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Effectiveness of literacy programs balancing reading and writing instruction: a meta-analysis
Graham, Steve Liu, Xinghua Aitken, Angelique Ng, Chi-hung (Clarence) Bartlett, Brendan John Harris, Karen Holzapfel, Jennifer
Graham, Steve
Liu, Xinghua
Aitken, Angelique
Ng, Chi-hung (Clarence)
Bartlett, Brendan John
Harris, Karen
Holzapfel, Jennifer
Abstract
Reading and writing are critical to students’ success in and outside of school. Because they draw on common sources of knowledge and cognitive processes, involve meaning making, and can be used conjointly to accomplish important learning goals, it is often recommended that reading and writing should be taught together. This meta‐analysis tested this proposition by examining experimental intervention studies with preschool through high school students to determine whether literacy programs balancing reading and writing instruction strengthen students’ reading and writing performance. To be included in this review, no more than 60% of instruction could be devoted to either reading or writing. As predicted, these programs improved students’ reading, resulting in statistically significant effects when reading measures were averaged in each study (effect size [ES] = .39) or assessed through measures of reading comprehension (ES = .39), decoding (ES = .53), or reading vocabulary (ES = .35). The programs also statistically enhanced writing when measures were averaged in each study (ES = .37) or assessed via writing quality (ES = .47), writing mechanics (ES = .18), or writing output (ES = .69). These findings demonstrated that literacy programs balancing reading and writing instruction can strengthen reading and writing and that the two skills can be learned together profitably.
Keywords
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
Reading Research Quarterly
Book
Volume
53
Issue
3
Page Range
279-304
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
Relation URI
DOI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled