Abstract
In the pages of Beyond Behavior, we strive to publish articles that clearly describe research- and evidence-based practices, processes, and thinking. We believe that practitioner journal articles are effective vehicles to build professionals’ knowledge and skill in practices and processes that increase the likelihood of better outcomes for students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). In recent years, we have been intentional in recruiting content experts to address academic skill development, with authors focusing attention on effective reading (Volume 29, Issue 1, April 2020) and math (31-1, April 2022) instructional practices. In this issue, we turn our attention to evidence-based practices for improving writing skills.
Developing better writing in students with or at risk for EBD addresses what is a demonstrated deficit among this population. That is meaningful in and of itself. However, improving writing skill also offers these students the chance to communicate more consequentially within and outside of the classroom. In this special issue, guest editors Sara Sanders and Kristine Jolivette bring voice to the planning, instruction, evaluation, and development of writing that allows teachers to interact with students more successfully in the improvement of writing skills. The authors they assembled demonstrate their own expertise in communicating research- and evidence-based practice using the written word.
In the first article, Julie Owens describes a validated professional development practice that has been applied to the improvement of writing instruction in teachers of students with or at risk for EBD. Practice-based professional development is an instructional framework that emphasizes both knowledge and practice in meaningful settings. Owens describes how practice-based professional development can be used to grow effective writing instruction through the self-regulated strategy development writing model. In the second article, Marissa Filderman and Christy Austin describe progress-monitoring practices that can be used to objectively measure student written expression growth. The authors provide readers with detailed guidance on how to implement data-based decision making across grade levels and students’ proficiency.
In the third article, Sara Sanders, Aundrea McFall, and Kristine Jolivette explain how to intensify instruction for students with or at risk for EBD when progress-monitoring and/or diagnostic data indicate that current practices are not working to the degree that teachers would like them to. The authors provide teachers with a series of teaching adjustments to use across the planning, organizing, drafting, and revising and editing stages of the writing process. In the fourth article, Allyson Pitzel provides guidance on how to incorporate self-determination skill development into effective writing instruction. First, the self-regulated strategy development model is detailed. Then, the author uses it to explain how teachers can build in self-determination skills including decision making, goal setting, self-awareness, problem solving, self-advocacy, self-monitoring, and self-efficacy.
In the fifth article, Kristine Jolivette, Sara Sanders, Elizabeth Michael, and Aimee Hackney emphasize the importance of attending to the nature of writing prompts. The authors advise teachers to know their students’ backgrounds to the best of their abilities and craft writing prompts that reduce the likelihood of students experiencing traumatic memories that negatively impact their writing experiences. In the final article, which will be printed in 33–2 (August, 2024), Debra McKeown and Michael Williams offer preservice teacher candidates guidance on how to effectively provide writing instruction to students. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of what teacher education candidates should know by the end of their preparation programs.
We encourage readers to build their own writing instruction using the research and practice described by the authors in these six articles.