Improving the Writing, Knowledge, and Motivation of Struggling Young Writers: Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development With and Without Peer Support

TLDR

Writing development involves changes that occur in children’s strategic behavior, knowledge, and motivation. The study examined the effectiveness of self‑regulated strategy development (SRSD) and its peer support extension in promoting strategic behavior, knowledge, and motivation among struggling young writers. SRSD instruction emphasized planning and writing stories and persuasive essays, with an added peer support component to facilitate maintenance and generalization. SRSD improved writing performance and knowledge in second‑grade students, outperforming Writers’ Workshop in both instructed and uninstructed genres, and the peer support component further enhanced performance across genres.

Abstract

Writing development involves changes that occur in children’s strategic behavior, knowledge, and motivation. The authors examined the effectiveness of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), a strategy instructional model designed to promote development in each of these areas. Instruction focused on planning and writing stories and persuasive essays. The addition of a peer support component to SRSD instruction aimed at facilitating maintenance and generalization effects was also examined. SRSD had a positive impact on the writing performance and knowledge of struggling second-grade writers attending urban schools serving a high percentage of low-income families. In comparison with children in the Writers’ Workshop condition, SRSD-instructed students were more knowledgeable about writing and evidenced stronger performance in the two instructed genres (story and persuasive writing) as well as two uninstructed genres (personal narrative and informative writing). Moreover, the peer support component augmented SRSD instruction by enhancing specific aspects of students’ performance in both the instructed and uninstructed genres.