The ability to write informatively is a skill not only required by the U.S. Common Core State Standards but is also essential for preparing students to be successful in college. The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate the effects of a self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) informative writing intervention for high school students with and at-risk for learning disabilities. Using a pretest–posttest design, 18 high school students received instruction on identifying credible source texts; reading and annotating source texts; and planning, writing, and revising informative essays that incorporated central ideas and details from source texts. Student essays were scored for overall quality, number of genre elements, transitions, total words written, and central ideas and details from the sources. Students made statistically significant gains in their informative genre knowledge and writing skills in all measured outcomes. Students also reported increased self-efficacy and found the intervention to have acceptable social validity.
Asaro-SaddlerK.Muir-KnoxH.MeredithH. (2018). The effects of a summary writing strategy on the literacy skills of adolescents with disabilities. Exceptionality, 26(2), 106–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2017.1283626
2.
BakerS. K.ChardD. J.Ketterlin-GellerL. R.ApichatabutraC.DoablerC. (2009). Teaching writing to at-risk students: The quality of evidence for self-regulated strategy development. Exceptional Children, 75(3), 303–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290907500303
3.
BruningR.DempseyM.KauffmanD. F.McKimC.ZumbrunnS. (2012). Examining dimensions of self-efficacy for writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029692
4.
ChalkJ. C.Hagan-BurkeS.BurkeM. D. (2005). The effects of self-regulated strategy development on the writing process for high school students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 28(1), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/4126974
CookB. G.TankersleyM.CookL.LandrumT. J. (2008). Evidence-based practices in special education: Some practical considerations. Intervention in School and Clinic, 44(2), 69–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053451208321452
7.
CookK. B.BennettK. E. (2014). Writing interventions for high school students with disabilities: A review of single-case design studies. Remedial and Special Education, 35(6), 344–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932514523140
8.
Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015).
9.
GeiserS.StudleyR. (2002). UC and the SAT: Predictive validity and differential impact of the SAT I and SAT II at the University of California. Educational Assessment, 8(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326977EA0801_01
10.
GerstenR.FuchsL. S.ComptonD.CoyneM.GreenwoodC.InnocentiM. S. (2005). Quality indicators for group experimental and quasi-experimental research in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 149–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290507100202
11.
GillespieA.GrahamS. (2014). A meta-analysis of writing interventions for students with learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 80(4), 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402914527238
12.
GillespieRouse A. (2023). Fidelity of implementation. In DeSmedtF.BouwerR.LimpoT.GrahamS. (Eds.), Conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and evaluating writing interventions (pp. 154–172). Brill.
13.
Gillespie RouseA.KiuharaS. A. (2017). SRSD in writing and professional development for teachers: Practice and promise for elementary and middle school students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 32(3), 180–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12140
14.
GrahamS.CollinsA. A.Rigby-WillsH. (2017). Writing characteristics of students with learning disabilities and typically achieving peers: A meta-analysis. Exceptional Children, 83(2), 199–218. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402916664070
15.
GrahamS.HarrisK. R. (2018). An examination of the design principles underlying a self-regulated strategy development study. Journal of Writing Research, 10(2), 139–187. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2018.10.02.02
16.
GrahamS.HarrisK.R.MasonL. (2005). Improving the writing performance, knowledge, and motivation of struggling young writers: The effects of self regulated strategy development. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 207–241.
17.
GrahamS.KimY.-S.CaoY.LeeW.TateT.CollinsP.ChoM.MoonY.ChungH. Q.OlsonC. B. (2023). A meta-analysis of writing treatments for students in grades 6-12. Journal of Educational Psychology, 115(7), 1004–1027. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000819
18.
HarrisK. R.GrahamS. (2009). Self-regulated strategy development in writing: Premises, evolution, and the future. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 1(1), 113–135.
19.
HarrisK. R.GrahamS. (2018). Self-regulated strategy development: Theoretical bases, critical instructional elements, and future research. In BraaksmaM.HarrisK. R.FidalgoR. (Eds.), Design principles for teaching effective writing: Theoretical and empirical grounded principles. Studies in writing (Vol. 34, pp. 119–151). Brill Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004270480_007
20.
HarrisK. R.RayA. B.GrahamS.HoustonJ. D. (2019). Answering the challenge: SRSD instruction for close reading of text to write to persuade with 4th and 5th grade students experiencing writing difficulties. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 32(6), 1459–1482. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9910-1
21.
HornerR. H.CarrE. G.HalleJ.McGeeG.OdumS.WoleryM. (2005). The use of single-subject research design to identify evidence-based practice in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290507100203
22.
HuotB. (1990). The literature of direct writing assessment: Major concerns and prevailing trends. Review of Educational Research, 60(2), 237–263. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543060002237
ListA.AlexanderP. A.StephensL. A. (2017). Trust but verify: Examining the association between students’ sourcing behaviors and rating of text trustworthiness. Discourse Processes, 54, 283–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2016.1174654
25.
McKeownD.BrindleM.HarrisK. R.SandmelK.SteinbrecherT. D.GrahamS.LaneK. L.OakesW. P. (2019). Teachers’ voices: Perceptions of effective professional development and classwide implementation of self-regulated strategy development in writing. American Educational Research Journal, 56(3), 753–791. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218804146
26.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards.
27.
NCS Pearson. (2020). Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (4th ed.). Pearson.
28.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110, § 101, Stat. 1425 (2002).
29.
OlinghouseN. G.GrahamG.GillespieA. (2015). The relationship of discourse and topic knowledge to fifth graders’ writing performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(2), 391–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037549
30.
RayA. B.GrahamS. (2021). A college entrance essay exam intervention for students with high-incidence disabilities and struggling writers. Learning Disability Quarterly, 44(4), 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948720917761
31.
RayA. B.GrahamS.XinghuaL. (2019). Effects of SRSD college entrance essay exam instruction for high school students with disabilities or at risk for writing difficulties. Reading & Writing, 32(6), 1507–1529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9900-3
32.
RayA. B.TorresC.CaoY. (2023). Improving informative writing in inclusive and linguistically-diverse elementary classes through self-regulated strategy development. Exceptionality. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09362835.2023.2174119
RodgersM.HodgeJ.CountsJ. (2020). Self-regulated strategy development in reading, writing, and mathematics for students with specific learning disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 53(2), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059920946780
35.
SantangeloT.HarrisK. R.GrahamS. (2008). Using self-regulated strategy development to support students who have “trouble getting things into words.”Remedial and Special Education, 29(2), 78–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932507311636
36.
TroiaG. A.GrahamS.HarrisK. R. (2017). Writing and students with language and learning disabilities. In KauffmanJ. M.HallahanD. P.Cullen PullenP. (Eds.), Handbook of special education (2nd ed., pp. 537–557). Routledge.
