Elementary-school learning-disabled, emotionally disabled, educable mentally retarded, and nonhandicapped students (N=122) were observed during written language instruction, to document writing tasks and student responding. Extreme variability was found in the amount of time individual students spent in writing activities or in receiving written…

This article describes the introduction of writing portfolios to elementary school students with learning disabilities in self-contained special education classrooms. It discusses getting started, contents of the portfolio, instructional goals and objectives, conferences, observations, and portfolio evaluation. (Author/DB)

A teacher describes a writing program in his self-contained seventh-grade class for students with emotional disturbances or neurological impairments. Principles such as the importance of positive teacher expectations and plenty of writing time are stressed, and use of word processing, effective class organization, a classroom magazine, and…

A questionnaire sent to 274 Michigan special education teachers in resource rooms and self-contained classrooms were dsigned to identify the treatment methods and materials used by these teachers to teach penmanship and spelling to learning-disabled students. A review of the literature examines the theoretical background of written expression,…

Collaboration between a supervisor and a teacher of nine first and second graders with hearing loss is recounted. Discussion includes reconsideration of classroom setup, expansion of the reading program to include more guided reading, documentation of student progress, more guided writing, and more shared decision making. (DB)