Effects and Social Validity of a Text Structure Intervention for Reading and Writing

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Innovations in Literacy Research, Theory, and Practice: Poster Session 1

Abstract

This mixed methods experimental study investigated the effects and social validity of a text structure intervention in grades 4-5. Eleven teachers were randomly assigned to deliver the text structure intervention or a comprehension intervention. Quantitative measures of text structure awareness, reading comprehension, and writing quality were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Qualitative interviews were analyzed typologically to understand teachers’ perceptions of each intervention’s social validity. Quantitative results indicated that the text structure group outperformed the comprehension group on a measure of text structure awareness, a graphic organizer task, and use of ideas and details in informative writing. Qualitative findings indicated that teachers found the text structure intervention’s goals, procedures, and effects to be socially valid for upper elementary classrooms.

Author

• John Z Strong, University at Buffalo - SUNY