Research/Results

Teachers Talk About Their Professional Learning

Reflections from a 6th grade English/Social Studies teacher

Reflections from an 8th grade English teacher

Action Research: EmPOWER

Myers, E. (2010). EmPOWER Writing Strategy in the Elementary Classroom. Unpublished master's thesis. Concordia University.

Student performance with expository writing was assessed using the Oregon state writing test assessment rubric within a fourth grade general education classroom. Over the course of 18 weeks, student performance improved significantly with respect to Ideas/Content, Organziation, and Sentence Fluency scores. Gains in Organization were most pronounced for students receiving special education services. Students also showed marked improvement on a rubric measuring their ability to answer all facets of the assignment, use multiple planning strategies effectively, and use the EmPOWER steps and strategies independently.

DiFusco, N. (2008) How does implementing a systematic writing strategy (EmPOWER) impact students' expository writing in fourth grade? Unpublished master's thesis. Boston College.

To determine how EmPOWER affects students of differing ability levels in a general education classroom, the work of three students who were performing above grade level, on grade level, and below grade level in writing was assessed. Student essays written prior to and after nine weeks of whole class instruction using EmPOWER showed marked gains in measures of text Length. (Number of sentences written doubled for the above grade level student and tripled for teh students performing on and below grade level.) Further, rubric scroes for Elaboration/Idea development, Organization and structure, Voice, and Richness of language also increased, while measures of Conventions showed no change. While gains in these areas were evident for all three students, they were more pronounced for the students performing above and on grade level. All three students spontaneiously used the EmPOWER dialogue and graphic planning strategies to write their final text. Moreover, they were able to explain the purpose and strategies associated with each step of EmPOWER in structured interviews, demonstrating their understanding of and internalization of the EmPOWER approach to writing.

Wills, R. (2009) Effects of EmPOWER on Organization in 4 elementary school classrooms. Action research for the Forest Grove School District, Forest Grove, OR.

Independent student writing samples were obtained over two 6-week data cycles to assess progress in Organization, as assessed by the Oregon State Writing Test. The percentage of students scoring in the Proficient range on the trait of Organization rose from 37% to 74% in just 12 weeks.

Publications

Singer, B.D. (1995). Written language development and disorders.: Selected principles, patterns and intervention possibilities. Topics in Language Disorders, 16, 83-98.

Singer, B.D. (1997). Parallels between spoken and written syntax in children with language-learning disabilities. Doctoral dissertation. Emerson College.

Singer, B.D. & Bashir, A.S. (1999). What are executive functions and self-regulation and what do they have to do with language learning disorders? Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 30, pp. 256-273. (Link to publication)

Singer, B.D. & Bashir, A.S. (2004). EmPOWER: A strategy for helping students with language disorders learn to write expository text. In E. Silliman & L.C. Wilkinson (Eds.), pp. 239-272. Language and literacy learning. New York: Guilford Press.

Singer, B.D. (2004). Leveling the playing field for all students. In D. Hyerle (Ed.), Student success with Thinking Maps. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Bashir, A.S. and Singer, B.D. (2006). Assisting students wtih becoming self-regulated writers. In T. Ukrainetz (Ed.). Contextualized Language Intervention. Eau Claire, WI: Thinking Publications. (Link to publication)

Singer, B.D. (2007) Written language assessment/diagnosis of children and adolescents with Developmental Language Disorders. In A. Kamhi, K.Apel, & J. Masterson (Eds.), Clinical Decision Making in Developmental Language Disorders. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.