With changes to placement testing and many students being able to self-place into college-level courses, first-year community college students are often entering English composition classes without a strong academic skillset. Tutoring can be a way to support students, but many do not attend tutoring. At a rural community college, students in two…

Multilingual college students often struggle with writing and revising for academic purposes. This dissertation explored the effectiveness of a Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) approach to teaching revision processes to college-level multilingual writers. Although a significant body of research exists on effective feedback on…

In an era of widespread automation--from grocery store self-checkout machines to selfdriving cars--it is not outrageous to wonder: can teachers be automated? And more specifically, can automated computer teachers instruct students how to write? Automated computer programs have long been used in summative writing evaluation efforts, such as scoring…

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…

People with acquired brain injury (ABI) present with impairments in working memory and executive functions, and these cognitive deficits contribute to difficulty self-regulating the production of expository writing. Cognitive processes involved in carrying out complex writing tasks include planning, generating text, and reviewing or revising text…

This study analyzed three analytical essays and three metacognitive reflections written by 36 high school sophomores during one school year. After they had written analytical essays, students wrote reflections in which they described their writing process, explained what they did well, and identified two areas for improvement. The study focused on…

Students with and without learning disabilities (LD) struggle with the written expression process, from planning and organization (e.g., prewriting) to actually writing an essay. For students with LD, challenges in written expression are more intensive than their typical peers. Without effective written expression supports and instruction, such as…

This study examined the use of self-regulating strategies (SRSD) to support students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) in the academic area of writing. Eight, eighth grade students identified as having emotional disabilities participated in a multiple baseline multiple probe designed to assess the effects of teaching persuasive…

A growing body of research supports the use of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) to improve the writing skills of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). This single subject multiple baseline, multiple probe design study extends this research base by investigating the effects of peer-revision instruction on the persuasive…

Writing skills are considered essential to lifelong success, yet experts cannot agree on one model or set of traits that distinguishes good writing from poor writing. Instructional strategies in developing student writing at the high school level need to include a means by which students receive immediate, specific feedback that acts as a scaffold…

The purpose of this research study was to explore what effect instruction in metacognitive strategy (MS) use had on student achievement in a hybrid developmental English course at a community college. The study examined whether the addition of teacher-led or peer-led instruction in MS use would result in improved writing ability for the student…