Reported evidence-based writing practices and teachers' beliefs in Catalonia, Spain: an exploratory study

Abstract

This paper investigates the reported frequency of the use of evidence-based writing practices (EBWPs) by teachers (N = 51) in primary and secondary school classrooms in a sample of schools in the Barcelona metropolitan area (Spain), and how teacher beliefs contribute to the reported use of EBWPs. The results showed that the teachers declared to implement most of the EBWPs from previous studies. The three most frequent declared practices were 1) give praise individually for writing, 2) teaching writing strategies for planning and writing skills, and 3) using text assessment as a guide to shape instructions. Regarding teachers’ beliefs about teaching writing, the study focused on teachers’ attitudes and teacher efficacy. The results on attitude showed that teachers had a positive attitude toward writing. Results regarding teacher efficacy showed that teachers felt quite efficacious, especially when they were required to determine the level of difficulty in written assignments. A factor analysis of the EBWPs showed that the two main factors for the frequency of reported use of EBWPS were strategy teaching for evidence-based writing and writing practices based on text assessment. PLS regression analyses showed that the reported frequency of use of EBWPs was highly predicted by the feeling of efficacy of teachers.