Effects of Goal Setting and Procedural Facilitation on the Revising Behavior and Writing Performance of Students With Writing and Learning Problems

This study examined the effects of a revising goal to "add information" on the revising behavior and writing performance of 5th- and 6th-grade students with writing and learning problems. The authors also examined whether procedural assistance in meeting the goal to add information would enhance students' performance. In comparison to students assigned a general revising goal to make their paper better, students assigned a goal to add information made more meaning-based changes, particularly additions, when revising their papers. Most importantly, the goal to add information resulted in greater improvement in text quality than the general revising goal. Use of the procedural facilitator to accomplish the goal to add information, however, did not appreciably enhance students' revising behavior or the quality of their text.