A Cognitive-Strategies Approach to Argument Writing: Professional Development for Teachers of Secondary ELL Teachers

• In Event: Writing Disciplinary Arguments: Theoretical and Instructional Considerations

Abstract

Within the constructs of literacy development, for too long have our students not made much gain, if the NAEP writing scores are an accurate indication of the progress our students are making. More than two-thirds of our students are not meeting writing standards, and of greatest concern, only 1% of our English learners are considered proficient writers (NCES, 2012). This blaring fact is unacceptable as the education community is striving to “cultivate equitable education systems for the 21st century” (AERA 2022 Call for Proposal; Nasir, Peele-Eady, & Tipton, 2021). How can we help our most vulnerable students receive the education and skills that will help support their success, especially in key gate-keeping skills, such as academic writing? This poster, as part of a structured poster session, will present on the promising practice of focusing on a cognitive strategies approach (Graham et al., 2016) to teacher professional development in order to provide both teachers and students with the transformational knowledge required to enact change, particularly around written argumentation.

When developing argumentation skills, secondary English language arts teachers often focus on two types of argumentative assignments: arguments of opinion or arguments of (literary) analysis. Attention to the claim, differences between fact and opinion, credibility of sources, textual evidence, audience, academic language, commentary, and counterarguments are among some of the skills students need to know and master to be successful (NCES, 2012). One root cause may be traced to the lack of teacher education and professional development (Bryk et al., 2015) in writing instruction, especially for secondary teachers, who are more often concerned with content than language development.

In this poster, we will theorize how our approach to professional development (citing prior studies of a professional development program that have met the What Works Clearinghouse Without Reservations standards) can lead to identifying, supporting, and sustaining academic language and argumentation skills for English learners.

Teachers who participated in our PD developed declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of how to teach analytical argumentative writing and learned how to make visible the expert reading and writing moves that professional writers employ. Additionally, by analyzing writing data from secondary English language arts students across three different districts the authors will identify the particular skills secondary students (including English learners) need to further develop when source-based analytical arguments are assigned.

Authors

• Huy Quoc Chung, University of California - Irvine

• Jacob Steiss, University of California - Irvine

• Carol B. Olson, University of California - Irvine