Running Head: EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Editing for a Brighter Future:

Measuring the Effects of a Writing Lab at the High School Level
Sarah E. Sharpton
Chapin High School

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Abstract
This project is a study on the effects of a review of an essay by a higher-level English

Commented [SS1]: editorial review

student in comparison to the traditional peer review used in classrooms. It measured the effects
in terms of students confidence in their essay. It was designed to determine which method is
most effective in order to improve the writing skills and confidence of students. Two Honors

Commented [SS2]: the confidence of students in their

writing

English 3 classes at Chapin High School were partnered with to conduct the study. Each class

Commented [SS3]: both classes

wrote an essay as an assignment, and the entire class peer edited the essays except for five

Commented [SS4]: each others essays

randomly selected students from each class. Those who were selected worked with an AP
English student instead. The students who peer edited took a survey on how peer editing affected
their confidence in their writing, and the ten experimental students took a pre- and post-survey
on how the different style of editing affected their confidence. According to the post-survey, the
experimental students experienced an average of a 23% increase in confidence level. It was also
interesting to note that of students whose essays were peer edited, the largest group felt that peer
editing mostly helped with spelling and mechanics, while the largest group of experimental
students felt that editing with an AP student addressed their wording and phrasing issues.

Commented [SS5]: to edit their essays

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Editing for a Brighter Future:

Measuring the Effects of a Writing Lab at the High School Level
For several years now, many universities have been maintaining a feature that helps their
students to succeed in their English classes and become better writers. To accomplish this, the

Commented [SS6]: Creating or maintaining

Commented [SS7]: Probably ought to actually use the
phrase writing lab somewhere in there

colleges recruit upperclassmen English or Journalism majors to read other students essays and
go over the essays with them. This allows the writing to be revised in the traditional sense,
looking for errors in mechanics, but also edited for content to help the student be as effective and
eloquent as possible. However, while many of these writing labs exist at many universities

Commented [SS8]: to make their point as effectively and

eloquently as possible

under a variety of different names, there has been no effort to measure their effects, and very few

Commented [SS9]: No notable effort at least

high schools can boast that this method of peer editing has been implemented in their schools.
This project measures the effect that the writing lab method of editing had on students
confidence in their writing in comparison to standard peer editing, in order to determine whether
there is enough cause to implement a writing lab at the high school level. It is hypothesized that
the writing lab editing format will be more effective than the standard peer editing at
improving the quality of essay and increasing the confidence of the student.
Previous Research
While it is true that there has been no effort to measure the effects of writing lab style
editing, much less at a high school level, many universities do have writing labs. One example is
a writing lab at Vanderbilt University, which was the inspiration for this project. The Vanderbilt
writing lab states in their mission statement that they provide confidential writing assistance to
anyone at the university for free. There has been research on the positive effects of peer editing
on both the editor and the student having their paper edited (Magone, 2014), as well as research

Commented [SS10]: The experiment ended up only

measuring confidence, should probably make that more
clear.

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

on undergraduates opinions on peer editing- how it affected their writing, and how they went
about editing classmates papers (Stubbe 2012). Both of these studies can help with
understanding how peer editing has an impact of the confidence and success of the student.
Methodology
In order to determine whether the writing lab setting has an effect on the students
confidence and essay quality, writing confidence levels had to be compared between students
who had their essays editing using the writing lab method and students whose essays were edited
by their peers. To do this, two English 3 Honors classes were selected to serve as both
experimental and control groups. Five students from each class were selected to work with an AP

Commented [SS11]: Emphasize random selection

English student on the essays they had written, while the rest of the class peer edited each others
papers. A confidence survey was administered to the control group, and the experimental group
took a pre-survey and post-survey before and after they had their papers revised. The surveys
also contained questions about what part of their essay benefitted most from the type of editing

Commented [SS12]: Should have detailed more of the

questions

they had (The categories were: Grammar, Spelling/Capitalization/Punctuation etc., Sentence

Structure, Wording/Phrasing, Organization, Content, and Other). The results were analyzed in
order to compare confidence levels, both between the control and experimental groups, and for
the experimental group before and after the writing lab style editing.
Results and Conclusions
The control group of students who had their essays peer edited had an average confidence
level of 4.55 on a scale of one to ten. It was also noted that of the parts of their essays they felt
were most improved by peer editing, number one was Spelling/Punctuation/Capitalization etc.,
also known as mechanics, followed closely by Wording/Phrasing (figure 1). The experimental

Commented [SS13]: Is this relevant? Probably ought to

add some interpretation

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

group of students who worked with an upper-level English student on their essays had an
average confidence level of 8.11 out of ten after editing. These students experienced an average
23% increase in confidence in their essay from before to after they had their essays edited in the
writing lab style (figure 2). The experimental students top two perceived categories of weakness
in their essays before editing were Organization and Wording/Phrasing (figure 3). After editing,

Commented [SS14]: Could have put in the percentages

they felt that the number one category that experienced improvement using this method of
editing was Wording/Phrasing, followed by Organization (figure 4). This shows that not only do
students who experience the writing lab method of editing have more confidence in their writing
than those who experienced standard peer editing, they also have more confidence in their
writing than they did before it was edited in the writing lab style. It also shows that the writing
lab method addresses the students perceived need more than the standard peer editing method,
which supports the hypothesis and seems clear justification for implementation of this method at
the high school level.

Figure 2
Figure 1

Figure 3

Figure 4

Commented [SS15]: Percentage increase maybe?

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Areas of Uncertainty and Further Research

In order to make the data even more accurate and compelling, it would be useful to have
more trials or a larger sample size. While ten experimental students did provide useful data, an
ideal number would be closer to thirty. It could also help clarify the difference between the
groups if both experimental and control had before and after confidence level surveys. Ideally,
this test could also be used on different levels of English courses such as an English 1 CP class
or even AP Language in order to broaden the scope of the research and make it even more
applicable to all levels of high school writing.

Commented [SS16]: sample size

EDITING FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

References
Magone, K. (2014). Peer editing benefits you and your students. Retrieved September 15, 2014,
from http://lawteaching.org/lawteacher/1996fall/peerediting.php
Stubbe, M. (2012, September 13). Peering into peer editing. Retrieved from
http://www.jmu.edu/evision/Volume11/Stubbe.htm
"About." The Writing Studio. Vanderbilt University, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
Starting a writing center. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://writingcenters.org/resources/starting-awriting-cente/