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At the national, state, district, and building levels, girls outperform boys in writing. The purpose of this study was to examine the achievement gap between 5th grade girls and boys in the content area of writing. The research questions explored the perceptions of 5th grade teachers and building administrators and examined the instructional strategies that were used to teach writing to 5th grade students. Attribution theory was used as the theoretical framework to address the achievement gap. Using a qualitative instrumental case study design, data were collected from a building administrator and a 5th grade writing teacher in the form of semi structured interviews, an observation of the 5th grade writing teacher, and the examination of writing instructional resources used to teach writing. Data from these sources were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to find emerging themes. The findings revealed that gender-specific instructional strategies and a progress monitoring assessment tool were needed to help close the achievement gap. Based on the findings, a white paper report was created and shared with the building administrator and 5th grade writing teacher. The white paper report included gender-specific instructional strategies and a progress monitoring assessment tool as recommendations to help close the achievement gap. Examining the achievement gap between 5th grade girls and boys in the content area of writing could promote positive social change by encouraging administrators as instructional leaders to become leading learners and by providing 5th grade teachers gender-specific instructional strategies to help students become proficient writers who are college and career ready.

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the impact of direct writing conventions instruction on second grade writing mechanics mastery at an independent school in southeast Florida. The research study utilized a nonexperimental quantitative method. The design was pretest-posttest with a control. The pretest-posttest assessment was the Children’s Progress Academic Assessment. The score utilized in the analysis was the Phonics/Writing subtest. De-identified data were collected and analyzed from two separate second grade classes from two consecutive school years (i.e., 2011-2012, 2012-2013). The control group consisted of 43 second graders who received writing conventions instruction in the context of student writing during individual and small group conferences. The control group received no direct writing conventions instruction. The treatment group consisted of 39 second graders who received direct writing conventions instruction through the use of mini-lessons during the writing workshop. An analysis of the de-identified data revealed that, although the treatment group mean change score had a positive change greater than the control group change score, the change was not statistically significant. The researcher failed to reject the null hypothesis relative to a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Recommendations were made for future research.

Although many aspects of English as a second language (ESL) academic writing instruction have been well researched, Leki, Cumming, and Silva (2008) note that, "There have been surprisingly few research-based descriptions of L2 writing classroom instruction" (p. 80). Although research related to the use of critical and feminist pedagogy in ESL is increasing, Kumaradivelu (2006) notices that it is still not clear how the critical awakening “…has actually changed the practice of everyday teaching and teacher preparation” (p. 76). The purpose of this study was to provide an individual response to the gaps identified by both sets of authors by investigating how critical and feminist theories could be utilized to develop an orientation to interactions in the everyday practices of an ESL academic writing classroom. In order to achieve this purpose, an autoethnographic study of an eight-week ESL academic writing course in an Intensive English Program (IEP) was conducted. The participants in this study included the teacher-researcher and seven learners. The data collected included the following: lesson plans, instructional materials, teacher field notes, teacher reflexive journal, transcripts of everyday class interactions, transcripts of multiple interviews with learners, learner written reflections, and learners’ written assignments for the course. Analysis of findings revealed that the critical and feminist theories selected for the course were realized even though there were some internal and external obstacles. Learners experienced positive shifts in their feelings about the topic of academic writing and their own abilities as academic writers. Learners’ written texts also reflected positive shifts with respect to the teacher’s goals for learners. These findings suggest that critical and feminist theories can be enacted in everyday classrooms and can be helpful with regard to improving teachers’ and learners’ experiences of everyday ESL academic writing classrooms.

With an increase of Swedish upper-secondary students’ motivation to enrol in university studies (Statistics Sweden, 2020a, 2020b), teachers must ensure that learners are adequately equipped to meet the expectations of higher education. However, in a national report, Skolinspektionen (2015) states many students fail to meet the standards of academic writing when undertaking the diploma project. To ensure learners become eligible for graduation and prepared for university studies, teachers need to be able to instruct pupils and to design effective scaffolding for diploma project writing. Therefore, the following study investigates the applicability of a genre-based model as atool for analysing relevant student-produced researchers papers written by EFL students, and to what extent the same genre-pedagogical analytical framework may be suitable as a tool for helping teachers to develop scaffolding for diploma projects written in English (and other languages). To address questions, a direct content analysis employing John Swales’ CARS model (1990) of rhetorical moves as a conceptual framework as a point of departure was performed on six EFL teacher-student research papers from the English and Education program for upper-secondary teachers of English at Malmö university. The analysis demonstrated that while several moves were executed in the pre-service teachers’ papers, some moves were absent. Additionally, several unconventional moves were identified, which can be attributed to the specific genres of the independent and degree projects. Hence, Swales’ CARS model is applicable for analysing student-produced research papers following the IMRAD structure. However, further investigation is encouraged into the genre-specific features of the student papers and the subsequent adaptation of the model to reflect the student-paper genre more closely. Consequently, to employ the model for designing scaffolding for diploma projects, teachers need to develop a critical understanding of moves employed within and across disciplines and teach them explicitly as part of pupils’ training and assessment in the writing process. Finally, further research targeting how teachers design and implement explicit genre-based writing scaffolding is called for.

This doctoral dissertation reports on results from three explorative case studies of teacher assessment practice within upper secondary school writing instruction. In Sweden, almost all responsibility for constructing, administering, and scoring assessments lies with the individual teacher. Unfortunately, little is known about classroom-based writing assessment and even less is known about the validity of such assessment. The aim of this dissertation is to build validity arguments based on classroom assessment practice concerning achievement tests in upper secondary school. Three research questions were formulated in relation to this aim: (1): To what extent can interpretation of scores be argued for? (2): To what extent can students be said to have had equal opportunities to learn what is later assessed? (3) To what extent can suggested and observed usage of scores be argued for, given the relationship between instruction and assessment?   The data for the studies consists of audio recorded observations, student texts, teacher comments, and scoring rubrics, and was gathered within writing units in three upper secondary schools. Altogether the observations comprise 17 lessons (or 19.6 hours). Data was also collected in interviews with three teachers and their students. The data on instructed and assessed writing was analyzed by conceptual tools related to a theoretical model of writing, the so-called Writing Wheel. The validity argument was built using Bachman’s (2005) Assessment Use Argument (AUA) model. On an aggregated level, the results indicate threats to the validity of interpretation of scores, to the validity of usage of scores, and threats associated with inequitable assessment. The first types of threats stem, for example, from scoring rubrics that are not aligned to the assessment tasks at hand, and a low degree of standardization in the administration of the assessment tasks. The second type of threat is related to this; for example, low standardization led to incomparable student marks. While some students could benefit from contacts with able peers (and/or parents) others could not. The third type relates to possibilities to learn what is later assessed, which was not fully evident in some cases. Finally, the results also implicate that the building of an AUA can serve as a syllabus-design tool for practitioners as well as a design tool in intervention studies. The closing chapter of the dissertation presents a number of hypotheses based on the case study findings. Concluding remarks suggest how these could be tested.

This dissertation shares findings from a descriptive case study that examined an experienced teacher’s facilitation of a collaborative story writing project using Google Docs in a culturally and linguistically diverse Grade 11 English class. An expanding body of research supports the use of web-based writing tools and peer collaboration for promoting writing skills development, yet there is little research examining how these practices are integrated within the broader teaching and learning process. In the present study, sociocultural theory provided a guiding framework for exploring the complexities inherent in the teaching and learning process as students worked in pairs (and one triad) to write a story about “the future” to be shared with an audience of upper level elementary students. Data sources included field notes taken during 16 class observations, pre- and post- project interviews with the teacher, on-going reflections written by the teacher, focus group interviews with the students, and the students’ collaborative projects stored in Google Docs. The findings cohered around five key themes that describe the teacher’s facilitation of the project: (1) incorporating procedural facilitators, including mentor texts and web-based writing applications; (2) adopting a socio-cognitive apprenticeship model to guide students toward higher levels of proficiency with narrative writing; (3) building a community of practice through peer collaboration, peer sharing, and peer editing; (4) enabling a positive and productive learning environment; and (5) transitioning to a new curriculum. The findings from this study also shed light on the affordances and constraints associated with the pedagogical supports, the collaborative context, and the use of Google Docs as integral components of the project. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for educators who are interested in integrating collaborative story writing projects or web-based writing tools within their classroom contexts. / Graduate

As access to technology increases, educators must continue to study how to best integrate these resources to help close the writing achievement gap and prepare students for college and careers. This survey explores the levels of technology use in English classrooms at diverse, low-income high schools in Texas where 70 percent or more students are identified as economically disadvantaged. This study examines how teachers' levels of implementation relate to teachers' age, years of teaching experience, highest degree earned, and the type of school. Teachers completed an online survey indicating their curriculum and instructional practices, their personal computer use, and their implementation of writing in the classroom. Based on these results, follow-up interviews were conducted with teachers who volunteered to be interviewed. Quantitative statistical analysis of the research evidence using chi square tests indicates a relationship between teachers' level of technology implementation and their age and years of experience teaching. However, the type of school where teachers teach (suburban, urban, or rural) and the highest degree earned by the teacher does not relate to teachers' implementation level, according to the statistical analysis. Thus, this dissertation is about high school English teachers' perspectives on levels of technology implementation in schools serving diverse learners. Using qualitative analysis, the study also found that technology is used on a limited basis by the teachers who provided comments in the survey and those who were interviewed due to lack of access to computers in classrooms. Most teachers indicated they use the teacher computer in their classrooms for clerical tasks and/or presentations to students. Student use of computers was limited to scheduling time in labs that must be shared among the other teachers and students on campus. In addition, the teachers commented that additional professional development is needed to help them implement available technology resources for teaching and learning. To address these challenges, administrators need to study what technology resources best support the teaching of writing, particularly in ways that help close the achievement gap and prepare students for college and careers. Administrators should provide for teachers and students more accessibility to technology resources beyond the school-wide computer lab. Finally, administrators need to offer their teachers varied, ongoing, and collaborative professional development focused on both writing instruction and technology resources to improve teachers' proficiencies and confidence in these areas.

Writing instruction has been ignored in junior high school in Taiwan. Since teachers and schools have started to focus on communicative ability, should writing gain more attention in junior high schools? The pedagogical practices are assumed to be determined by teachers¡¦ perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. Therefore, this study aims to examine teachers¡¦ perceptions of English writing instruction, what factors they believe are crucial, and what measures are recommended to improve it. Besides, the study investigates teachers¡¦ attitudes toward assessing students¡¦ writing ability in the entrance exam. Finally, this study also intends to explore whether public and private school teachers view certain issues differently. Questionnaires are administered to 57 English teachers in Taichung City and are analyzed by frequencies and the independent t-test. The findings show that either teachers or schools downplay the importance of writing instruction. Teachers find factors affecting their teaching include: students¡¦ language proficiency, students¡¦ motivation, and time and efforts spent to review students¡¦ writings. Also most teachers disapprove to include a writing test in the entrance exam. Possible measures to improve writing instruction are suggested: ability grouping, reducing the number of classes to teach, adopting more appropriate teaching materials, and avoiding a test-oriented curriculum.

This essay aims to generate understanding for todays grammar teaching in the early grades. Through base in previous research, I intend in this work to seek understanding of what affects the grammar development and its impact on education. I investigate in this essay teacher's approach to grammar and how it affects the incidence of grammar teaching. Work empiricism consists of qualitative research interviews and a survey with the intention to present a broad picture of grammatical meaning. Regarding to the informants that are involved in the investigation, I have deliberately chosen teachers from different generations to find reflections of their own education and how it influenced their view of grammar. My study shows that teachers acquire greater part of teaching about language functional side compared to the form of the language. The teachers who participated in the survey indicated that the language functional side priority by reason that the more responds to students' learning needs and promotes a desire to learn through meaningful for the student. Teachers' views on grammar and its impact on education was shown by the study to be quite individual and based on the teacher's own experiences. Therefore, could not this study present a clear picture of the teacher's definition of grammar.