A Qualitative Analysis of the Strengths and Needs of Deaf Secondary Writers

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: Literacy Process and Deaf Protagonism

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the narrative and argumentative writing of deaf high school students. MI Write's automated scoring was used to assess idea development, organization, style, sentence fluency, word choice, and conventions. Then, thematic analysis was used on 85 low- and high-scoring samples to capture strengths and needs in secondary student writing. The findings revealed a wide range of outcomes, from emerging skills to genre-specific writing aligned with grade-level expectations. Lower-scoring responses were brief and included unfinished and unidentifiable words and limited variation in sentence types. In contrast, higher-scoring samples reflected clearer purpose and organization, evidence of knowledge-transforming strategies, and stronger control over sentence structure, with a variety of sentence types that promoted greater fluency of expression.

Authors

• Kimberly Wolbers, University of Tennessee

• Hannah M. Dostal, University of Connecticut

• Kelsey Spurgin, Ball State University

• Elizabeth Martinez, University of Tennessee