instructional choices. The sample included the teacher and 14 students, and data collection included classroom observations, participant interviews, motivation inventories, reflective logs, state writing scores, students' writing folders, and wiki documents. An iterative process of inductive and deductive analysis led to key findings about instructional planning, purposeful writing assignments, teacher feedback, and participant response. Findings indicate that further attention is needed with respect to text structure development, writing pedagogy, and voice in writing; teachers' response to students' writing in digital environments; and motivation and adolescent writing. / Ph. D.

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

Syftet med denna avgränsade systematiska forskningsöversikt är att studera de senaste fem årens evidensbaserade undervisningsmetoder för skrivutveckling. Syftet är också att studera hur sambandet mellan skrivutveckling, arbetsminne och självförmåga ser ut, samt dess konsekvenser för skrivundervisningen. Målgruppen är högstadie- och gymnasieelever som kämpar med skrivandet i skolan, så kallade struggling writers. Föreliggande studie består av åtta forskningsstudier som undersöker evidensbaserade effektiva skrivstrategier. Studierna är utvalda och avgränsade utifrån bestämda inkluderings- och exkluderingskriterier. Analys och tolkning sker både med utgångspunkt i Banduras social kognitiva teori samt utifrån aktuell forskning inom fältet. Resultatet visar att effektiva skrivundervisningsmetoder ger stöd för arbetsminnet och utvecklar skrivförmågan genom välstrukturerade strategier som även ger visuellt stöd. Därutöver innefattar undervisningsmetoderna medvetenhet om lärandet som social aktivitet vilket betonar goda relationer, konstruktiv feedback samt stöttande lärare som utgår från explicita metoder. Resultatet visar också att elevernas skrivförmåga förbättras när man lägger vikt vid att arbeta med deras tankesätt och självförmåga. / The aim of this limited systematic research review is to study evidence based teaching methods for writing, over the last five years. The aim is also to study the link between writing development, working memory and self-efficacy, and the consequences of such a linkage. The target group are struggling writers in late elementary and high school that experience difficulties in writing composition.   The present study consists of eight research studies on effective writing strategies, selected and limited by certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis and interpretation are carried out from the perspective of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, as well as from previous research in the field. The result shows that effective teaching methods for writing support students’ working memory and writing skills through well-defined structures and visual support. Furthermore, the methods include awareness of learning as a social activity which emphasises good relations, constructive feedback and supportive teachers using explicit methods. The result also suggests that when addressing students’ mindset and supporting their self-efficacy, writing proficiency improves.

abstract: With Common Core State Standards (CCSS), all students are held to the same high expectations, including students learning English and other learners who may have academic difficulties. Many students learning English have trouble writing and need effective writing strategies to meet the demands the standards present. Ten fourth and fifth grade students learning English (6 girls and 4 boys), whose home language was Spanish, participated in a multiple baseline design across three small groups of participants with multiple probes during baseline. In this study, self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) for opinion writing using students’ own ideas was evaluated. Students who participated in this study demonstrated an increase in: the number of persuasive elements (e.g. premise, reasons, elaborations, and conclusion) included in their essays, overall essay quality, and the number of linking words used when writing opinion essays using their own ideas. Additionally, students’ knowledge of the writing process and opinion-writing genre improved. Students found the instruction to be socially acceptable. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2018

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