Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
EdD Program for Educational Leaders
Advisor
Maureen Fitzpatrick
Committee Member
John Michael Bodi
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Committee Member
Claudia Santin
Keywords
assessment scores, classroom instruction, competency testing, composition scores, consistency, elementary education, essay writing, fourth graders, graphic organizers, guided writing, instructional practices, instructional strategies, journals, LINKS, metacognition, metacognitive instruction, metacognitive strategies, open response structures, paragraph writing, professional development, research design, rubrics, state assessments, student achievement, teacher training, thinking processes, transitional word charts, visual templates, writing assessment, writing journals, writing skills, writing strategies, writing training, writing rubrics
Abstract
The intent of this applied dissertation was to improve the writing skills of fourth graders in a suburban school district. The composition scores from the last three administrations of a state assessment have been the lowest scores, with little or no increase in performance. A possible cause was inconsistent instructional practice resulting . in the need for teachers to focus on and provide a system of consistent metacognitive strategies, as a possible remedy.
Teachers received four sessions of LINKS,. training. LINKS,,. is a system of metacognitive instructional strategies designed for teaching writing and thinking skills. The ·focus of this training was the implementation of guided writing strategies consisting of the use of visual templates for writing paragraphs, stories, and letters, as well as the use of transitional word charts, writing rubrics, graphic organizers, writing journals, and open response structures. Training surveys, formal and informal. observations, student surveys and work, and teacher interviews, as well as pre- and post-test measures were used to examine performance.
The activities of this applied dissertation resulted in students· being able to write well-organized paragraphs and essays for classroom and competency testing. Students' learning was also accelerated because consistency in instructional presentation from a team of teachers was provided. In addition, an improved assessment score with a significant (p < . 0001) t-test value indicated that a metacognitive instructional program significantly ·affected scores on long compositions. This program, based on positive training feedback, has created the impetus for continuing the exploration and implementation of a program of metacognitive strategy instruction.