Writing Interventions for High School Students With Disabilities

Abstract

Proficiency in writing increases opportunities in higher education, employment, and social relationships. Many students in the United States, however, are struggling writers. In particular, the writing performance of students with disabilities in secondary grades continues to lag behind grade level peers. The purpose of this article was to review writing interventions for high school students with disabilities to identify those practices that have been shown to be effective in supporting writing development. All studies were peer-reviewed, employed a single-case experimental design, and evaluated writing interventions used with students with disabilities in Grades 9 through 12. We used the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) single-case design standards (Kratochwill et al., 2010) to evaluate the effects of writing interventions in the 14 identified studies. Specific interventions included Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), Expressive Writing™ (Direct Instruction), Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing, and pentop computers. Results indicated that only two SRSD programs and the pentop computer program demonstrated strong or moderate effects on written expression in studies that met WWC evidence standards with reservations.

Effects of the STOP and LIST Strategy on the Writing Performance of Struggling Fourth Graders

“…As soon as they receive some substantiated instruction on how to generate and organize ideas, their performance increases considerably. The insights from this research agree with all major writing theories that recognize planning as an essential part of the process (see MacArthur, Graham, & Fitzgerald, 2006), as well as with the findings from existing meta-analyses on the subject (Cook & Bennett, 2014;Datchuk & Kubina, 2012;Gillespie & Graham, 2014;Gillespie Rouse & Sandoval, 2018;Rogers & Graham, 2008).…”

“…This is true not only for approaches aimed at facilitating translating and revising skills but also for treatments geared toward supporting the planning process. There are several meta-analyses on the effects of various writing interventions for struggling students (Cook & Bennett, 2014;Datchuk & Kubina, 2012;Gillespie & Graham, 2014;Gillespie Rouse & Sandoval, 2018;Rogers & Graham, 2008). Most of the studies included in these synopses were single-case analyses involving K-12 students with documented learning disabilities (LDs).…”

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Assessment for Dyslexia in Adolescents and Young Adults

“…For benefits of cross-age tutoring by college students with dyslexia for younger students at risk for dyslexia and the nature of effective instruction across age levels, see Juel (1996). For evidence-based writing instruction for high school students, see Cook and Bennett (2014). For evidence-based writing instruction for undergraduates in general, see MacArthur, Philippakos, and Ianetta (2014).…”

The Impact of an Explicit Writing Intervention on EFL Students’ Short Story Writing

“…Cognitive strategy instruction has been widely researched during the last two decades, as it has been found to enhance the learning and performance of all students (whether gifted, average, experiencing difficulties in schoolwork, or receiving special educational services) (Rogers and Graham, 2008;Datchuk and Kubina, 2013;Cook and Bennett, 2014;Gillespie and Graham, 2014;Gillespie-Rouse and Sandoval, 2018). Specific optional means for acquiring, storing, and retrieving information even aid those students who simply use them to achieve advanced school performance (de Boer et al, 2018).…”