A recent study found that an academic writing intervention developed by the University of California, Irvine School of Education’s Writing Project significantly improves student writing according to SRI International (SRI). The Pathway to Academic Success (Pathway) provides teacher professional development on how to integrate cognitive strategies into reading and writing instruction to improve English learner outcomes.

The study documents that students taught by teachers participating in Pathway improved in achievement from the 50th to 55th percentile in writing quality, the 50th to 54th percentile in writing conventions, and the 50th to 58th percentile in writing productivity. The study also revealed that the program was able to improve student writing despite pandemic-related disruptions.
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“We faced many challenges implementing this intervention in the midst of a global pandemic. So we are especially gratified that teachers embraced the training and their students rose to the occasion, demonstrating growth in their writing ability,” said Carol Booth Olson, creator of the Pathway project and School of Education Professor Emerita.

​English language arts and advanced English language development teachers participating in the project were given professional development support as well as Pathway-developed lessons to implement in their classes.

The SRI study assessed the project in a randomized controlled trial of 46 schools across seven states for grades 7 to 11 between 2019-22. It is the second independent evaluation of Pathway that has shown positive results.

In 2018, the School of Education received a $15 million, five-year expansion grant from the U.S. Department of Education Innovation in research (EIR) to extend its program to include seven National Writing Project sites across the nation. Pathway was first launched in 1996 and has helped close the literacy achievement gap for middle to high school students.

“Our project began in Orange County, Calif., with local, urban school districts, expanded to four sites in Southern California, and is now being implemented in seven other states across the nation, positively impacting hundreds of teachers and thousands of students,” said Olson, who also served as the Writing Project director from 1978-2019.

Established in 1978, the UCI Writing Project is the 13th site of the California Writing Project and the oldest of the Subject Matter Projects on the UCI campus. It is one of 200 sites of the National Writing Project and has trained more than 1000 teachers and consultants from 85 local school districts, and 13 colleges and universities.