Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Carole Trueman
Committee Member
Betty Boult
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
assessment, Elementary Schools, high achieving students, implementation, Innovation Component Configuration Map, low achieving students, pedagogy, process writing, product writing, staff development, Step Up to Writing, teacher education, writing achievement, writing instruction, writing intervention, writing process, writing skills
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to improve the pedagogy of writing in the elementary schools. Students in the 4th grade were being instructed in an inconsistent pattern of process and product writing strategies, and were not demonstrating adequate achievement. The 4th grade teachers were trained in the Six-Traits Analytical Assessment Model and Step Up to Writing techniques, but there was little evidence that the strategies were effective.
The researcher developed a writing intervention that involved a 9-week aggressive approach teaching a combination of Six-Traits and Step Up to Writing. There were 3 components of the treatment: (1) extended staff development of the 2 models, (2) combination of Step Up to Writing and Six-Traits (3) and the development of a consistent plan of assessment to monitor implementation and writing achievement.
After the treatment, the students were assessed using the Six-Traits Model, and the implementation of the program was assessed using the Innovation Component Configuration Map to determine if there was an improvement in the students’ writing skills.
An analysis of the data revealed that all students made gains, some were large and others were minimal. A desegregation of the scores indicated that the low achieving students made the largest gains and the high achieving either regressed or achieved nominal gains. The most successful activities were the staff development and frequent assessments. The advanced training motivated the teachers and the assessments helped the program to remain focused.