Writing Within a Cognitive Strategies Instructional Approach

• In Event: Multiple Lenses for Understanding Source-Based Analytical Writing Development

Abstract

From a sociocognitive perspective, we know that different writing genres involve different processes, knowledge, and skills. Students writing arguments of literary interpretation focus on constructing knowledge and meaning-making of the source-text, forwarding a thesis, organizing thinking, composing, revising written prose, and other cognitive processes (Flower & Hayes, 1981; Shanahan, 2016; Tierney & Pearson, 1983). A writer’s effectiveness is then highly dependent on their declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of genre-specific writing moves and teachers’ abilities to help students develop such knowledge and skills.

The teacher professional development program studied here is an intervention aimed at enhancing teachers’ existing repertoires to teach writing, particularly academic writing, for multiple purposes. Teachers are provided with 46 hours of professional development to support their students by unpacking and making visible the processes and skills expert readers and writers use when composing, in this case, arguments of literary analysis. How teachers and students learn, perceive, and apply these strategies varies across different contexts. The program has been validated through the What Works Clearinghouse with multiple studies categorized as without reservations. It has been found to be effective in multiple school districts with different iterations (Borko, 2004), with benefits for English learners and Latinx students in particular.

Based on the results of multiple randomized controlled trials, teacher surveys, and student writing assessments, presenters will demonstrate effective, research-based strategies for teaching arguments of literary analysis that demystifies the reading and writing process for students. We will highlight cognitive strategies that support students prior to reading, during reading, and after reading, as they compose their arguments. We will also present perspectives from teachers and students across multiple school districts to share their stories and experiences using these strategies to acknowledge their contributions to our work.

Implications for research and instruction include ways to use teacher and student feedback to help iteratively design professional development materials and experiences; how to implement effective writing instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse students, and how equity-focused writing opportunities are possible when stakeholders have the teaching repertoires and efficacy needed for making change.

Authors

• Carol B. Olson, University of California - Irvine

• Huy Quoc Chung, University of California - Irvine