Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Carolyn S. Buckenmaier
Committee Member
Claudia Chaille
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
5th grade students, application, directed-writing program, essay writing, John B. Cary Elementary School, professional development, staff development, students, teachers, writing deficiencies, writing improvement, writing instruction, writing process, writing prompts, writing skills, writing strategy, structured writing, systematic method
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to improve the writing skills of the students at John B. Cary Elementary School. Most of the students in the target group experienced difficulty writing using a writing prompt. They also were unable to compose an essay following the writing process.
The directed-writing program was implemented in all 5th-grade classrooms as a strategy to improve writing. The applied dissertation was conducted for 10 months from October 2002 through July 2003. The teachers received ongoing professional development training on the directed-writing program. The systematic method was developed by the writer to help teachers teach students to use the writing process for organizing and writing a structured paper. The format addressed all steps of the writing process.
Findings demonstrated that the application of the directed-writing program, which included the steps of the writing process, improved the 5th-grade students’ writing deficiencies at John B. Cary Elementary.