Promoting high-leverage writing instruction through an early childhood classroom daily routine (WPI): A professional development model of early writing skills

This study presents an initial investigation of a professional development intervention model for promoting preschool teachers' high-leverage writing instruction through a modification of the "Morning Meeting Time" (MMT) classroom routine. Using a quasi-experimental design, 14 teachers and 112 children were assigned to intervention and comparison conditions. Intervention group teachers received a four-hour workshop and one in-classroom coaching session focused on modifying existing MMT routine activities to implement interactive writing instruction. Results indicate that intervention group teachers achieved high intervention implementation fidelity and significantly improved the quality of their writing instruction (Cohen's d ranges from 1.22 to 2.36). Further, despite a relatively brief intervention phrase (three months), intervention group children showed greater gains in name writing, letter writing, and letter naming skills than comparison group children (Cohen's d ranges from 1.28 to 1.59). Findings provide initial evidence for the merit of utilizing typically occurring classroom routines, such as Morning Meeting, for embedding explicit teaching and writing opportunities for young children. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.