When English Language Arts (ELA) students are not engaged in ELA coursework, they miss out on opportunities to practice reading, writing, speaking, listening, and--most importantly--critical thinking. The purpose of these two cycles of Action Research was to investigate the authentic pedagogies of ELA teachers at Ryken private preparatory school…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by first-year students as they negotiated the transition from the writing environment of high school to the writing environment of university. The research for the dissertation was undertaken using a mixed-method explanatory design. This yielded a description of students'…

Two different teaching methods were compared for their effectiveness on the writing skill and attitudes of twelfth graders. The sample included 135 randomly assigned students in six classes of an elective precollege writing course, with no significant differences between the students on the basis of ability or attitude. Traditionally oriented…

The responses to a 40-item multiple choice questionnaire by a nationally representative group of over 1000 twelfth-grade boys and girls, who had been rated either superior or average in writing performance, were analyzed to determine the effects of student attitudes and approaches toward composition and to identify the effects of certain teaching…

A program was implemented to help improve 12th grade Honors English students' writing skills through conferencing. The targeted group consisted of 13 students who experienced difficulties in writing effective written pieces. Their writing included fragments, run-on sentences, and improper use of punctuation. On the Stanford Achievement Test given…

A study was conducted to examine the effects of students' interests on their writing. A group of 571 high school seniors, fluent and nonfluent in writing, completed a questionnaire dealing with aspects of writing interest, such as subject, form, or voice. Tape recorded interviews addressing the same aspects were conducted with 11 fluent seniors…

A study investigated what basic writers think they are doing when they write and whether those perceptions are related to their writing achievement. A total of 134 students, high school seniors in a program of extra academic help and college freshmen in a compensatory composition course, completed a questionnaire that elicited data about their…

Presents a model for working with students at risk, helping them develop critical thinking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Includes cooperation of the local community relations officer for the police department. (RAE)