Enhancing the Interpretive Reading and Analytical Writing of Mainstreamed English Learners in Secondary School: Results From a Randomized Field Trial Using a Cognitive Strategies Approach

In this study, 72 secondary English teachers from the Santa Ana Unified School District were randomly assigned to participate in the Pathway Project, a cognitive strategies approach to teaching interpretive reading and analytical writing or to a control condition involving typical district training focusing on teaching content from the textbook. Pathway teachers learned how to use an on-demand writing assessment to help mainstreamed English learners understand, interpret, and write analytical essays. In Year 2, treatment effects were replicated on an on-demand writing assessment (d =.67) and showed evidence of transfer to improved performance on a standardized writing test (d -.10). The results underscore the efficacy of a cognitive strategies reading/writing intervention for mainstreamed English learners (Els) in the secondary grades.