Eric.ed.gov – Using a Four-Point Scaled Writing Rubric: Improving the Quantity and the Quality of the Writing in a First Grade Specialized 8:1:1 Classroom

Educators today are faced with learning to implement the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Math. Administrators are requiring grade level general education teachers/special education teachers to meet in Private Learning Communities in order to discuss the best ways to implement the CCS as well as to discuss best practices for writing instruction through close analysis of student writing. Research suggests that students use both cognitive and social processes when composing a writing piece (MacArthur, Graham, & Fitzgerald, 2006). Therefore, this study evaluates the importance of first using the social cultural writing process in order to enhance the cognitive writing process of students before they responded to a writing prompt. The study involved administering a journal entry pre-test, post-test, and final test over a four-week time period to eight first grade special education students in a specialized classroom. The results were calculated, analyzed, and conclusions/implications were recorded.