Quality standards matter: a comparative case study examining interactive writing in the preschool setting

ABSTRACT

Interactive writing is a research-based early literacy strategy that has been found effective at increasing young children's oral language skills, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, concepts of print, and early writing skills. This paper reports on a case study which explored the feasibility and fidelity of implementing interactive writing in two contrasting preschool contexts. The findings suggest that with minimal training and support, public preschool teachers can implement interactive writing effectively. The study also found that quality standards, specifically teacher education and training, may affect the successful implementation of preschool interactive writing instruction.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing
• preschool
• interactive writing
• early childhood education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Anna H. Hall is an assistant professor in the Early Childhood Education department at Clemson University. Dr. Hall’s research focuses on examining the writing attitudes of teachers and students and developing and adapting instructional strategies in writing for young children.