ERIC Number: EJ1022221
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-May
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4669
EISSN: N/A
Fluent Persuasive Writing with Counterarguments for Students with Emotional Disturbance
Mastropieri, Margo A.; Scruggs, Thomas E.; Cerar, Nancy Irby; Allen-Bronaugh, Dannette; Thompson, Catherine; Guckert, Mary; Leins, Pat; Hauth, Clara; Cuenca-Sanchez, Yojanna
Journal of Special Education, v48 n1 p17-31 May 2014
Twelve seventh- and eighth-grade students with emotional disturbance participated in a multiple probe, multiple baseline design two-phase intervention study to improve persuasive writing skills. The first phase after baseline taught students to plan and write persuasive essays including counterarguments. In the second phase, students were taught to plan and write fluently in 10 min. Students were assessed on their essay writing, the "Woodcock-Johnson Fluency" subtest, writing probes, and were interviewed post instruction. Findings revealed that all students mastered the components of effective persuasive essay writing, included counterarguments, and improved from baseline to postinstruction and postfluency phases in length and essay quality. Although students' performance decreased slightly on surprise maintenance and generalization measures, results remained substantially higher than baseline. Strategy reports revealed all students enjoyed using and seeing the benefits of instruction. Findings are discussed for future research and practice for students with emotional disturbance.
Descriptors: Persuasive Discourse, Writing Skills, Emotional Disturbances, Grade 7, Grade 8, Intervention, Writing Improvement, Essays, Writing Assignments, Interviews, Program Effectiveness, Skill Development, Student Role, Middle School Students, Maintenance, Learner Engagement, Generalization, Student Attitudes, Time on Task, Prompting, Scoring
SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Middle Schools; Grade 7; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale; Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; Woodcock Reading Mastery Test
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A