Implementing MI Write in the Classroom

Key Findings

Monthly coaching sessions helped teachers use and integrate MI Write with their instruction:

  • To successfully learn and use MI Write, teachers need time to plan and carry out daily writing instruction.
  • Pandemic-related absences and reading setbacks made it difficult for teachers and students to have consistent writing-focused interactions.
  • MI Write’s feedback is most useful to students when it supplements, not replaces, teacher feedback.
  • A key barrier to successfully using MI Write is a lack of both curriculum integration and alignment.

This brief aims to help middle school leaders and teachers understand what helps and hinders the use of automated writing feedback tools in the classroom. Curriculum developers might also generate ideas for integrating these tools into their curricula. The brief summarizes key implementation takeaways from a study of MI Write in grades 7 and 8 English language arts classrooms during the 2021–2022 school year and provides strategies for school and district leaders to support using MI Write.

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