Writing Interventions: Implementing evidence-based practice for students with EBD in applied settings Carlos J. Panahon, Ph.D. Alexandra Hilt-Panahon, Ph.D. Minnesota State University, Mankato Lauren Arbolino, Ph.D Nationwide Childrens Hospital

Introduction Writing is considered an essential skill for childrens success. Writing has been identified as a neglected skill (National Commission on Writing, 2003). The writing skills of children in the United States has been summarized as –... not what it should be (p. 7)

3 The Nations Report Card (2002) – Writing

4 Two-thirds of students did not demonstrate solid performance in writing 72% 28% Fourth-Grade Students One-third of the students demonstrated solid or superior performance in writing

Academics & EBD The relationship between emotional and behavioral disorders and low academic achievement has been well documented in the literature (Wehby et al, 2003). Despite this, academic deficits of students with emotional and behavioral disorders is often secondary to behavior/emotional needs (Gunter & Denny, 1998)

Academics & EBD Historically, less emphasis on academics for EBD students Problem behaviors are mitigated when students are engaged in instruction Academic lesson and intervention must be instructionally appropriate Reinforcement that is often and specific is effective

Writing intervention for students with EBD Recent research has sought to identify interventions to remediate academic skills for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Behavioral Disorders special issue –Reading –Writing

8 The Nations Report Card: Implications Significant number of students have not developed mastery in basic writing skills Students at greatest risk for not developing mastery include: –Eligible for free/reduced price lunch (83%) –English Language Learners (93%) –Eligible for special education services (83%)

Research-Based Effective Teaching Strategies Students learn more when they are actively engaged in instructional tasks High success rates correlate positively with student learning outcomes The more content covered, the greater the potential for student learning Students become independent learners through instruction that is deliberate and carefully planned

10 How Do We Improve Childrens Basic Writing Skills? Lower-order writing skills: –Handwriting and spelling –Capitalization, punctuation, and grammar –Text generation Higher-order writing skills: –Planning processes –Text generation (increased expectations for amount, nature, quality) SOURCES: Berninger, V. W. et al. (2006). Tier 1 and Tier 2 early intervention for handwriting and composing. Journal of School Psychology, 44, Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Improving the writing performance of young struggling writers. The Journal of Special Education, 39,

11 How Do We Improve Childrens Basic Writing Skills? Writing fluency: The total number of words written within 3 minutes

12 How Do We Improve Childrens Writing Fluency? Provide instructional/performance feedback to promote childrens writing fluency Based on Thorndikes law of effect (1898, 1911): Feedback serves to reinforce stimulus-response association

Classwide Performance Feedback Study 11 week study –2 weeks for baseline; 9 weeks for intervention 4 Middle School classrooms –7 participants were assigned to the No Feedback Condition –8 participants were assigned to the Performance Feedback Condition Participants were probed once a week at the beginning of the class

Results BaselineIntervention No Feedback Feedback

Choice v. No Choice Study 6 week study 1 Elementary School classroom –6 participants –Administered either Choice or No Choice writing session All 6 participants performed better during the Choice condition 5 of 6 participants made more gains across time during the Choice condition

Evidence Based Strategies –Give choice –Performance feedback –Student-interest driven materials –Peer learning activities –Self-monitoring –Tie-in with reinforcement

Conclusions Performance Feedback Study –ROI No Feedback= 0.97 Feedback= 3.81 Choice Study –ROI No Choice= 1.27 Choice= 3.83

Intervention Advantages Monitoring Clearly defined Already a component of the classroom activities Training Length of time Class-wide Increased interest and motivation

Future Directions Replicate in different settings –Self contained class in public school –Inclusive Evaluate benefits of reinforcement in combination with other interventions Evaluate generalization of effects Application of effective practices with EBD population –Mason et al., 2010 –Little et al., 2010

Contact Information Carlos J. Panahon, PhD Minnesota Sate University, Mankato Mankato, MN Alexandra Hilt-Panahon, PhD Minnesota State University, Mankato Mankato, MN Lauren A. Arbolino, PhD Nationwide Childrens Hospital Columbus, OH