SOLO® Writing Coach A SOLO Intervention Framework

Background

Karen Erickson from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill was awarded an NCTI (The National Center for Technology Innovation) grant to study the learning outcomes of SOLO paired with writing strategies.

Background

• Quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest • 111 students from general education settings• 9 teachers randomly assigned teachers• Six weeks of intervention (18 lessons)• Pretest/Posttest Measures:

– Test of Written Language – 3 (TOWL-3, Hammill & Larsen, 1996)

– Writing Attitudes Survey (Kear, Coffman, McKenna, & Ambrosio, 2000)

– Focus Group Interviews

Background

School Demographics• Total Student Enrollment: 395• Average Class Size: 14-21• Students Qualifying for Free or Reduced Lunch: 49%• Nonwhite Students: 32% (27% African American)

Background

The results were staggering…

Background

When SOLO was paired with strategy instruction

• Average students gained 9.8% on average

• Low performing students gained 46.8% on average

• This is compared to under 3% for strategy instruction alone

The Model

As a part of this research grant, the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies developed three different curriculum units to teach students in the middle grades to write using three different strategies that address summary writing, narrative writing, and expository writing.

The Model

SOLO Writing Coach is…• An instructional process that uses writing

strategies paired with SOLO technology for increased writing gains.

The Model

This model leverages Steve Graham’s Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model detailed in

Writing Better by Steve Graham and Karen Harris of Vanderbilt University

The Model

• SRSD instruction takes place with six steps:

Background Knowledge

Discuss It

Model It

Memorize It

Support It

Independent Performance

The Model

• The model integrates Steve Graham’s work with SOLO

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Elements:• Writing strategy

instruction • On-computer SOLO

writing assignments • Automatically

applying strategies

The Model

This instructional model truly levels the playing field

The Results

We think you will be happy with the results!

The Results

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