Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) frequently experience significant difficulty mastering basic academic skills. This meta-analysis focuses on one specific potential area of learning difficulties for these students: namely, writing. To identify the extent and depth of the potential writing challenges faced by students…

Research investigating how students who struggle with learning, as well as typically achieving students, can develop powerful self-regulation and academic strategies has become a major endeavor in both general and special education. In this article, we examine how one model of cognitive strategies instruction, Self-Regulated Strategy Development…

Examines two myths about writing: good writing cannot be taught, and writing develops naturally. For each myth, alternative ways to achieve goals with students who find writing difficult are explored. Proposed instructional procedures focus on development of knowledge, skill, will, and self-regulation in writing. (Author/JDM)

Teachers using the self-regulated strategy development approach instruct students in task-specific strategies along with more general strategies for regulating the students' strategy use and the learning process. Examines the components, stages, and characteristics of such an approach, along with its effectiveness in helping students with learning…

The instructional applicability of a variety of handwriting assessment techniques is examined. Informal procedures, handwriting scales, and systematic methods used in recent research methodology are critically reviewed. For each class of assessment techniques, relevant information on validity, reliability, and utility is presented. (Author/CL)

Two studies compared the effectiveness of alphabet principle training only versus combined alphabet principle and syllable awareness training with at-risk spellers (grades 2 and 3). Differing results suggest use of a two-tier early intervention model in which first the alphabet principle is taught and applied and then the following year children…

Abolishing direct-instruction and skill-practice opportunities could have serious consequences for special-needs learners. Teachers should provide explicit and focused, even isolated instruction as needed and integrate it into the larger literacy context. This means conducting ongoing assessments of each student's abilities, skills, and progress…

The role of executive control in the revising difficulties of 12 fifth and sixth graders with writing and learning problems was studied. Procedural support made revising easier for participating students, but their difficulties were not due solely to difficulties with executive control. Implications for instruction are discussed. (SLD)

The effects of a revising goal to "add information" on revising behavior and writing performance were examined for 70 5th and 6th graders. Students assigned the goal made more meaning-based changes and produced improved text quality. Procedural assistance did not appreciably enhance revising behavior or text quality. (SLD)

The effects of dictation and explicit instruction in planning on the composing skills of 42 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders with learning disabilities were studied. The combination of dictation and instruction in advanced planning resulted in more complete and qualitatively better essays than those written by comparison students. (SLD)