Resources

Butler, D. L., Elashuk, C. L., & Poole, S. (2000, Summer). Promoting strategic writing by postsecondary students with learning disabilities: A report of three case studies. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 23, 196–211.

De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (2002). Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge: Writing instruction in middle school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(4), 687–698.

Englert, C. S., & Mariage, T. V. (1991). Shared understandings: Structuring the writing experience through dialogue. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24(6), 330–341.

Englert, C. S., Raphael, T. E., Anderson, L. M., Anthony, H. M., & Stevens, D. D. (1991). Making strategies and self-talk visible: Writing instruction in regular and special education classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 28(2), 337–372.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2000). The role of self-regulation and transcription skills in writing and writing development. Educational Psychologist, 35(1), 3–12.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2003). Students with learning disabilities and the process of writing: A meta-analysis of SRSD studies. In H. L. Swanson, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham(Eds.), Handbook of learning disabilities. New York: Guilford Press.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Writing better: Effective strategies for teaching students with learning difficulties. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Troia, G. A. (2000). Self-regulated strategy development revisited: Teaching writing strategies to struggling writers. Topics in Language Disorders, 20(4), 1–14.

Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high school – A report to Carnegie Corporation of New. York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Really Good Stuff [Online]. (2007). Editing marks. Retrieved January 3, 2007 from http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/pdfs/147779.pdf

Reid, R., & Lienemann, T. O. (2006). Strategy instruction for students with learning disabilities. In K.R. Harris & S. Graham (Series Eds.), What works for special-needs learners. New York: Guilford Press.

De La Paz, S. (1999). Self-regulated strategy instruction in regular education settings: Improving outcomes for students with and without learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 12(2), 92–106.

Detailing the results of a study examining the effectiveness of Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) for improving middle-school students’ writing abilities, the article notes that students with disabilities and students who were low-, average-, and high-achievers all improved their writing using the instructional procedures.

Graham, S., MacArthur, C., & Fitzgerald, J. (2007). Best practices in writing instruction. NY: Guilford.

Confronting the challenge of improving students’ writing performance often requires a multi-faceted approach, and that’s just what’s offered in this valuable resource. Instructors will find notes on writing strategies, including how to most effectively work with students with disabilities. Thoughts on school-wide writing programs are also featured, as are nuts-and-bolts sections on the planning and revision processes, among much else.

Harris, K. R., & Graham, S. (1999, Fall). Programmatic intervention research: Illustrations from the evolution of self-regulated strategy development. Learning Disability Quarterly, 22, 251–261.

The authors of this article describe the evolution of programmatic research in learning disabilities. As such, they detail four strands of writing research before addressing their work with Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). The article examines a few specific studies while also reviewing questions for the field in general.

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Aitken, A. A., Barkel, A., Houston, J., & Ray, A. (2017). Teaching spelling, writing, and reading for writing: Powerful evidence-based practices. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 49(4), 262–272.

Writing instruction for students with disabilities presents a number of challenges that must be approached thoughtfully and strategically. In this article, the authors overview a number of effective practices designed to improve students’ writing, reading, and spelling skills, including explicit spelling instruction and spelling games, as well as SRSD for reading and writing.

Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Mason, L., & Friedlander, B. (2008). Powerful writing strategies for all students. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

This collection represents a wealth of information for any instructor searching for research-based writing strategies to use in his or her classroom. On hand are step-by-step guides to the POW and SRSD methods, as well as notes on story writing, word selection, peer-assisted learning, and many other topics. An emphasis on scaffolding skills up will help teachers to start their classes off on the right foot.

Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (2003, Spring). Can students with LD become competent writers? Learning Disability Quarterly, 26, 129–141.

This article addresses the difficulties general education teachers face as they try to provide adequate writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. Specifically, the article explores the Learning Strategies Curriculum and its various instructional programs on writing strategies that have been developed by researchers associated with the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. The article concludes that complex writing strategies are available that can sufficiently support students with disabilities in becoming successful performers in the general education classroom.

Sherman, C. K., & De La Paz, S. (2015). FIX: A strategic approach to writing and revision for students with learning disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 48(2), 93–101.

In this article, the authors offer details about the FIX approach to writing instruction. Included is information on this “metacognitive strategy,” as well as how that strategy can be combined with SRSD, sample essays, and notes on using FIX with English language learners.

Straub, C., & Alias, A. (2013). Next generation writing at the secondary level for students with learning disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 46(1), 16–24.

This examination of the emphasis on the Common Core Standards focuses its attention on how those standards can be implemented so as to improve the writing performance of secondary students with disabilities. The authors overview strategic behaviors for students with LD, the implementation of specific writing tasks as a means of improving writing ability, and the use of SRSD to teach persuasive essay writing, among much else.

Levy, M., & Ransdell, S. (Eds.). (1996). The science of writing: Theories, methods, individual differences, and applications. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

This collection of 19 articles examining the cognitive and psychological aspects of writing as well as strategic and rhetorical facets is divided into three categories. Readers can search for information in the sections Theories of Writing and Frameworks for Writing Research, Analytic Tools and Techniques, and Individual Differences and Applications.

Smagorinsky, P. (Ed.) (2006). Research on composition: Multiple perspectives on two decades of change. New York: Teachers College Press.

The book is the third in a series whose earlier volumes first came out in 1963 and 1986. Taking on the period from 1984 to 2003, the book covers a range of topics including teacher research, second-language writing, rhetoric, home and community literacy, workplace literacy, and histories of writing, according to the publisher. The chapters, written by experts in the field, address traditional forms of writing instruction as well as emerging software and strategies involving technology.

National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum Text Transformations Web page https://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_textrans.html

The website surveys a variety of test transformation options available for students struggling with printed texts, for instance for students with visual disabilities. Just as these students may need modifications or assistance from technological tools in order to read printed text, the same may be true for their ability to write text, as well. This site describes different types of text transformations (such as Text-to-Speech, Video Instruction, Word Prediction, and Speech Recognition) and provides evidence for effectiveness.

Reading Rockets Questions About Writing Instruction Web page https://www.readingrockets.org/article/questions-about-writing-instruction

The page answers two of teachers’ frequently asked questions about writing instruction: How can I support my students’ writing? and What do I do with struggling writers? The first question is addressed in terms of grade level, with the site providing specific insights on students in pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and first grade. The answer to the second question offers four solutions, including encouraging listening and responding during group reading, scheduling time for students to talk about their writing, teaching strategies in small groups, and celebrating writing accomplishments.

SRSD: Writing to Learn https://srsdonline.org/explore-srsd/

This website houses materials and resources to supplement the use of the Self-Regulated Strategies Development (SRSD). Included is an overview of SRSD (with a detailed explanation of the strategy’s various stages), as well as links to information and materials that teachers can use.