Use of Teacher-Supported Goal Setting to Improve Writing Quality, Quantity and Self-Efficacy in Middle School Writers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a writing workshop with a goal setting intervention on writing quality, quantity and self-efficacy. Students in Treatment 1 used the writing workshop process and received a teacher-supported goal setting intervention in the self-edit step of the writing process consistent with the Self-Regulated Strategy Development approach. Students in Treatment 2 received only writing workshop instruction and a generic checklist in the self-edit step. Students in the Comparator group received business-as-usual writing instruction in their language arts/social studies block. Writing measures document quality of writing through a holistic scale, quantity of writing through word counts, and the quantity of writing through parsable units. The Writer Self-Perception Scale, or WSPS, measured students' self-efficacy in writing for the Treatment 1 and Treatment 2 groups. This study expands on existing research that explores strategy interventions in writing workshops to increase student achievement in writing.