Sustained Use of Data-Based Writing Instruction Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

For research-based academic interventions to continue to have positive effects on the outcomes of students with learning difficulties, teachers’ initial implementation must be sustained after the removal of program support, including professional development (PD). In this mixed methods study, we investigated the extent to which teachers sustained data-based instruction (DBI) in early writing, 1–2 years after their participation in extensive PD, the Early Writing Project, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied a nested and interacting systems framework to examine how barriers and facilitators at macrosystem to student levels influenced teachers’ self-reported ability or decision to sustain. Although most teachers sustained one or more core DBI components before and during the pandemic, few sustained data-based decision making. Our findings suggest that teachers’ perceptions of their DBI sustainment was influenced by multiple interacting factors across system levels, such as student progress and limited time. Implications for approaches to supporting DBI, as well as implications for educational program sustainability theory, are discussed.