Curriculum, testing, and administrative demands limit instructional time in modern classrooms (McKeown, FitzPatrick, & Sandmel, 2014); for these reasons, teacher-student conferences and timely personalized feedback are short or rare (Stemper, 2002). Students with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and attention concerns typically do not revise written work, and they make revisions that address surface level features but fail to improve writing quality. When teachers provide timely, individualized feedback, students are supported in making substantive revisions and improving writing scores (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhara, & Harris, 2012) but detailed feedback has the drawback of being laborious and time-consuming. In this article, we propose use of asynchronous audio feedback to support students in substantive revisions based on the results of two prior studies with struggling writers identified with learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, and attention concerns that resulted in increased revisions and an improvement in overall writing quality. Teachers found the intervention allowed for more individualized, detailed feedback in a shorter period of time. Students enjoyed the individual feedback, self-determined pace, and privacy of asynchronous feedback.
How to Use Audio Feedback to Improve Students’ Writing Quality
Literacy Instruction
How to Use Audio Feedback to Improve Students’ Writing Quality

Learning Ally, formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, is a female-founded nonprofit that unlocks learning for struggling readers, including those with dyslexia. For over 77 years, it has partnered with schools and districts by empowering students with tools to access printed text and supporting teachers with evidence-based professional learning. Its literacy offerings, including the award-winning, human-read Learning Ally Audiobook Solution®, support PreK-12 students in 24,000 schools nationwide. In addition, its professional learning programs help educators identify and address learning issues, enabling students to become independent, engaged learners who can achieve academically, regardless of their learning differences.
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Learning Ally's Audiobook Solution offers:
- Engaging human-read audiobooks & a vast K-12 library.
- Personalized reading tools for accessible learning.
- Easy book assignment and student progress tracking (pages & minutes read).
- Valuable teacher resources via our Teacher Ally hub & Sound Strategies educator community.
- Boost student literacy, save time, and foster a love of reading with dedicated support.
Learning Ally's Audiobook Solution offers:
- Engaging human-read audiobooks & a vast K-12 library.
- Personalized reading tools for accessible learning.
- Easy book assignment and student progress tracking (pages & minutes read).
- Valuable teacher resources via our Teacher Ally hub & Sound Strategies educator community.
- Boost student literacy, save time, and foster a love of reading with dedicated support for you and your students.
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