Young children's self-regulated learning and contexts that support it.

Writing and portfolio activities provided a context for examining relations between classroom contexts and young children's self-regulated learning (SRL). Data collection spanned 6 months and included weekly visits to Grade 2 and 3 classrooms during regularly scheduled writing and portfolio activities. Data included teacher questionnaires and observations and student questionnaires, observations, and interviews. Young children deliberated about how to regulate writing and demonstrated either mastery or performance orientations as a function of classroom-specific tasks, authority structures, and evaluation practices. Findings support sociocognitive models of learning regarding how classroom contexts affect students' beliefs, values, expectations, and actions. Also they challenge assumptions that young children lack the cognitive sophistication required for SRL and do not adopt motivational orientations that undermine it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the effects of a comprehensive writing program on the writing performance of middle school students with learning disabilities in written expression.

Many students have difficulty in educational and employment settings because they have failed to master basic writing skills. Multiple-baseline across-tasks designs were used to evaluate the effects of the Comprehensive Writing Program (CWP), a multicomponent intervention, on the writing performance of all students (n = 17) from 3 9th-grade special education classrooms. The CWP included direct instruction, assignment choice, increased practice, group rewards, and individual feedback. Assessment procedures were used to collect data on 3 target skills: percentage of sentences that (a) were complete sentences, (b) contained adjectives, and (c) were compound sentences. Results suggest that the CWP increased students' performance on recently taught or retaught skills; however, not all increases were maintained. Discussion focuses on future applied and theoretical research designed to address limitations of the current study and to enhance the effectiveness of the CWP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instruction in narrative structure on children's writing.

Examined the possibility that direct instruction in story constituents and their interrelations could enhance 4th-grade children's organization in story writing. Whether the special instruction might affect quality, coherence, use of temporal and causal relations, and creativity in writing was also examined. 19 4th graders who scored at a low level on measures of knowledge of narrative structure were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments—instruction in knowledge of story structure or instruction in dictionary-word study. The instruction included a short-term, intensive phase with 6 sessions during 2 wks and a long-term, intermittent phase with 10 sessions during 5 wks. Instruction in narrative structure had a strong positive effect on organization in storywriting and also enhanced quality. There were no differential effects of the 2 treatments on coherence, use of temporal or causal links in writing, or creativity. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extended text and the writing proficiency of students in urban elementary schools.

The effect of extended text writing on the writing proficiency of elementary students in urban schools was investigated. 39 4th- and 5th-grade classrooms were observed and categorized according to the ratio of extended text to exercises written by students and according to the level of student engagement. Analyses revealed that students in classrooms characterized by extended text outperformed students in classrooms characterized by exercises both in the quality of the content of their writing and in correct use of writing conventions, after adjustment for pretest differences at both the student and classroom levels. The effect of extended text instruction was consistent for both students of ethnic minority (African American, Mexican American, and Native American) status and students of White European ancestry. No differences were found on a multiple-choice test of language skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Historical Reasoning Instruction and Writing Strategy Mastery in Culturally and Academically Diverse Middle School Classrooms.

Seventy 8th-grade students (including talented writers, those with average ability, and students in need of special education services) participated in an integrated social studies and language arts unit designed to promote historical understandings and argumentative writing skills. The historical reasoning instruction lasted 12 days, and the writing instruction lasted 10 days. Students applied historical inquiry strategies when reading documents related to westward expansion and learned to plan argumentative essays related to each historical event. Results indicate that in comparison to 62 students in a control group who did not receive either form of instruction, students who demonstrated mastery of the target strategies during instruction wrote historically more accurate and more persuasive essays regardless of their initial learning profile. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spontaneous mirror-writing in children.

Writing which appears rotated 180° about its normal horizontal axis and is legible when viewed in a mirror is called mirror writing. The occurrence of spontaneous mirror writing of whole words, rather than individual letter reversals, was tested in a large sample of children ranging in age from less than 3 to nearly 14 years. Spontaneous mirror-writing occurred in the majority of children between the ages of 3 and 7. It was concluded that spontaneous mirror writing occurs in all children at some time early in their experience of learning to print and write. It is suggested that this phenomenon is a normal component of development and does not imply dysfunction, as commonly assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effects of Peer-Assisted Sentence-Combining Instruction on the Writing Performance of More and Less Skilled Young Writers.

Mastering sentence-construction skills is essential to learning to write. Limited sentence-construction skills may hinder a writer's ability to translate ideas into text. It may also inhibit or interfere with other composing processes, as developing writers must devote considerable cognitive effort to sentence construction. The authors examined whether instruction designed to improve sentence-construction skills was beneficial for more and less skilled 4th-grade writers. In comparison with peers receiving grammar instruction, students in the experimental treatment condition became more adept at combining simpler sentences into more complex sentences. For the experimental students, the sentence-combining skills produced improved story writing as well as the use of these skills when revising. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of production factors in learning disabled students' compositions.

The effects of mechanical interference, rate of production, and contentless production signals to write more on the quantity and quality of 4th- and 6th-grade learning disabled (LD) students' compositions were examined. A more rapid rate of production did not have a positive impact on the quantity or quality of what LD students produced. The mechanics of writing, however, interfered with both the quantity and quality of compositions. Furthermore, the introduction of contentless production signals led to substantial increases in the amount of text produced as well as small improvements in quality. The results indicated that LD students' writing problems are due, in part, to difficulties with mechanics and problems in sustaining production during writing. Implications for instruction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing efficacies of neurocognitive treatment and homework assistance programs for children with learning difficulties

An experimental study of the effects of a didactic teaching approach and a constructivist teaching approach on 3rd- and 5th-grade boys' and girls' performance on arithmetic computation problems was conducted. Two groups of children, matched on the basis of initial computation performance as well as grade and gender, were taught how to solve arithmetic problems using one of these two instructional approaches. Analysis of subsequent computation test performance revealed that 5th graders scored higher than 3rd graders, and there was a significant interaction between gender and instruction group. After instruction, girls in the didactic group outperformed boys in both instruction groups and girls who had been taught using constructivist approaches. Gender differences in computation performance can appear relatively early, by 3rd grade, if didactic instruction strategies are used to teach computational rules. The pattern of gender differences suggests that didactic teaching does not handicap boys. Rather, it appears that didactic instruction enhances computational performance in girls.     

Roles of approval motivation and social reinforcement in children's discrimination learning.

144 3rd- and 4th-grade children were given a 2-choice discrimination learning task. The 2 major factors were (a) the 3 levels of social desirability (high, moderate, and low) on the Children's Social Desirability scale; and (b) the 2 types of treatment conditions (monetary-social reinforcement and monetary-no social reinforcement). In opposition to D. P. Crowne and D. Marlowe's (1961) model of the approval-motivated individual, the high-social-desirability group made significantly fewer errors than both the moderate and low groups. It is suggested that for young children, social desirability scores may require a different interpretation than scores for older children and adults. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fifth-grade students as emotional helpers with kindergartners: Using play therapy procedures and skills.

This research study investigated the effectiveness of a filial therapy training model as a method to train 5th-grade students in child-centered play therapy skills and procedures. The 5th-grade students were trained to be therapeutic change agents in weekly play sessions with kindergarten children identified as having adjustment difficulties. Skill acquisition was assessed by videotaping 5th-grade student participants playing with a kindergarten child identified as having adjustment difficulties in 20-min play sessions before and after the training. Analysis of covariance on adjusted posttest means revealed that 5th-grade children in the experimental group demonstrated statistically significant increases in empathic responses, behavioral willingness to follow the kindergarten children's lead, and involvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How is emergent writing based on drawing? Analyses of children's products and their sorting by children and mothers.

Writing and drawing produced by children 28-53 months old were compared. Israeli and Dutch preschoolers were asked to draw and write, to classify their products as drawing and writing, and to decide what they had drawn or written. Israeli and Dutch mothers classified the products. Scores on a scale for writing composed of graphic, "writing-like," and symbolic schemes showed improvement with age. Recognition of drawings as drawings preceded recognition of writings as writings. Scores on writing and drawing were substantially correlated, even with age partialed out, suggesting (a) that when children start drawing objects referentially, they write by drawing "print" and (b) that progress in object drawing involves progress in drawing print, so that their writing becomes more writing-like. Children unable to communicate meaning by writing spontaneously resort to drawing-like devices, indicating the primacy of drawing as a representational-communicative system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension.

To examine the relationship between knowledge of word meanings and semantic processes, 27 4th-grade children were taught 104 words over a 5-mo period. Following instruction, Ss performed tasks designed to require semantic processes ranging from single word semantic decisions to simple sentence verification and memory for connected text. On all these tasks, instructed Ss performed at a significantly higher level than controls matched on pre-instruction vocabulary knowledge and comprehension. Thus, instructed Ss gave evidence both of learning word meanings taught by the program and of being able to process instructed words more efficiently in tasks more reflective of comprehension. Implications for vocabulary instruction and the role of individual word meanings in comprehension are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers.

The contribution of handwriting to learning to write was examined in an experimental training study involving beginning writers with and without an identified disability. First-grade children experiencing handwriting and writing difficulties participated in 27 fifteen-min sessions designed to improve the accuracy and fluency of their handwriting. In comparison to their peers in a contact control condition receiving instruction in phonological awareness, students in the handwriting condition made greater gains in handwriting as well as compositional fluency immediately following instruction and 6 months later. The effects of instruction were similar for students with and without an identified disability. These findings indicate that handwriting is causally related to writing and that explicit and supplemental handwriting instruction is an important element in preventing writing difficulties in the primary grades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiation of letterlike forms in prereading children.

To investigate the development of perceptual differentiation of writing, 45 nursery school and kindergarten children were asked to label graphic displays varying in features shared with Roman letters and with letter strings. Ss ranged in age from 36 to 77 mo and were divided into 3-, 4-, and 5-yr-old groups, with 15 children in each. Number of writing displays correctly labeled as writing was the dependent variable. Analyses were carried out for displays contrasting on the independent variables of linearity, multiplicity, and variety of letter strings and on degree of similarity to Roman letter units. Significant effects were found for all variables except multiplicity. Developmental patterns support E. J. Gibson's (1969) model of increasing differentiation. Inferences are made about the self-teaching potential for early reading instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching triarchically improves school achievement.

Two studies were conducted among 3rd-grade (primary-school) and 8th-grade (middle-school) students to test the efficacy of the triarchic theory of human intelligence as applied to classroom learning and performance. Students at the 3rd-grade level were taught a social-studies unit and at the 8th-grade level were taught a psychology unit in 1 of 3 ways: traditional instruction (primarily memory-based), critical-thinking instruction (primarily analytically based), and triarchically based instruction (involving infusion of analytical, creative, and practical instruction). Performance at both levels was assessed through multiple-choice items measuring primarily memory and performance-based items measuring analytical, creative, and practical aspects of achievement. Third-grade students also provided self-report measures. In general, triarchic instruction was superior to the other modes of instruction, even on multiple-choice memory-based items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An instructional study: Improving the inferential comprehension of good and poor fourth-grade readers.

Four classroom teachers provided instruction to improve the inferential comprehension of 40 good and poor 4th-grade readers, as determined by scores on the Stanford Achievement Test. The experimental treatment consisted of 3 parts: (a) making students aware of the importance of drawing inferences between new information and existing knowledge structures; (b) getting students to discuss, prior to reading, something they had done that was similar to the events in the text and to hypothesize what would happen in the text; and (c) providing students with many inferential questions to discuss after reading the selection. Results show that poor readers benefited significantly from the instruction, but good readers did not. This differential effect was attributed to the dissimilar aptitudes of good and poor readers and the dissimilar instructional methods that are used with good and poor readers in schools. Conclusions focus on the positive prospect of modeling successful instructional procedures on theoretical, basic research. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of structure strategy instruction delivered to fifth-grade children using the Internet with and without the aid of older adult tutors.

The authors assessed the impact of using the structure strategy as a base for an intergenerational Internet tutoring program in which older adults, with strategy training, provided Internet-based tutoring for 5th-grade students learning the strategy through an instructional Web site. Students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: structure strategy with tutors, structure strategy without tutors, and control. Both tutors and children in the structure strategy group with tutors increased strategy use, total and main idea recall, and self-efficacy. Program effects were apparent months after instruction. Posttest performance was related both to careful completion of Web lessons and amount of tutor feedback and content-related questions. Findings have implications for learning from computers, intergenerational tutoring, and reading instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of self-handicapping tendencies

This study was undertaken to determine when U.S. children begin to self-handicap, that is, to reduce preparation effort before evaluations rather than applying themselves to do their best. The personal variables examined for their impact on practice behavior were gender, grade level, and self-esteem. The situational variables were time of the self-esteem test (before or after the evaluation task) and importance of the evaluation task. The results showed that (a) the 6th-grade boys were more likely than the 6th-grade girls to self-handicap, (b) the 3rd-grade children were not as affected as the 6th-grade children by the self-evaluation implications of performance evaluations, (c) self-handicapping by low-self-esteem and high-self-esteem 6th graders depended on recent experiences, and (d) the self-affirming experience of a self-esteem test reduced the motivation to self-handicap among high-self-esteem 6th-grade boys.     

Executive control in the revising of students with learning and writing difficulties.

This study examined the role of executive control in the revising difficulties of 5th- and 6th-grade students with writing and learning problems. Procedural support was provided in carrying out executive processes by teaching students to use a routine that ensured that the separate elements of the revising process were coordinated and occurred in a regular way. The processing burden involved in revising was further reduced by limiting the types of evaluative and tactical decisions students made. In comparison to their normal approach to revising, procedural support made the process of revising easier for the participating students and increased the number of nonsurface revisions that improved text. Students' difficulties with revising, however, were not due solely to problems with executive control; they were generally indifferent to the possible concerns of their audience, overemphasized form, and struggled with the separate elements underlying revising. Implications for instruction were addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)