top score writing - research-based best practices for

RESEARCH-BASED BEST PRACTICES FOR WRITING CURRICULA Prepared for Top Score Writing

2/1/2021

©2020 Hanover Research 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 3

ELEMENTARY WRITING INSTRUCTION .................................................................................................. 5 What the Research Says .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

SECONDARY WRITING INSTRUCTION ................................................................................................ 10 What the Research Says .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.

ENDNOTES ..................................................................................................................................................... 14


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To ensure that all students develop college- and career-ready writing skills, it is essential that districts, schools, and teachers implement high-quality writing curricula that leverage those best practices identified via evidence-based studies. 1 The academic literature on effective methods for teaching writing to elementary and secondary school students is more limited than that in many other core subject areas (e.g., math, reading). However, the literature that does exist outlines several practices that are integral to successfully delivering writing instruction.2 In this whitepaper, Hanover Research (Hanover) reviews the literature on writing instruction best practices. It identifies seven evidence-based practices for writing instruction recommended by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), an Institute of Education Sciences agency at the U.S. Department of Education. These recommendations are published in a 2012 Educator’s Practice Guide, focusing on elementary schools, and 2016 Educator’s Practice Guide, focusing on secondary schools.3 Throughout this report, Hanover identifies examples of how Top Score Writing curricula apply elements that promote the seven practices identified by the NCEE, as well as other aspects of high-quality instruction. The table below summarizes Top Score Writing’s alignment with these practices.

Top Score Writing Curricula’s Application of Evidence-Based Practices in Writing Instruction EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE FROM LITERATURE REVIEW EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THIS PRACTICE

Elementary Writing Instruction

Provide students with daily time to write Top Score Writing provides students with daily time to write about a variety of topics for a variety of purposes, with 80 or more lessons available in Grades 2 through 5.

Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes

Top Score Writing elementary school curricula teach expository, informative, opinion, and narrative writing. Lessons for each writing type scaffold students in developing procedural strategies to draft a complete text that fulfills the outlined purpose and prompt.

Teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing

Top Score Writing regularly breaks instruction down to the most basic building blocks of written composition, in addition to addressing the broader purposes of writing.

Create an engaged community of writers All Top Score Writing elementary school curricula emphasize community-building via student-teacher conferences and peer revision activities. Teachers and students work collaboratively to improve student writing and establish a support system that students can utilize in future writing instruction cycles.

Secondary Writing Instruction

Explicitly teach appropriate writing strategies using a model-practice-reflect instructional cycle

Each Top Score Writing lesson sequence models critical aspects of the writing process, teaches effective writing strategies, and provides students with opportunities to practice in groups. Individual reflection, teacher-student conferences, and peer editing are all embedded in the curriculum.

Note on Methodology This report is a literature review that describes best practices in writing curricula and instruction as supported by evidence-based studies. All presented effect sizes and rankings of evidence relate to the larger practices that Hanover identified during our review of available empirical literature. In addition, while Hanover provides evidence of how Top Score Writing’s curricula leverages the best practices identified in the literature review, this report does not make an empirical evaluation of Top Score Writing’s curricular efficacy nor does it measure the effects of Top Score Writing’s curricula on student outcomes.


EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE FROM LITERATURE REVIEW EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THIS PRACTICE

Secondary Writing Instruction (continued)

Integrate writing and reading to emphasize key writing features

All lesson sequences in the Top Score Writing curricula align to a group of text-sets, featuring passages of varying structures, features, and lengths. Such pieces provide access to valuable content knowledge and serve as models of the types of writing students will produce.

Use assessments of student writing to inform instruction and feedback

Assessments are an explicit part of Top Score Writing curricula. In addition to allowing teachers to monitor students’ daily practice work, each curriculum deploys tests as part of the instructional sequence. These tests are typically followed by opportunities for students to review and revise their work independently or in concert with peers or their teacher.


ELEMENTARY WRITING INSTRUCTION OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICES The 2012 Educator’s Practice Guide published by the NCEE outlines four recommended strategies to teach writing to elementary school students, as displayed in Figure 1. These strategies feature a corresponding level of evidence (i.e., strong, moderate, or minimal evidence) accounting for several factors of the associated research studies, though even strategies that the NCEE has judged to have a minimal level of supporting evidence can still positively impact student outcomes in writing. The Appendix provides a summary of the criteria by which the NCEE evaluates the level of evidence for each practice.4

Figure 1: Recommended Strategies to Teach Writing in Elementary School

RECOMMENDATION #1 Provide students with daily time to write.

RECOMMENDATION #2 Teach students to use the writing process for a variety of purposes.

Recommendation 2a. Teach students the writing process. - Teach students strategies for the various components of the writing process. - Gradually release writing responsibility from the teacher to the student. - Guide students to select and use appropriate writing strategies. - Encourage students to be flexible in their use of the components of the writing process.

Recommendation 2b. Teach students to write for a variety of purposes. - Help students understand the different purposes of writing. - Expand students’ concept of audience. - Teach students to emulate the features of good writing. - Teach students techniques for writing effectively for different purposes.

RECOMMENDATION #3 Teach students to become fluent with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, typing, and word processing. - Teach very young writers how to hold a pencil correctly and form letters fluently and efficiently. - Teach students to spell words correctly. - Teach students to construct sentences for fluency, meaning, and style. - Teach students to type fluently and to use a word processor to compose.

RECOMMENDATION #4 Create an engaged community of writers. - Teachers should participate as members of the community by writing and sharing their writing. - Give students writing choices. - Encourage students to collaborate as writers. - Provide students with opportunities to give and receive feedback throughout the writing process. - Publish students’ writing and extend the community beyond the classroom.

Source: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance5


PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH DAILY TIME TO WRITE FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW The primary 2006 study cited by the NCEE indicates that students who are given extra time see greater improvement in their writing quality compared to students who do not.6 A more recent 2015 meta-analysis of writing strategies from The Elementary School Journal finds that creating routines to ensure that students write frequently and the resulting extra writing time has a positive effect of 0.24 in Grades 2 through 8.7 Similar positive impacts are reported in a 2012 Journal of Educational Psychology meta-analysis. Another study, a 2014 CEEDAR Center report of evidence-based writing practices, states, “Writing instruction and practice should occur every day and in all school subjects (totaling up to [one hour] each day for most grades) to help students gain confidence and competence with writing for varied purposes and audiences.”8 Indeed, like any other skill, “[if] students are not given time to write, they will never develop writing habits and skills.”9 Consequently, the NCEE recommends that elementary school students receive an hour of writing instruction each day (see pp. 10-11). Teachers should dedicate 30 minutes to emphasizing direct and scaffolded instruction on writing strategies and skills and 30 minutes to practice those skills. To compile the hour of daily writing time, teachers can embed writing instruction alongside other content-area instruction (e.g., math, science, social studies, reading).10 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE As a dedicated writing curriculum, Top Score Writing provides students with daily time to write about a variety of topics and for a variety of purposes, with 80 or more lessons available in Grades 2 through 5.11 For example, Top Score Writing’s Grade 5 curriculum contains 112 individual lessons on various writing forms—including expository, informative, opinion, and narrative writing—and skills (e.g., planning, using quotations).12 Notably, the accompanying passages for these 112 lessons address content topics from various disciplines, such as science (e.g., marine life, cloning) and social studies (e.g., Native American tribes, civil rights), allowing for the curriculum to support interdisciplinary instruction.13

TEACH STUDENTS TO USE THE WRITING PROCESS FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW Of the four NCEE recommended elementary writing practices, only this practice achieves the highest level of strong evidence. Thirty-three studies contributed to the designated level of evidence in the NCEE’s report (see pp. 54-63).14 The 2012 Journal of Educational Psychology meta-analysis supports this recommendation by finding positive effects from explicit and scaffolded writing strategy instruction.15 Likewise, the 2015 Elementary School Journal meta-analysis finds positive effects on writing quality from the following process- and purpose-related practices:16 Implementing a process approach to writing (effect size = 0.37); Establishing goals for student writing (effect size = 0.80); Pre-writing activities (effect size = 0.54); Instruction on the structure of different text types (effect size = 0.41); Providing models of written texts (effect size = 0.40); and Strategy (i.e., planning, drafting, revising, and editing) instruction (effect size = 1.00).


Given these findings, teachers must implement writing curricula that help “students understand and deftly execute, in ways that are developmentally appropriate, the elements of the writing process, including prewriting activities to generate ideas and plan content for papers, drafting the text, and revising and editing text.”17 This means modeling specific strategies that students can use throughout all aspects of the writing process—planning, drafting, sharing, evaluating, editing, revising, and publishing. It also requires scaffolded opportunities and activities by which students can practice and apply those strategies via the gradual release of responsibility from the teacher to their students.18 All instructional components should strive to help students leverage target writing strategies to develop various written products that serve different functions and address different audiences.19 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE Top Score Writing curricula in all covered elementary grades (i.e., Grades 2 through 5) teach expository, informative, opinion, and narrative writing.20 Lessons for each writing type scaffold students in developing procedural strategies to draft a complete text that fulfills the outlined purpose and prompt. For example, the Grade 3 lesson sequence for opinion writing addresses items such as choosing a side, locating textual and supporting evidence, planning to write an opinion piece, drafting individual paragraphs with different functions (e.g., introduction, conclusion); and revising written work. In addition to scaffolding students through the writing process, the curriculum applies a color-coding system that teachers can use to help students identify and track the inclusion of key components of their writing, as sampled in Figure 2 below.21

Figure 2: Top Score Writing, Grade 3. Lesson 45: Sample Activities

Source: Top Score Writing22


TEACH STUDENTS TO BECOME FLUENT WITH HANDWRITING, SPELLING, SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION, TYPING, AND WORD PROCESSING FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW Particularly in the elementary grades, students require instruction on basic physical (e.g., handwriting, typing) and language writing skills (e.g., spelling, sentence structure, grammar). This NCEE recommendation stems from “nine studies of instruction in handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, and word processing” (see pp. 73-74).23 The 2014 CEEDAR Center report confirms the effectiveness of items like teaching students how to use word processing technologies and writing using a stylus or other utensil. It also highlights the importance of instruction on language and writing conventions (e.g., punctuation, capitalization, grammar).24 The 2012 and 2015 meta-analyses further justify this recommendation, with the more recent study reporting effect sizes on students’ quality of writing for the following strategies in this area:25 Using word processing software (effect size = 0.47); Teaching handwriting, typing, and spelling (effect size = 0.55); and Teaching sentence-combining (effect size = 0.56).

Such findings indicate that elementary school teachers cannot ignore the “building blocks” of writing if they want students to compose complete texts that are accurate, well-constructed, readable, and aligned to their intended purpose and audience.26 Consequently, teachers must ensure students have a strong foundation of handwriting/typing, spelling, sentence fluency, and grammatical skills to facilitate successful compositions from the moment writing begins.27 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE Top Score Writing regularly breaks instruction down to the most basic building blocks of written composition, in addition to addressing the broader purposes of writing. For example, Top Score Writing’s Grade 2 curriculum provides several lessons entirely dedicated to the more granular thematic and mechanical aspects of writing such as indentation, using lined paper, appropriate sentence length, and the use of transition words in different types of writing.28

CREATE AN ENGAGED COMMUNITY OF WRITERS FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW NCEE recommendations emphasize the need for students to learn writing in the context of a supportive community marked by consistent messaging around the importance of writing, opportunities for students to choose writing topics, flexibility within writing tasks, and regular opportunities for peer-to-peer and teacher-to-student feedback and collaboration. Five studies make up the NCEE’s evidence-base for creating an engaged community of writers (see p. 78).29 Relatedly, The Elementary School Journal’s 2015 meta-analysis reports an effect size on writing quality of 0.66 due to collaborative writing (based on seven studies in Grades 2 through 8), and the Journal of Educational Psychology’s 2012 meta-analysis finds a 0.89 effect size for peer assistance when writing (based on four studies in Grades 2-6).30


To create an engaged community of writers, teachers should take steps such as modeling and sharing their own writing, giving students choices (e.g., topic, prompt, product), and facilitating opportunities for students to work together (e.g., brainstorming, peer revision) and share their compositions with a broader audience.31 The main idea is that teachers should give students the motivation, support, feedback, and praise they need to be successful with writing while encouraging them to do the same for their classmates within planned instructional activities.32 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE All Top Score Writing elementary school curricula emphasize community-building via student-teacher conferences and peer revision activities. During such activities, teachers and students work collaboratively to improve student writing, further developing students’ writing skills and establishing a support system that students can utilize in future cycles of writing instruction. Figure 3 presents a sample tool used during one such peer review activity for expository writing in Grade 4.33

Figure 3: Top Score Writing, Grade 4. Lesson 21 – Expository Checklist



SECONDARY WRITING INSTRUCTION OVERVIEW OF BEST PRACTICES The 2016 Educator’s Practice Guide published by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) outlines three recommended strategies to teach writing to students in secondary school, as displayed in Figure 4. Like the four preceding strategies recommended at the elementary level, the three secondary strategies each feature a corresponding level of evidence (i.e., strong, moderate, or minimal evidence) accounting for several factors of the associated research studies. The Appendix provides a summary of the criteria by which the NCEE evaluates the level of evidence for each practice.35

Figure 4: Recommended Strategies to Teach Writing in Secondary School

RECOMMENDATION #1 Explicitly teach appropriate writing strategies using a Model-Practice-Reflect instructional cycle.

Recommendation 1a. Explicitly teach appropriate writing strategies. - Explicitly teach strategies for planning and goal setting, drafting, evaluating, revising, and editing. - Instruct students on how to choose and apply strategies appropriate for the audience and purpose.

Recommendation 1b. Use a Model-Practice-Reflect instructional cycle to teach writing strategies. - Model strategies for students. - Provide students with opportunities to apply and practice modeled strategies. - Engage students in evaluating and reflecting upon their own and peers’ writing and use of modeled

strategies.

RECOMMENDATION #2 Integrate writing and reading to emphasize key writing features. - Teach students to understand that both writers and readers use similar strategies, knowledge, and skills

to create meaning. - Use a variety of written exemplars to highlight the key features of texts.

RECOMMENDATION #3 Use assessments of student writing to inform instruction and feedback. - Assess students’ strengths and areas for improvement before teaching a new strategy or skill. - Analyze student writing to tailor instruction and target feedback. - Regularly monitor students’ progress while teaching writing strategies and skills.



EXPLICITLY TEACH APPROPRIATE WRITING STRATEGIES USING A MODEL-PRACTICE-REFLECT INSTRUCTIONAL CYCLE FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW The NCEE report cites “strong evidence” supporting this recommendation, with a total of eleven studies finding positive outcomes in at least one facet of writing (e.g., overall writing quality, word choice) resulting from the application of related strategies (see pp. 70-73).37 A separate 2008 Renaissance Learning report presents 27 evidence-based practices for effective writing instruction across all grade levels highlights associated techniques such as peer collaboration, student ownership of writing, and helping students develop procedures to complete writing tasks.38 Relatedly, a 2007 metanalytic report from the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Carnegie Corporation of New York identifies 11 elements of effective writing instruction for adolescents which reinforce the NCEE recommendation, including:39 Teaching students strategies for planning, revising, and editing their compositions; Explicitly and systematically teaching students how to summarize texts; Having adolescents work together to plan, draft, revise, and edit their compositions; Assigning students specific, reachable goals for the writing they are to complete; and Interweaving many writing instructional activities in a workshop environment that stresses extended

writing opportunities, writing for authentic audiences, personalized instruction, and writing cycles. This recommendation emphasizes two critical features of secondary writing instruction: (1) the use of direct or explicit instruction on various writing strategies (e.g., outlining, color coding compositions); and (2) scaffolding instruction from teacher modeling of strategies to student application of target strategies to student self-reflection on writing strategy usage.40 Notably, this recommendation can be applied beyond the language arts classroom to all areas of the middle and high school curriculum.41 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE Top Score Writing curricula at the middle and high school levels teach skills related to expository, informative, and argumentative writing across 91 distinct lessons.42 In each lesson sequence, teachers model aspects of the writing process and useful strategies and provide opportunities for students to practice those processes and strategies in groups. Individual reflection, teacher-student conferences, and peer editing are also embedded in the curriculum. For example, the Grade 8 unit on argumentative writing features lessons with modeling, scaffolded practice, and reflective evaluation activities, as shown in Figure 5 below.43 Similarly, this cycle can be seen in the high school curriculum (i.e., Grades 9-12), which explicitly outlines “model and think aloud,” “guided practice,” and “independent practice” instructions in its lesson plans.44

Figure 5: Top Score Writing, Grade 8. Section 3: Argumentative Writing – Outline


Figure 5: Top Score Writing, Grade 8. Section 3: Argumentative Writing (continued)


INTEGRATE WRITING AND READING TO EMPHASIZE KEY WRITING FEATURES FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW Eight studies form a moderate level of evidence for this NCEE recommendation (see pp. 74-76).46 A 2010 Alliance of Excellent Education and Carnegie Corporation of New York report also indicates that “reading and writing are both functional activities that can be combined to accomplish specific goals.”47 Moreover, the previously mentioned 2007 Alliance for Excellent Education and the Carnegie Corporation of New York finds that reading and writing “often draw from the same pool of background knowledge”—though they require their own dedicated instruction—and that students’ close reading and analysis of the features of available texts can support emulation and adoption of examined strategies and structures.48 In fact, this report finds that studying model compositions has a positive effect size of 0.25 on student writing.49 To implement this recommendation, teachers should provide students with exemplary and inferior examples of target text types. This will allow them to analyze the characteristics of such texts that are effective and to identify techniques that are ineffective.50 Further, teachers can help students recognize the connections between reading and writing skills and knowledge to articulate meaning and better understand the content.51 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE All lesson sequences in the Top Score Writing curricula align to a group of text-sets, featuring passages of varying structures, features, and lengths—all of which have been assigned Lexile levels by MetaMetrics.52


For example, a Grade 6 lesson on analyzing and addressing informative writing prompts leverages five short passages. Three passages—“The Moon,” “Eating on the Moon,” and “Keeping Clean on the Moon”—are used in conjunction with an informative writing prompt about life on the moon. The two remaining passages—“The Gold Rush” and “Gold Rush Entrepreneurs”—connect with another informative writing prompt on the California Gold Rush history. This lesson asks students to read all five texts to acquire the content knowledge to compose their responses and to use as models of informative writing in and of themselves.53

USE ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENT WRITING TO INFORM INSTRUCTION AND FEEDBACK FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE REVIEW Though the NCEE finds minimal evidence for this recommendation, it still presents four studies that report positive writing outcomes resulting from teachers’ use of formative assessments (see pp. 78-79).54 A separate 2014 CEEDAR Center report reinforces the value of assessments for future instructional differentiation and providing student feedback by designating “effective assessment and feedback for writing” as an essential writing component.55 Likewise, a 2008 Renaissance Learning report finds that assessing student writing is essential to monitor students’ developing skills and adjust upcoming instruction to meet students’ needs.56 Given the importance of assessment to guide instruction and keep students aware of their progress, the NCEE recommends that teachers measure students’ proficiency and mastery for already-addressed writing skills and knowledge before moving on to new foci. In addition, the NCEE recommends using data generated from such assessments to guide future instructional planning and delivery and to more effectively granulate feedback on strengths and areas for development to individual students.57 The use of rubrics for writing assessments and evaluating student writing quality relative to outlined goals and learning standards are necessary to implement this recommendation successfully.58 EXAMPLE OF HOW TOP SCORE WRITING APPLIES THE PRACTICE Assessments—both formative and summative—are an explicit part of Top Score Writing curricula. In addition to allowing teachers to monitor students’ daily practice work, each curriculum deploys tests as part of the instructional sequence. These tests are typically followed by opportunities for students to review and revise their work independently or in concert with peers or their teacher. For example, the Grade 7 curriculum’s expository writing unit contains three tests, each of which is followed by a conferencing or revision lesson.59 Each curriculum is also paced so that teachers can finish the included core lessons approximately six to eight weeks before any summative state assessments are given, freeing up that instructional time to provide targeted supports to individual students.60


APPENDIX: NCEE LEVELS OF EVIDENCE CRITERIA CRITERIA STRONG EVIDENCE BASE MODERATE EVIDENCE BASE MINIMAL EVIDENCE BASE

Validity High internal validity (high-quality causal designs). Studies must meet WWC standards with or without reservations. AND High external validity (requires multiple studies with high-quality causal designs that represent the population on which the recommendation is focused). Studies must meet WWC standards with or without reservations.

High internal validity but moderate external validity (i.e., studies that support strong causal conclusions but generalization is uncertain). OR High external validity but moderate internal validity (i.e., studies that support the generality of a relation but the causality is uncertain).

The research may include evidence from studies that do not meet the criteria for moderate or strong evidence (e.g., case studies, qualitative research).

Effects on Relevant

Outcomes

Consistent positive effects without contradictory evidence (i.e., no statistically significant negative effects) in studies with high internal validity.

A preponderance of evidence of positive effects. Contradictory evidence (i.e., statistically significant negative effects) must be discussed by the panel and considered with regard to relevance to the scope of the guide and intensity of the recommendation as a component of the intervention evaluated.

There may be weak or contradictory evidence of effects.

Relevance to Scope

Direct relevance to scope (i.e., ecological validity)—relevant context (e.g., classroom vs. laboratory), sample (e.g., age and characteristics), and outcomes evaluated.

Relevance to scope (ecological validity) may vary, including relevant context (e.g., classroom vs. laboratory), sample (e.g., age and characteristics), and outcomes evaluated. At least some research is directly relevant to scope (but the research that is relevant to scope does not qualify as strong with respect to validity).

The research may be out of the scope of the practice guide.


CRITERIA STRONG EVIDENCE BASE MODERATE EVIDENCE BASE MINIMAL EVIDENCE BASE

Relationship Between Research

and Recommendations

Direct test of the recommendation in the studies or the recommendation is a major component of the intervention tested in the studies.

Intensity of the recommendation as a component of the interventions evaluated in the studies may vary

Studies for which the intensity of the recommendation as a component of the interventions evaluated in the studies is low; and/or the recommendation reflects expert opinion based on reasonable extrapolations from research.

Panel Confidence Panel has a high degree of confidence that this practice is effective.

The panel determines that the research does not rise to the level of strong but is more compelling than a minimal level of evidence. Panel may not be confident about whether the research has effectively controlled for other explanations or whether the practice would be effective in most or all contexts.

In the panel’s opinion, the recommendation must be addressed as part of the practice guide; however, the panel cannot point to a body of research that rises to the level of moderate or strong.

Role of Expert Opinion

Not applicable Not applicable Expert opinion based on defensible interpretations of theory (theories). (In some cases, this simply means that the recommended practices would be difficult to study in a rigorous, experimental fashion; in other cases, it means that researchers have not yet studied this practice.)

When Assessment Is the Focus of the Recommendation

For assessments, meets the standards of The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.

For assessments, evidence of reliability that meets The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing but with evidence of validity from samples not adequately representative of the population on which the recommendation is focused.

Not applicable



ENDNOTES

1 [1] Graham, S. and K.R. Harris. “A Path to Better Writing: Evidence-Based Practices in the Classroom.” The Reading Teacher, 69:4, 2016. pp. 359–364. https://www.uen.org/core/languagearts/writing-collection/downloads/PathBetterWriting.pdf [2] Kissel, B. “Six Roadblocks to Writing Instruction—and How to Find Alternative Routes.” Educational Leadership, 75:7, April 2018. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr18/vol75/num07/Six-Roadblocks-to-Writing-Instruction%E2%80%94and-How-to-Find-Alternative-Routes.aspx [3] “How to Motivate Elementary School Students to Develop Writing Skills.” The Graide Network, December 12, 2018. https://www.thegraidenetwork.com/blog-all/develop-writing-skills-elementary-school-student 2 [1] Barshay, J. “Scientific Evidence on How to Teach Writing Is Slim.” The Hechinger Report, November 4, 2019. http://hechingerreport.org/scientific-evidence-on-how-to-teach-writing-is-slim/ [2] Slavin, R.E. et al. “A Quantitative Synthesis of Research on Writing Approaches in Grades 2 to 12.” Best Evidence Encyclopedia, April 2019. pp. 2–21. http://www.bestevidence.org/word/writing_grades2to12_April_2019_full.pdf 3 [1] Graham, S., A. Bollinger, et al. “Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers.” National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, June 2012. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/writing_pg_062612.pdf [2] Graham, S., J. Fitzgerald, et al. “Teaching Secondary Students to Write Effectively.” National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, November 2016. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/508_WWCPG_SecondaryWriting_122719.pdf 4 Preceding text adapted and bulleted text quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 1, 3–9. 5 Figure contents quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: Ibid., pp. 1, 9. 6 Berninger, V.W. et al. “Tier 1 and Tier 2 Early Intervention for Handwriting and Composing.” Journal of School Psychology, 44:1, February 2006. 7 Graham, S., K.R. Harris, and T. Santangelo. “Research-Based Writing Practices and the Common Core: Meta-Analysis and Meta-Synthesis.” The Elementary School Journal, 115:4, 2015. pp. 508–509. 8 [1] Graham, S., D. McKeown, et al. “A Meta-Analysis of Writing Instruction for Students in the Elementary Grades.” Journal of Educational Psychology, 104:4, 2012. pp. 885, 888. [2] Troia, G. “Evidence-Based Practices for Writing Instruction.” CEEDAR Center, University of Florida, September 2014. pp. 9, 13–14. https://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IC-5_FINAL_08-31-14.pdf 9 Knight, J. “Developing Writers in the Classroom: Daily Writing Time and Multipurpose Writing.” Iowa Reading Research Center, March 13, 2017. https://iowareadingresearch.org/blog/developing-writers-part-1 10 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 10–11. 11 Collum, L. “Teacher Welcome Video.” Top Score Writing, 2019. https://topscorewriting.com/welcome/ 12 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 5.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 5–7. 13 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 5: Passages.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 3–7. 14 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 12–13, 54–63. 15 Graham, McKeown, et al., Op. cit. 16 Preceding and bulleted text adapted from: Graham, Harris, and Santangelo, Op. cit., pp. 507–508, 510, 513–516, 518. 17 Troia, Op. cit., p. 10. 18 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 14–24. 19 10, 19-22 Troia, Op. cit. 20 Collum, “Teacher Welcome Video,” Op. cit. 21 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 3.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 226, 230–305. 22 Screenshot taken directly from: Ibid., p. 248. 23 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 27–28, 73–74. 24 Troia, Op. cit., pp. 11–12, 22–23, 25–27. 25 Preceding and bulleted text adapted from: [1] Graham, McKeown, et al., Op. cit., pp. 883–884, 886–887. [2] Troia, Op. cit., pp. 510–513. 26 Troia, Op. cit., pp. 19–20, 22–23, 25–27, 30–32, 35–37. 27 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 28–33. 28 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 2.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 5–7, 47–53, 81–88, 179–186, 268–274, 333–338. 29 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 34–35, 78. 30 [1] Graham, Harris, and Santangelo, Op. cit., p. 509. [2] Graham, McKeown, et al., Op. cit., pp. 884–885, 887. 31 Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 35–39. 32 Troia, Op. cit., pp. 13, 32–35. 33 [1] Collum, “Top Score Writing - Grade 2,” Op. cit., pp. 5–7, 58–64, 105–108, 113–115, 175–178, 192–195, 201–203, 264–267, 280–283, 289–291, 350–355. [2] Collum, “Top Score Writing - Grade 3,” Op. cit., pp. 5–7, 59–65, 115–118, 125–125, 118–192, 204–207, 213–215, 289–292, 298–300, 438–444, 448–453. [3] Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 4.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 5–7, 60–66, 113–


116, 121–123, 239–242, 248–251, 257–259, 386–389, 395–398, 404–406, 469–473, 478–483. [4] Collum, “Top Score Writing - Grade 5,” Op. cit., pp. 5–7, 113–116, 121–123, 239–242, 248–251, 257–259, 385–388, 394, 400–402, 464–469, 474–479. 34 Screenshot taken directly from: Collum, “Top Score Writing - Grade 4,” Op. cit., p. 123. 35 Preceding text adapted and bulleted text quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 1–5, 59–62. 36 Figure contents quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: Ibid., pp. 2, 4. 37 Ibid., pp. 6–7, 68–73. 38 Graham, S. “Effective Writing Instruction for All Students.” Renaissance Learning, 2008. pp. 2–6. http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004250923GJCF33.pdf 39 Preceding text adapted and bulleted text quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: Graham, S. and D. Perin. “Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools.” Alliance for Excellent Education and Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2007. pp. 4–5. https://all4ed.org/wp-content/uploads/WritingNext.pdf 40 Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 6–30. 41 [1] Troia, Op. cit., pp. 9–13. [2] Applebee, A.N. and J.A. Langer. “The State of Writing Instruction in America’s Schools: What Existing Data Tell Us.” Center on English Learning and Achievement, University at Albany; National Writing Project; and College Board, 2006. pp. 5–17. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.541.4136&rep=rep1&type=pdf 42 Collum, “Teacher Welcome Video,” Op. cit. 43 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 8.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 5–7, 272–421. 44 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grades 9-12.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 122–125, 130–135, 381–387, 403–409. 45 Screenshot taken directly from: Collum, “Top Score Writing - Grade 8,” Op. cit., p. 6. 46 Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 32, 73–76. 47 Graham, S. and M. Herbert. “Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading.” Alliance for Excellent Education and Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2010. p. 4. https://production-carnegie.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/9d/e2/9de20604-a055-42da-bc00-77da949b29d7/ccny_report_2010_writing.pdf 48 Graham and Perin, Op. cit., pp. 7–8, 20. 49 Ibid., p. 20. 50 [1] Troia, Op. cit., pp. 21–22. [2] Graham, Op. cit., p. 4. 51 Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 33–42. 52 Collum, “Teacher Welcome Video,” Op. cit. 53 [1] Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 6.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 126–130. [2] Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 6: Passages.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 7–13. 54 Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 44, 77–79. 55 Troia, Op. cit., pp. 11, 23–25. 56 Graham, Op. cit., pp. 2, 7–8. 57 Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 45–55. 58 [1] Troia, Op. cit., pp. 23–25. [2] Graham, Op. cit., pp. 7–8. 59 Collum, L. “Top Score Writing - Grade 7.” Top Score Writing, 2020. pp. 5–7, 10–133. 60 Collum, “Teacher Welcome Video,” Op. cit. 61 Figure contents quoted verbatim, with minor adaptations, from: [1] Graham, Bollinger, et al., Op. cit., pp. 4-5. [2] Graham, Fitzgerald, et al., Op. cit., pp. 61-62.

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