The National Study of Writing Instruction - University at Albany

Year 3: Studies of Schools with Local Reputations for Excellence in the
Teaching of Writing
The third year of data collection examined curriculum and instruction in contexts that were
likely to be the most conducive to effective teaching of writing, where there was a school or
district commitment to the teaching of literacy in general and writing in particular.
Methods
Sample of Schools
The sample for year 3 was based in 5 states that differed in their curriculum and assessment
policies and practices across the core academic subject area. Tables 4 and 5 summarize key
differences in assessment practices across subject areas for middle and high schools at the time
of site selection and data collection. Some of the more notable contrasts include a crosssubject
portfolio of writing in Kentucky at Grades 7 and 12, the inclusion of constructed
response in all 4 core academic areas in middle and high school exams in New York, the
inclusion of persuasive essays in Michigan at Grades 6, 9, and 11, and the differing genres or
types of writing used to assess writing achievement in middle and high schools in California and
Texas.
Within each of the 5 states, the sample consisted of two middle and two high schools,
distributed across participating states with a bias toward schools serving low-income
populations. Schools were selected to reflect the range of practice in schools that have
reputations for supporting writing instruction, not to highlight typical or poor practice. In
addition to reputations for excellence in the teaching of writing or literacy, all of the schools
had above-average achievement scores in writing or literacy when compared with others
serving similar populations of students.
Table 6 displays the demographic characteristics of the 20 schools at the time of site selection.
(All 20 agreed to be identified by name.) They represent a wide range in school size (340 to
4632), percent minority (6 to 99%), eligibility for free or reduced price lunch (12 to 83%), and
percent English language learners (0 to 34%).
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