Examining the Relations Between Instructional-Level Data and Intervention Response in Early Writing

The current study determined growth patterns during an 8-week writing intervention and then examined the association between growth pattern and students’ initial skills as determined by instructional-level data. One hundred forty-seven first-grade students struggling with early literacy skills received a writing intervention at one of two tiers of support and completed progress assessments at regular intervals. Results indicated that students followed more than one type of growth pattern. A moderate correspondence was found between growth pattern and instructional-level data. Current results are contextualized within previous research. Implications for adapting writing interventions based on student data and theoretical models of writing development are discussed.