Variations in Interactive Writing Instruction: A Study in Four Bilingual Special Education Settings.

This study is designed as a set of four case studies to investigate writing instruction in bilingual special education settings and the compositions of students with learning disabilities in those settings. Each case study is in a bilingual special education setting. Special education teachers who were prepared with bilingual authorization in California were studied in each of the four settings; their decisions about writing instruction and the type of writing program they implemented were recorded. Data on students' writing were collected over a 10-week period and 1 year later as a follow-up. Results indicated that teachers chose different approaches for teaching writing, including: (a) interactive journals; (b) Optimal Learning Environment (OLE); (c) Writer's Workshop; and (d) a combination of journal writing, brainstorming-planning, and spelling practice. Based on analyses of narrative compositions, each of the four types of writing instruction appeared to yield higher writing quality after 10 weeks. However, 1 year later, only the students in the setting in which the elements of OLE were used appeared to demonstrate significant ongoing improvements in writing performance on compositions. Limitations of the study, educational implications, and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]