UC Irvine Writing Project's Pathway to Academic Success Program
About the Intervention
The Pathway to Academic Success program provides professional development for secondary English language arts and English language development teachers (grades 7-12) to improve English learners' academic language skills. The program focuses on explicitly teaching, modeling, and scaffolding instruction in cognitive strategies that experienced readers and writers use when analyzing, interpreting, and responding to complex texts. The program is delivered over 2 school years with 10 professional development events per year (5 full-day and 5 afterschool sessions). Teachers receive two key tutorials: an introductory tutorial on cognitive strategies and a revision tutorial, along with ready-to-use instructional materials including class sets of readings and handouts. Teachers implement these tutorials in their classrooms and engage students in multiple-draft essay revision. The program provides formative feedback through commented student pretests and end-of-year results letters showing student growth. Teachers must attend professional development sessions to learn the program before implementation.
Statistical Findings
Positive effect: on analytical writing (holistic score) in Year 1
Positive effect: on analytical writing content in Year 1
Positive effect: on analytical writing structure in Year 1
Positive effect: on analytical writing sentence fluency in Year 1
Positive effect: on analytical writing conventions in Year 1
No effect: on analytical writing (holistic score) in Year 2 continuing students
Positive effect: on analytical writing (holistic score) in Year 2 first-time students
Positive effect: on analytical writing content in Year 2 first-time students
Positive effect: on analytical writing structure in Year 2 first-time students
No effect: on state standardized ELA assessment (SBAC)
More Intervention Details
Focus Areas
English LearnersPrograms & Services
English as a Second Language (ESL) Program, General EducationDelivery Methods
Face-to-FaceDisability Support
N/ATarget Groups
Student(s), Teachers/Instructional TeamsCitation
Arshan, N., Gallagher, H. A. & Woodworth, K. (2017). UC Irvine Writing Project’s Pathway to Academic Success Program: An Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation Grant Evaluation (pathway_i3_sri_technical_report_21dec17_final_in_jan). ERIC.
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