The Nature of Elementary Writing Teachers’ Instructional Practices and the Effects of Experience, Professional Preparation, Teaching Efficacy Beliefs, Knowledge, and Ability on Their Practices

ABSTRACT Purpose This study describes the nature of writing pedagogy in a group of elementary teachers and evaluates the impact of preparation, knowledge, efficacy beliefs, ability, and experience on their instruction. Method Forty-three grade four and five teachers (95.3% female; 90.7% White; 46.5% taught grade four) participated. The factors presumed to influence instruction were assessed and used to predict, using quantile regression, writing lesson quality and breadth, stability, and consistency of instructional elements coded during observations. Results Findings indicated that few teachers devoted much instructional time to revising, editing, grammar, transcription, or vocabulary; few used checklists or rubrics to guide students; and most relied on sustained individual practice with conferencing. Preparation, knowledge, and writing ability predicted some aspects of instruction for some teachers. Conclusion Our findings mirror and extend those found by other observational studies of writing and point to specific features of instruction that should be addressed during professional development.