Abstract
<p>This study investigated the impact of a self-regulation writing intervention program on the writing self-efficacy and persuasive writing achievement of ninth and tenth grade students. In addition, this study explored whether gender differences in writing may be addressed by the type of writing program that is implemented. Limited empirical studies have examined the impact of gender and self-regulation on persuasive writing achievement with heterogeneously grouped secondary school students. Understanding the influence of self-regulation writing strategies on writing self-efficacy and persuasive writing achievement, particularly in the context of gender, may assist schools and teachers in better preparing for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium’s (SBAC) new generation of assessments.</p>
<p>This research took place in a small, suburban high school in the Northeast. The researcher utilized a sample of convenience of 400 students in the ninth and tenth grades. The study was quasi-experimental in nature, with a pretest-posttest comparison group design using intact classrooms of students. Classrooms of students were randomly assigned to a treatment condition which employed a writing curriculum that followed a modified process approach with embedded strategy instruction in writing and self-regulation or a comparison condition which employed a writing curriculum that followed a traditional process approach without embedded strategy instruction in writing and self-regulation.</p>
<p>Students’ posttest persuasive writing achievement scores were analyzed using a two-way analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) using pretest scores as a covariate. The analysis of these data resulted in no significant difference in posttest scores between the treatment and comparison groups. Female students scored significantly higher than male students, regardless of the type of writing program employed.</p>
<p>A series of three hierarchical multiple linear regressions were also conducted to determine whether the type of writing curriculum and gender could explain variation in the three components of writing self-efficacy, ideation, conventions, and self-regulation after accounting for variation in pretest self-efficacy scores. Follow-up analyses revealed that gender was a significant predictor of writing self-efficacy posttest scores in the domain of conventions; girls tended to have a higher belief in their own abilities in terms of writing conventions than boys. Implications for educators and researchers are discussed.</p>
