Purpose of Our Study

Contemporary literacy theory argues that teaching students how to write is a means to more fully engage them as readers and in literacy learning. The writing process is utilized in many U.S. classrooms. This method emphasizes the recursive processes of prewriting, draft-ing, editing, and revising. The purpose of this study reviews research about the evolution and effectiveness of the writing process. What We Learned • Based on research, writing instruction has moved from focusing on spelling, grammar, and other writing conventions, to a holistic view emphasizing writing as a recursive process. • Specifically, research shows a direct correlation between instruc-tion based on writing process techniques and students ’ writing proficiency level. • Pre-writing is essential to producing quality writing. Research in-dicates that skilled writers spend significantly more time organizing and planning what they are going to write. •Teaching writing through inquiry also helps students improve in statistically significant ways. Implications • More large-scale research studies are needed; however current substantial evidence documents the benefits of the writing process on students ’ writing. •Teaching students to use one or two stages of the writing process enhances their writing abilities significantly. •Findings provide a compelling rationale for using the writing pro-cess as a method of instruction in the classroom