Teachers’ Perceptions of the Development, Enactment, and Effectiveness of a New Writing Curriculum within the Elmore County Public School District

Abstract

With increased accountability constraints placed on school districts in regards to improving students’ writing skills, schools throughout the nation are seeking assistance and working vigorously to develop curricula for teachers to teach writing more effectively. Many educators and researchers suggest that in order to improve students’ writing abilities, writing must be at the center of the school agenda, and policymakers at the state and local levels must provide the resources required to improve writing (NCW, 2003; & Shelton, 2002). The purpose of this study was to determine K-12 language arts educators’ perceptions of the newly developed writing curriculum within the Elmore County School District. It also explored the research practices and ideas relating to the development of effective writing curricula. The sample for this study consisted of K-12 language arts teachers employed within the Elmore County Public School District. Two hundred and thirteen (73%) of the language arts teachers volunteered to participate in the study. A mixed-methodology research design was used in this study, and four key findings emerged including: support for the enactment of the new writing curriculum, meaningful involvement of teachers during the curriculum development process, adequate ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers, and sufficient technological support and/or resources for teachers when implementing new curricula. Based on the findings, the researcher discussed the importance of effective writing instruction and its impact on student achievement. While the research explored what happened within one school district, the findings and recommendations from this study may provide school districts throughout the nation with assistance as they prepare to develop and enact new writing curricula, which may lead to a higher quality of teaching and various improvements in students’ writing skills.