Cynthia Puranik

Puranik, C, Li, H., & Guo, Y. (2024). The contributions of short-term memory to writing at the sublexical, lexical, and discourse level in beginning writers. Scientific Studies of Reading. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888438.2024.2365698

Puranik, C. & Koutsoftas, A. (2024). Writing in elementary students with language-based learning disabilities: A pilot study to examine feasibility and promise. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 55, 959-975. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_LSHSS-23-00187

Puranik, C, & Li Hongli (2022). Self-regulation and early writing: A longitudinal examination from preschool through first grade. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 220 (105420). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105420

Puranik, C., Branum-Martin, L., & Washington, J. (2020). “The relation between dialect density and the co-development of writing and reading in African American children.” Child Development, 91, e866-e882. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13318

Puranik, C. S, Boss, E., & Wanless, S. (2019). “Links between self-regulation and emergent writing: Domain specific or task dependent?” Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

Puranik, C. S, Petscher, Y., Al Otaiba, S., & Lemons, C. (2018). “Improving kindergarten students’ writing outcomes using peer-assisted strategies.” Elementary School Journal, 118(4), 680- 710. https://doi.org/10.1086/697432

Puranik, C. S, Patchan, M., Lemons, C., & Al Otaiba, S. (2017). “Using peer assisted strategies to teach early writing: Results of a pilot study to examine feasibility and promise.” Reading and Writing, 30, 25-50. doi 10.1007/s11145-016-9661-9

Patchan, M, & Puranik, C. (2016). Using tablet computers to teach preschool children to write letters: Exploring the impact of extrinsic and intrinsic feedback. Computers and Education, 102, 128-137. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2016.07.007.

About CRAWL

Cynthia Puranik, Ph.D./CCC-SLP, is a Distinguished University Professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and a certified speech-language pathologist. In addition, Puranik is an affiliate faculty at the Center for Research on the Challenges of Acquiring Language and Literacy initiative at Georgia State University and a certified speech-language pathologist.

Her research focuses on examining the developmental progression of early writing and factors that contribute to writing skills, assessment of emergent and early writing skills, exploring the concurrent relationship between children’s skills within literacy domains, understanding the relationship between oral and written language skills, assessing and facilitating writing in elementary school children, and examining the relationship between writing and aspects of cognitive functioning. She has simultaneously explored both basic theoretical and highly applied research pathways to address questions pertaining to children’s emergent and early conventional writing.

Current Research Projects

• Writing in Adult Secondary Education (W-ASE): Writing is an increasingly critical skill in the 21^st Having proficient writing skills is important for employment, further education, civic participation, health, and personal fulfillment. Adults who lack these skills have limited opportunities to acquire them. Some of these adults will pursue a high school equivalency (HSE) diploma and many attend classes to help them successfully complete the HSE exam. However, access to quality instruction is limited due to lack of empirical research, lack of curricula, competing time constraints, and inadequate professional development for instructors. The purpose of this project is to develop a curriculum for adults in secondary education to learn argumentative writing using self-regulated strategies.

• Peer-Assisted Writing Strategies (PAWS): The primary goal of this project is to test the efficacy of an early writing intervention aimed at improving kindergarten students’ writing skills by teaching them to coach their peers on basic transcription and early writing skills. This is a five-year, multi-state project funded by IES, involving Georgia State University, Stanford and Southern Methodist University. As part of the project, additional questions about the reliability and validity of curriculum-based writing measures are also being addressed.

• Writing in Students with Language-based Learning Disabilities (WILLD): The purpose of this project is to create an intervention that targets word, sentence, and discourse level writing skills in 4th and 5th grade students with LLD. The intervention is being designed to be administered as part of an individualized education plan (IEP) delivered by special education teachers or speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to improve writing outcomes in students with LLD. The intervention will go through four iterations of development over the four years of the project. Project WILLD is funded by IES and is being conducted in partnership with Dr. Anthony Koutsoftas (PI), Seton Hall.