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Article Excerpt
Abstract. We examined the differential effects of the social cognitive model of sequential skill acquisition (SCM intervention) and the self-regulated strategy development model (SRSD intervention) for writing. One hundred and twenty-one 5th- and 6th-grade Spanish students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or low achievement (LA) were randomly assigned either to an experimental intervention group or the standard instruction group. Both self-regulatory interventions showed a significant improvement with a large effect size in the structure, coherence, and quality of students' writing products, as determined in terms of reader-and text-based measures. Additionally, both interventions demonstrated a substantial increase in the time students spent on writing and revising their texts; the latter was noted especially in the SCM intervention group although only the SRSD intervention showed a significant increase in the time students dedicated to planning text. Finally, with regard to writing self-efficacy, only the SCM intervention group experienced a significant improvement.
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Since the pioneering work of Hayes and Flower (1980), considerable progress has been made in understanding the cognitive processes involved in writing. The last quarter of the 20th century provided opportunity for extensive research in writing with the appearance of new theoretical models of writing. The majority of these models describe writing as a difficult and demanding task. The process of writing a text comprises components that are employed recursively. Coordinating these processes in a way that results in a text that meets the demands of the writing task requires extensive attention control and self-regulation. Skilled writing as a self-planned, self-initiated, and self-sustained activity involves high levels of self-regulation (Graham & Harris, 1997; Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997).
Several researchers have argued, therefore, that teaching self-regulation in general, and specifically the cognitive strategies for planning and revising text, should yield a marked improvement in the quality of the texts that students produce. Indeed, this hypothesis explains the rapid growth and development of cognitive and self-regulation strategy instruction studies in the last two decades (Wong, Harris, Graham, & Butler, 2003), especially with students with learning disabilities (LD), who have serious problems in managing writing process and demonstrate ineffective use of strategies.
A review of empirical studies shows that self-regulatory processes play an important role in developing proficiency in writing texts. Results of instructional programs based on different models, such as the Self-Regulated Strategy Development Model (Graham & Harris, 2003; Harris & Graham, 1996); the Social Cognitive Model of Sequential Skill Acquisition (Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1999; 2002); the Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing Model (Englert et al., 1991; Englert, Raphael & Anderson, 1992); Strategy Content Learning Instruction (Butler, 1994; 1995); and Genre-Specific Writing Strategies Research (Wong, Butler, Ficzere, Kuperis, & Corden, 1994; Wong, Butler, Ficzere, & Kuperis, 1996; 1997), provide strong evidence for the efficacy of self-regulation writing strategies in improving writing performance.
The study reported on here extends the existing research in several ways.
First, we broaden the understanding of the effects of the cognitive and self-regulatory strategies instruction models for students with LD from a different language group and educational culture. Schunk (2005) recently suggested the need to study different language groups and educational cultures as a route for future research on self-regulation.
Second, we explore the differential effects of two cognitive and self-regulatory strategy intervention programs based on two intervention models whose individual effectiveness has been supported by existing research in students with and without LD. The instructional pattern of the first model is based on a social cognitive model of sequential skill acquisition--SCM (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997; Zimmerman, 2000, 2002), whose efficacy in acquiring skills in writing revision and self-regulation has been proven in studies with nondisabled students (Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1999, 2002). The second model is based on the self-regulated strategy development model--SRSD; it has great practical application in writing instruction with LD students (see Graham & Harris, 2003, for a meta-analysis of SRSD studies).
In general, the two models are very similar, given that they share key features such as the use of cognitive modelling, social feedback, and scaffolding. However, there are differences mainly associated with their general pattern of instruction and the type of cognitive modelling used; for example, the SCM model involves more extensive modeling, combining mastery and coping, and different models, such as expert (instructor) and novice (peers), which can influence the effects of the intervention on the writing product and process or on modulation variables, such as self-efficacy. Furthermore, the different patterns of instruction can reveal which pattern is more suitable for primary students with LD. With this in mind, the SRSD approach (Harris & Graham, 1996) has been used extensively in previous research on strategy-based writing instruction with LD students; however, the SCM approach has never been implemented with this population. Therefore, this study attempts to prove its usefulness with LD students, and its comparative suitability versus the SRSD approach with this population.
And third, we explore the ways in which this type of intervention affects the writing process. While the effectiveness of this kind of intervention has been broadly supported by the findings of existing research, previous studies have tended to assess the efficacy of these interventions solely in terms of changes in the end products of writing and personal variables such as knowledge of writing, self-efficacy or metacognition, based on the assumption that changes in writing products are caused by changes in writing process. It is considered pertinent to also explore the ways in which this kind of training affects the processes involved in writing. For this reason, we assess the effectiveness of these instructional programs by combining on-line measurements (writing log measurements) with writing product measurements, aiming not just to determine whether interventions result in improved text but also to explore the nature of this action. The use of on-line measurements of the writing process constitutes a significant contribution as to-date few studies have employed this type of measurement (Braaksma, Rijlaarsdam, van den Bergh, & van Hout-Wolters, 2004; Torrance, Fidalgo, & Garcia, in press) and, to our knowledge, never with the LD population.
On the other hand, although the main objective of this study was not strictly to increase writing self-efficacy perceptions, it is worthwhile to examine the effects of both cognitive and self-regulatory interventions on this motivational factor. Researchers in the field of writing composition have focused particular attention on investigating the affective or motivational factors that influence writing, such as self-efficacy, which is assumed to be the principal component of academic motivation, based on the assumption that the beliefs that students create, develop, and hold to be true about themselves are vital forces in their academic success or failure (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003; Pajares, 2003). Findings have shown that writing self-efficacy is predictive of writing performances and is associated with other motivation variables such as perceived value of writing, persistence on the writing task, and personal interest. Thus, it plays a mediational role in the effect of previous performances on actual writing performance (Bruning & Horn, 2000; Pajares & Johnson, 1996; Pajares & Valiente, 1997; Rankin, Bruning, & Timme, 1994; Shell, Colvin, & Bruning, 1995; Wachholz & Ethridge, 1996; Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994).
Moreover, on one hand, self-efficacy beliefs are expected to be linked reciprocally to students' use of self-regulatory procedures. That is to say, students who learn to use cognitive and self-regulatory strategies in writing increase their perceptions of self-efficacy to write effectively (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). On the other hand, effective self-regulation depends on the extent of self-efficacy for using skills to achieve mastery (Bandura, 1986, 1997); that is, students who feel that their performance is efficient are more likely to use cognitive and self-regulatory strategies and to have increased metacognition, and are more likely to plan, monitor, control, and regulate themselves during a task (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003; Pintrich, 1999; Pintrich & De Groot, 1990; Pintrich & Garcia, 1991; Wolters & Pintrich, 1998; Wolters, Yu, & Pintrich, 1996). For these reasons it is interesting to study the role of writing self-efficacy.
METHOD
Participants
Our sample was composed of 121 fifth- and sixth-grade Spanish students with LD and/or low achievement (LA) ranging in age between 10 and 12 years old. All participants had previously been identified as having a specific learning disability in writing (Jimenez & Hernandez, 1999; Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, 1992). We excluded students who did not attend school on a regular basis and those who had a developmental disability such as mental retardation or autism--diagnosed by psychoeducational teams in Spain as having special educational needs--and students whose delay and/or difficulties could be attributed to a physical, psychological, or sensory disability, or a lack of schooling.
Participants were selected as follows. First, the teachers carried out an initial screening consisting of an interview or questionnaire about the achievement of students with difficulties in writing. Then, psychoeducational teams assessed those students using IQ and aptitude tests, parents' and teachers' reports, observations and interviews with the students, and also the students' grades. However, because in Spain there are no specific grade tests, the psychoeducational teams determined which students had LD and/or LA, but not identified as having special educational needs--a developmental disability--in order to exclude students whose difficulties could be attributed to a physical, a psychic or a sensory disability, or a lack of schooling. As a result, only students with a significant delay, compared with their peers, in writing performance were included in the study.
Moreover, every student had to complete the EAE (Writing Self-Regulation Assessment) based on the tasks of EPP and FPE (Planning Processes and Other Writing Psychological Factors Assessment) as an assessment of proficiency to establish that every student had a delay of at least two years in composition writing and other psychological aspects, such as attitudes towards writing, metacognition with regard to writing, self-efficacy in writing, and reflexivity-impulsivity towards writing related to composition writing. This test was designed by our research team, and was validated in a previous study with a sample comprised of 968 students (509 males and 459 females) from 3rd (primary school) to 11th grade (high school), ranging in age from 8 to 18 years old. The results confirmed that the EAE test fulfils the desired psychometric properties with a high reliability ([alpha] 968 = .88) for internal consistency. In addition, the construct, structural, and content validity are adequate, so we can state that the device meets with the desired psychometric properties (Fidalgo, 2005).
Students were selected without considering whether they had LD or LA. The IQ-achievement discrepancy is not established in the Spanish educational system, and both types of students are included in the same groups. This decision is justified by studies that have not found significant differences in cognitive profiles based on IQ tests (low achievement with or without discrepancy) (Fletcher et al., 1994; Stanovich & Siegel, 1994). Elimination of the aptitude-achievement discrepancy criteria in the conceptualization of LD has been broadly recommended (Aaron, 1997; Algozzine, Ysseldyke, & McGue, 1995; Fletcher et al., 1998; Stanovich & Stanovich, 1996), providing a further reason not to specify whether a student had LD and/or only LA.
Each of our participants had seriously low achievement in writing but we systematically excluded children who were diagnosed as having special educational needs by psychoeducational teams (with a type of developmental disability) to ensure that our samples consisted of children whose learning problems were more consistent with the American definition of LD. (We acknowledge that for more precise international comparison of research and treatments, in the future, we have to obtain IQ and achievement measures of every subject, as the scores obtained previously by psychoeducational teams are only accessible for administrative and placement purposes and are not available for research purposes.)
Participants were randomly allocated to either an experimental or a comparison group. The first experimental group was made up of 48 students, who were exposed to cognitive self-regulation instruction based on the self-regulated strategy development model, SRSD (Harris & Graham, 1996). The students in the second experimental group (N = 41) were taught using cognitive self-regulation based on a social cognitive model of sequential skill acquisition (Zimmerman, 2000, 2002; Zimmerman & Kitsantas, 1999, 2002). Finally, the comparison group (N = 32) received the standard curriculum. Sample details are summarized in Table 1.
The sample was drawn from 11 primary schools in Leon in northwest Spain. The schools were closely matched to ensure similarity. All of them were state-funded schools, with a similar educational infrastructure with regard to student-teacher ratio, as well as such aspects as resources or availability of psychologists, for example. Their populations were demographically similar as well, drawing exclusively from a middle-class native-Spanish population.
The interventions were delivered by four educational psychologists (two psychologists per program), who were specifically trained in the psychology of writing and the cognitive strategy model used. Moreover, they were explicitly trained in how to apply the assessment methods and the intervention program in weekly sessions. The sessions were carried out during the school timetable to the same small groups, extracted from different classrooms where they received their regular lessons. The psychologists were blind to the purpose and the design of the study. Furthermore, they were randomly assigned to an intervention group, counterbalanced by the schools and groups of LD and/or LA students.
Writing Tasks
Participants in the experimental groups completed two compare-contrast essay tasks prior to (pretest) and following (posttest) the intervention. Students in the comparison group completed the same tasks at the same times and with the same interval between pre-and posttest as for the experimental groups.
The topics for the tasks were based on the content delivered as part of the 4th- and 5th-grade curriculum. For all tasks students were provided with reference sheets (approximately 500 words of text) providing topic-relevant information. For pedagogic reasons topics were not counterbalanced over the time of testing, but were matched for complexity of content and extent of coverage in previous teaching. Thus, for the baseline assessment, all students wrote about the similarities and differences between demonstratives and possessives and at posttest about the similarities and differences between vertebrates and invertebrates.
For all tasks it was stressed that students should write full prose and not just lists of ideas, and that they should produce the best possible text because it would be seen by their teacher and compared with essays by students from other parts of the country. Students were free to use the reference materials and their own ideas as they wished; they did not have to adhere to a strict time limit.
Product Measures
The quality of the completed comparative-contrast essays was assessed (a) in terms of qualitative, reader-based criteria where raters consider an essay as an entity and assign a score to indicate the degree to which it reflects the construct of interest; and (b) by more quantitative text-based criteria where raters identify certain elements or linguistic features within the essay and then count or combine those elements to arrive at the score. This type of measure included productivity, coherence, and structure measures, as used in previous research (Torrance et al., in press). A synthesis of the...
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