The National Study of Writing Instruction - University at Albany

evaluating, explicit writing strategies); reading of extended text (textbook, non-fiction,
literature, primary sources, study materials); content of instruction (subject area knowledge,
strategy instruction, specific content); focus (“big ideas”, facts and details, connections to other
knowledge, connections to life, disciplinary vocabulary, disciplinary genres, disciplinary problem
solving); technology use by teacher; and technology use by students.
Summary of Classroom Observation. This set of questions guided observers through the
physical features of the classroom, the nature of the lesson, the types of writing students were
engaged in, explicit teach of structures or strategies for any of the writing expected of students,
uses of technology, use and teaching of academic vocabulary, and incorporation of any other
approaches from Writing Next (S. Graham & D. Perrin, Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent
Education, 2007): strategy instruction, summarization, setting of goals for writing assignments,
sentence combining, inquiry based activity, process-oriented activity, study of models, grammar
instruction, and use of rubrics.
Summaries of School Visits
Daily Interpretive Memo. Designed to be completed by the field researchers working together,
these questions guided the team to focus on what they had seen so far, what needed to be
followed up, and how their conclusions could be documented.
Summary of School Visit. Designed to be completed by the field researchers working together,
these questions prompted a summary of key features of the school and its programs: the
school and community context; school-wide attention to writing and literacy; consistency in
instruction within the English department; the balance between writing-on-demand and
workshop or process-oriented instruction; the relationship between writing and literature; the
attitudes and approaches to writing in the other subject areas; usual approaches or methods;
influence, if any, of high stakes assessments; uses of technology; and the extent to which the
general institutional context appeared to support or hinder the program in English.
Survey of Writing and Writing Instruction. The survey completed by teachers in the Year 2
study of 6 New York schools was used as the basis of a revised online survey, using
SurveyMonkey as the platform. The survey was accessed through a simple link, and began by
asking respondents to “select one specific class section that is typical of your teaching
responsibilities this year,” and to answer all questions about curriculum and instruction with
reference to the selected class. All teachers were asked about class size, tracking/ ability level,
students who spoke English as a second language, amount of writing during a grading period,
teaching experience, and supervisory responsibilities. Respondents’ birth month was then used
to branch to two forms of the questionnaire. Form 1 included additional items related to the
particular types of writing that were important for the class, writing about literature, the
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