Picturing Writing/Image-Making Integrated Curriculum Model: Evaluation of an Alternative Art-and-Literature-Based Approach to Literacy Learning
Author: Frankel, Susan L.
Date: 2015-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Art Activities,Writing Instruction,Literature,Teaching Methods,Elementary School Students,Visual Literacy,Reading Skills,Magnet Schools,Instructional Effectiveness,Writing Skills,At Risk Students,Gender Differences,Disadvantaged Youth,Low Income Students,School Districts,Reading Tests,Grade 5,Grade 1,Grade 2,Grade 3,Grade 4,Standardized Tests,Scores,Literacy Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of two innovative, art-and-literature-based approaches to teaching writing (Picturing Writing: Fostering Literacy Through Art and Image-Making Within The Writing Process) on elementary school students' writing, visual literacy, and reading skills. RMC Research Corporation of Portsmouth, New Hampshire designed and conducted a three-year quasi-experimental study with matched comparison groups for the Manchester School District (MANSD) in Manchester, NH to determine the effect of an enhanced integrated PW/IM model on students' academic performance. Three elementary schools served as treatment schools with three demographically matched elementary schools in the district serving as comparison schools. The study sample consisted of about 1500 students each year, grades 1-4, and included two ELL Magnet strands, grades 1-5. Because the City of Manchester is a national refugee resettlement community, MANSD serves families with the highest poverty and the most diverse student population in the state. MANSD was identified as a &quot;District In Need of Improvement&quot; under the No Child Left Behind Act just prior to commencing the study. Pre- and post-test art-and-writing samples were collected from all participating students in the fall and spring of each year. All identifying information was removed from the samples. Spring samples consisted of narratives that included one or more pictures. Student writing was separated from the art and typed in a uniform fashion, insuring a blind study. Two separate scoring instruments, developed for previous studies, were refined to meet the needs of a wider range of grade levels. To measure additional student academic outcomes, the study used State and District measures including the NH statewide New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Tests, and district writing prompts. Within the independent evaluation, statistically significant gains were documented each year in writing and visual literacy for treatment students at all grade levels as compared to the demographically matched comparison group. This held true for all at-risk subgroups including &quot;Below Benchmark Readers,&quot; Special Education Students, ELL Mainstream Students, and ELL Magnet Students. Furthermore, the percentage of students who scored proficient or above on the NECAP Grade 5 Writing Test was higher for treatment schools as compared with the comparison schools, the district, and the state overall. On the final NECAP Fifth Grade Writing Test, boys in the high fidelity school (that benefited from consistent administrative support) scored equally as well as the girls; Title I students and economically disadvantaged students also demonstrated impressive gains over their Title I and economically disadvantaged peers in the comparison school, across the district, and across the state. District measures in writing also showed positive trends. Results from the Gates-MacGinitie did not produce clear patterns in findings. However, strong gains in reading on the NECAP Reading Assessments were apparent for the high fidelity treatment school. Overall findings suggest that a wide range of learners benefit from participating in the PW/IM models, particularly in the areas of writing and visual literacy. This remained true for traditionally underperforming groups such as &quot;below benchmark readers,&quot; Title I and Special Education students, English learners, and boys, who tend to lag behind girls in writing across the nation. Based on these findings, educators and policymakers should reconsider the use of traditional straight verbal teaching practices when it comes to the teaching of writing and visual literacy, especially given the growing diversity within today's classroom. Study results are detailed within 15 exhibits and 9 tables. The two scoring instruments used in the independent study can be found in the Appendix.