The graduate writing challenge: A perspective from an urban teacher education program
Abstract
This article addresses the debate on college literacy achievement by focusing on teacher education students. In addition to acquiring the academic tools for teaching, many of those students might need to remediate their literacy gaps while mastering graduate-level academic writing skills. This study inquired into variables that might help predict students' writing performance and thus inform program development. A quantitative strand examined the relationship between undergraduate grade point average, ranking of undergraduate institution attended, educational attainment of the parents, and actual writing performance as measured by the grade assigned to a prompt. A qualitative strand inquired into students' beliefs about their writing skills, comparing those to the outcomes of the prompt. Findings indicated that grade point average and ranking of the undergraduate institution attended can be significant predictors of writing performance but that students' beliefs about their own writing did not forecast actual writing performance.
Reference
Abbate-Vaughn, J. (2007). The graduate writing challenge: A perspective from an urban teacher education program. Action in Teacher Research, 29, (2), 51-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2007.10463448
Journal
Action in Teacher Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
- mixed methods
- Qualitiative
- Quantitative
Geographic Setting
- not stated
- United States
- urban
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
38
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Questionnaire
- Survey
- writing prompts
- written responses
Data Analysis Tools
- coding (non-specific)
- Quantitative Content Analysis
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
"Do graduate grade point average (GPA), the ranking of the undergraduate institution attended, and parental educational attainment significantly predict writing proficiency among students completing a graduate teacher education program?" (p. 54)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
"Do students' beliefs about the quality of their own writing significantly predict actual writing proficiency among the same group of students?" (p. 54)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes