The relationship between writing and reading achievement: The effectiveness of the Writing to Read program

This study was designed (1) to investigate the relationship between writing ability and reading comprehension of Writing to Read students, and (2) to compare the reading comprehension of Writing to Read and non-Writing to Read students. Subjects of the study were 182 first graders of the 1990/91 school year in ten Chapter 1 Public Schools of Las Cruces School District No. 2. These subjects were divided into three groups: (1) 61 Chapter 1 Writing to Read students, (2) 60 non-Chapter 1 Writing to Read students, and (3) 61 non-Chapter 1 non-Writing to Read students. Instruments used in the study included the Nine-Point Rating Scale, the Metropolitan Achievement Test, and a written composition. A simple correlation and a t-statistic were employed to determine the relationship between writing ability and reading comprehension of Writing to Read students. A simple regression and a t-statistic were used to analyze the reading comprehension scores of Writing to Read and non-Writing to Read students.; The study of relationship between writing ability and reading comprehension found that the coefficient of writing ability and reading comprehension was.57 for Writing to Read students. A t-statistic showed that the writing ability and reading comprehension of Writing to Read students were significantly related (p =.0001).; The study of reading comprehension showed that before first grade the mean of teachers' ratings of students' reading skills was higher for non-Writing to Read students than for Writing to Read students. At the end of first grade, the mean of reading comprehension scores based on the Metropolitan Achievement Test, Primer, Form L, of Writing to Read students was 5.8 NCEs significantly higher than that of non-Writing to Read students (p =.015).; In short, the writing ability and reading comprehension of Writing to Read students were significantly related. Thus, writing and reading should be integrated and simultaneously taught to young children at an early age. The results of the present study showed that Writing to Read students did significantly better in reading than non-Writing to Read students. The program was effective in developing first grade students' reading skills.