Improving Kindergarten Students' Writing Outcomes Using Peer-assisted Strategies

The primary focus of this study was to determine the feasibility of teacher implementation of peer-assisted writing strategies (PAWS) in improving the writing outcomes of kindergarten children. Six classrooms were recruited, and 3 were randomly assigned to the experimental condition. Results indicated that the content, length, and formatting of the lessons were adequate for the teachers to deliver the lessons with fidelity. Students enjoyed PAWS, as reflected in the end-of-the-year surveys. Statistically significant differences between the experimental and control classrooms were noted for punctuation and sentence writing quality. In addition, preliminary results with our small sample size suggest that differences in writing performance between the PAWS and control classrooms were moderated by school type. In the medium-performing schools, differences between pre- and posttest scores were statistically significant for alphabet-writing fluency, punctuation, and sentence and essay curriculum-based writing measures, with effect sizes ranging from 0.69 to 1.96.