Enhancing the Interpretive Reading and Analytical Writing of Mainstreamed English Learners in Secondary School

In this study, 72 secondary English teachers from the Santa Ana Unified School District were randomly assigned to participate in the Pathway Project, a cognitive strategies approach to teaching interpretive reading and analytical writing, or to a control condition involving typical district training focusing on teaching content from the textbook. Pathway teachers learned how to use an on-demand writing assessment to help mainstreamed English learners understand, interpret, and write analytical essays. In Year 2, treatment effects were replicated on an on-demand writing assessment (d = .67) and showed evidence of transfer to improved performance on a standardized writing test (d = .10). The results underscore the efficacy of a cognitive strategies reading/writing intervention for mainstreamed English learners (ELs) in the secondary grades.