Planning for writing: What the results of NMSSA tell us about students’ use of planning strategies

Abstract

This article focuses on the 2019 National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) assessment of student ability in writing, beginning with an overview of the study and its results, before turning to students’ use of planning strategies to support their writing. The article suggests that planning is best thought of as a multistage process covering identification of goals, generation and selection of ideas and content, and organisation. The article analyses the 2019 student writing in the light of this process, considers what can be done to support students’ understanding of each stage, and suggests how this approach to planning might help to lift confidence and achievement in writing.