| This quasi-experimental quantitative study examined the effectiveness of interactive explicit writing and how it affected the writing abilities of eighth-grade students as measured by the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT) writing rubric. Writing samples from 205 were evaluated to determine if students' writing improved after interactive writing instruction. The study was guided by the following research questions: To what extent, if any, did interactive writing improve eighth-grade students' treatment group writing scores as compared to a control group writing scores? To what extent, if any, did specific skills, such as Focus, Elaboration, Organization, Conventions, and Integration (as per the ISAT rubric) change as a result of an interactive writing intervention? Using ANOVAs to evaluate the research questions, the results revealed that there was a significant increase found between the intervention and the control groups. The analysis found that the Focus, Support, Organization, Conventions, and Integration categories increased between the pretests and posttests for the intervention group. The control group did have a decrease in the Convention category in addition to slight increases in Focus, Support, Organization, and Integration. The examination disclosed that overall the intervention group's demonstrated greater growth than the control group in every category. These results support the concept that interactive writing may be an effective strategy to increase writing abilities in eighth-grade students. |
