Research on writing development, practice, instruction,and assessment

Introduction to a special issue of reading and writing

Steve Graham

Published online: 16 May 2007

� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Writing is a very powerful tool. It lets us communicate with people who are

removed by both distance and time. It is a valuable mechanism for learning, as we

can use it to explore, organize, and refine our ideas about a topic. It provides a useful

means for self-expression, as we can write to create imaginary places as well as

persuade others that a particular viewpoint is preferred. It can be used to discover

more fully who we are and what we think. We use writing to chronicle our

experiences and reflect on what we know and how we feel.

Learning to write well is a necessity for young people. Success in school and the

world of work depend upon it. Students who struggle with writing are at a

disadvantage in school, because it is the primary means by which teachers assess

students’ content knowledge (Graham & Perrin, 2006). Furthermore, adolescents

who struggle with writing are not equipped to meet the demands of college (ACT,

2005). Likewise, poor writers are increasingly at a disadvantage in the work place,

as both public and private employers indicate that writing skills directly affects

hiring and promotion decisions (National Writing Commission, 2004, 2005).

Despite the importance of writing in school, the work place, and everyday life,

there is notably less research with this skill than the other two R’s: reading and

arithmetic. This is evident in Reading & Writing, as the vast majority of articles

published here focus on reading. This special issue alleviates this imbalance, at least

in part, by focusing specifically on writing.

While no special issue can cover all of the themes and issues in an academic area,

the research included in this special issue examines four of the most important

aspects of writing for school-age children. This includes how writing develops,

classroom writing practices, instructional techniques for struggling writers, and

writing assessment.

S. Graham (&)

Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Box 328, Nashville, TN 37203, USA

e-mail: steve.graham@vanderbilt.edu

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Read Writ (2008) 21:1–2

DOI 10.1007/s11145-007-9069-7

The first two papers in this special issue examine the development of young

writers. Olinghouse studies how well specific writing skills and processes, student-

level attributes such as gender, and instructional variables predict the quality of third

grade students’ narrative writing. Concentrating on even younger children, Ritchey

looks at the relationship between early writing and reading skills with kindergarten

children.

Instructional practices for students in general and struggling writers specifically

are examined in the next four papers. Graham and company describe how

handwriting is taught to primary grade children through data collected with a

nation-wide survey. Mason and Shriner examine the effectiveness of strategy

instruction in planning and drafting persuasive essays with children who are

particularly challenging, students with emotional and behavioral problems. Bern-

inger and her colleagues share two writing instructional studies with children and

adolescents with dyslexia. Midgette, Haria, and MacArthur compare the effective-

ness of three writing goals (general goal, goal to improve content, and goal to

improve communication with an audience) on the revising and writing of fifth and

eighth grade students.

In what I believe is a ground breaking study, Kulikowich and co-authors develop

and evaluate a writing assessment tool based on three theoretical perspectives:

models of domain learning, metacognition, and self-regulation. While this study

may be the last paper in the special issue, it may have the greatest impact over time.

I hope that you enjoy these papers and, even more importantly, I hope that these

investigation serve as a spark for further research. I would also like to acknowledge

and thank the following persons for reviewing papers for this special issue: David

Coker (University of Delaware), Susan De La Paz (Santa Clara University), Karen

R. Harris (Vanderbilt University), Jovanna Kulikowich (Pennsylvania State

University), Kathleen Lane (Vanderbilt University), Charles MacArthur (University

of Delaware), Linda Mason (Pennsylvania State University), Natalie Olinghouse

(Michigan State University), Dolores Perrin (Columbia University), Kristen Ritchey

(University of Delaware), Bruce Saddler (University of Albany), Robert Schlagel

(Applacian State University), Everett Smith (University of Illinois at Chicago

Circle), Gerald Tindal (University of Oregon), Gary Troia (Michigan State

University), Naomi Weintraub (Hebrew University, Israel).

References

ACT (2005). Crisis at the core: Preparing all students for college and work. Iowa City: Author.

Retrieved from http://www.act.org/path/policy/pdf/crisis_report.pdf.

Graham, S., & Perrin, D. (2006). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in

middle and high school. Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellence in Education.

National Commission on Writing (2004, September). Writing: A ticket to work... or a ticket out: A surveyof business leaders. Available www.collegeboard.com.

National Commission on Writing (2005, July). Writing: A powerful message from State government.Available www.collegeboard.com.

2 S. Graham

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