Writing is an essential skill that people use throughout their lifetime. Although previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses had reviewed the effect of writing interventions on students with learning disabilities and English learners, we know little about the effective writing process-types interventions for English learners with or at risk for…

Secondary content-area teachers seldom use research-based practices for students with learning disabilities (LD), and prior research indicates they often conceptualize instruction in ways that align poorly with research about effective instruction for students with LD. However, prior research has focused on typical secondary content-area teachers,…

Conducting focus groups with target audiences to assess user needs is a critical step in the process of designing and developing a web-based writing environment. This descriptive study examined focus group data gathered to address two questions: First, do data from focus groups affirm and expand our understanding of writing and writing development…

Advancements in technology-based solutions for students with learning disabilities (LD) offer tremendous opportunities to enhance learning as well as meaningful access to the general education curriculum for this group of students. This article examines technology integration within the context of response to intervention (RTI). At the forefront…

Literacy is a complex set of skills that comprise the interrelated processes of reading and writing required within varied socio-cultural contexts. Underdeveloped literacy skills have profound consequences for students, families, and society. These effects are academic, social, emotional, and economic in nature. Students with learning disabilities…

In this study, supplemental writing instruction in planning and revising was used to improve the stories written by young writers with learning disabilities (LD) and poor writing skills. Six second-grade students practiced a strategy for planning and writing stories using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach and then revised…

This paper examines the complexities of written language in terms of both its mechanical and creative skills. It discusses four approaches to providing assistance to writers with learning disabilities, including rule and skill instruction, substantive facilitation, procedural facilitation, and self-instructional strategy training; and recommends a…

The article reviews the research on composition and transcription writing skills conducted with elementary-aged learning-disabled students and published during the last five years. Conclusions are drawn concerning the influence of: text production method, specific interventions, text structure knowledge, word presentation form, and…

Seven sixth-grade students with learning disabilities were taught the metacognitive strategy PLEASE for use in writing paragraphs. Results suggest that, compared to the traditional language arts curriculum, the PLEASE strategy was more effective in developing students' metacognitive abilities for prewriting planning, composition, and revision as…

To minimize the negative impact of handwriting and spelling difficulties of students with learning disabilities, it is proposed that explicit and systematic instruction, as well as incidental or natural learning approaches be used to maximize the development of these two basic writing tools. These approaches are examined. (Author/CR)

By reporting three in-depth case studies of adults with learning disabilities, this article clarifies how Strategic Content Learning (SCL) instruction is implemented to promote strategic writing, illustrates how SCL instructional principles can be personalized in response to individuals' needs, and traces the relationships between SCL…

To demonstrate how one might go beyond mechanical errors to describe, measure, and evaluate student writing as communication, several evaluation procedures were applied to a brief writing protocol submitted by an adolescent learning disabled student. (Author/DLS)

Two studies of intermediate grade students with and without learning and writing disabilities evaluated the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model in teaching students how to plan persuasive essays before and during composing. Instructional effects were investigated using different research designs, in different settings, and with different…

This article describes implementation of a Sharing Chair as part of literacy program in a third and fourth grade special education learning disabilities class. Following free writing in their personal journals, students could share and receive feedback from a peer/teacher audience. The article presents results of analysis of videotape recordings…

Describes three years of research in intensive long-term writing intervention with adolescents with learning disabilities (LD) and low achievement. Successful intervention was attributed to the genre-specific strategies used, the focused and intensive nature of the writing instruction, and the use of interactive dialogs in conferences between…