What procedures might Ms. Lin suggest?

Page 3: Self-regulated Strategy Development

Ms. Lin, the lead fourth-grade teacher, listens to Mr. Carter’s concern that some of his students do not complete their assignments. She suggests that his students might benefit from learning a writing strategy. Explaining that it is critical for Mr. Carter to use explicit instruction to teach a writing strategy to his students, Ms. Lin introduces him to Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). SRSD, Ms. Lin explains, provides a framework for teaching instructional strategies and self-regulation strategies.

SRSD Model

A scientifically validated framework for explicitly teaching academic strategies to students, SRSD incorporates steps that have been shown to be critical if students are to learn how to effectively use academic strategies. When teachers implement SRSD, students are more likely to be successful at mastering academic tasks. The SRSD model involves six stages:

• Develop Background Knowledge
• Discuss It
• Model It
• Memorize It
• Support It
• Establish Independent Practice

As they move through these stages, teachers might find it necessary to repeat some of them, whereas at other times they are able to move from stage to stage more quickly. Whatever the case, it is important that teachers understand that the steps are recursive—that is, teachers and students can return to any stage at any point in time.

To better understand why you should teach strategies instruction, consider the analogy of a roadmap. When you go on a road trip, you often take along a map to help you to avoid making wrong turns and getting lost. Like a roadmap, SRSD gives you specific steps and sequences to use when you teach strategies to your students

Students who struggle in academic areas may need more than an instructional strategy; they may need a means through which to regulate their own behavior. The SRSD approach provides students with such a means. Through SRSD, teachers help students to learn four basic self-regulation strategies:

• Goal-setting
• Self-monitoring
• Self-talk
• Self-reinforcement