Units of study and their effect on one classroom: standards-based education through writing workshop

A study on the effectiveness of the use of units of study in writing workshop was implemented. A group of 30 seventh grade students were studied over the course of four months. Student writing samples were analyzed according to a writing inventory at the end of each unit as a post-assessment. The student writing in the class ranged from writers who were proficient to low-performing writers on the preassessment. All students made significant improvements in their writing from the preassessment to the post-assessments. The students were also assessed on their perceptions of themselves as writers and on their ideas about writing. In almost all cases, the students improved in their feelings about themselves as writers and their feelings about writing