Using a mix method case study approach in observing a group of 4th grade students, Javaye Devette Stubbs posed the question: "How does the implementation of one-on-one conferring promote higher order thinking skills in students with difficulties in reading?"[14] The results from her pre and post-test found that "even those with reading difficulties did show a significant gain in higher order thinking skills".[14] In a separate study, the educator Antony Smith examined the effectiveness of using teacher-student writing conference for English language learners (ELLs).[15] Observing two students who were ELLs in a second-grade classroom working on a book project, Smith found that the work produced "looks similar to what is produced by native English speakers".[15] Smith later suggests that the success of the two students were largely tied to the writing conferences, and goes on to state that writing conferences are the "heart of the writing process, and with this in mind, the potential of the teacher-student writing conference becomes clear".[15]