How elementary school teachers use writing to support reading in the science of reading era: A national survey

Abstract The science of reading movement has had a strong influence on teaching and research in the last 7–10 years, although writing has received less attention in the movement Graham (2020). This survey of 187 general and 188 special education elementary teachers was conducted to examine their use of writing to support reading, with return rates of 22.9% and 25.3%, respectively. The survey has a conservative margin of error of rate of +/− 7% (which reduced to +/− 5% for many items). Both samples responded to identical questions about their writing to read practices, beliefs, self-efficacy, and training. Results indicated large proportions of teachers (84% of general education and 77% special education) believed writing is effective for improving reading and used many effective practices. However, substantial proportions of teachers reported being uncertain or disagreeing that writing is effective for improving reading, used practices less frequently, and believe the practices to be less effective with younger and low-achieving writers. Regression models showed that special education teachers reported using fewer practices than general education teachers ( p = .026), although there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of their use of writing to read practices ( p = .423). Teachers’ beliefs were statistically significant predictors of their use of the practices. Recommendations center on emphasizing writing within the science of reading movement, identifying areas for future research.