What are we all about?

Writing Skills Development Projects (WSDP) are comprised of a small group of researchers led by Dr. Stephen R. Hooper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Allied Health Sciences.  The research projects are funded through the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. By examining the efficacy of interventions, and the conditions under which they are most effective, we address a compelling educational need.
The WSDP concentrate on the relations among the development of writing skills and cognitive processes for students from preschool to seventh grade, as well as writing programs to advance skills for children who struggle. We have several overlapping goals:

• Provide evidence for the efficacy of evidence-based writing interventions
• Provide evidence of whether select cognitive abilities mediate the effects of the interventions
• Provide accessibility of professional development for teachers to gain access to effective writing curriculum
• Develop an empirical framework for writing to provide a strong foundation for creating age-specific measures and effective tools for monitoring progress