Using Scaffolded Self-Editing to Improve the Writing of Signing Adolescent Deaf Students

The authors investigated the impact of the Deaf Student Editing Rubric (DSER) as a self-editing tool on the writing performance of prelingually profoundly deaf adolescent students whose first language is American Sign Language. The DSER was developed by the first author. The study participants included 15 Deaf students in 4 classrooms in grades 7–12. Writing samples were analyzed for all students, and the level of rubric use was assessed. Eight of the students were interviewed about their use of the DSER. Although all students in the sample increased their mean scores in word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions, results indicated that only the interviewed group showed significant improvement in their writing. Students’ writing performance indicated that the DSER was most effective when students talked with an adult about their use of the rubric.