This article examines the Common Core State Standards as they apply to writing and students with learning disabilities (LD). We first consider why the implementation of these standards is advantageous to writing instruction for students with LD as well as the challenges in implementing them. Next, we make the following four recommendations in…

In this invited article, we present an ongoing research program in the area of writing. Although this program has focused on students with learning disabilities (LD) and other struggling writers, it has also concentrated more broadly on issues involving writing development and general writing instruction. One purpose of this review was to share…

Writing performance for a large number of adolescents, with and without learning disabilities (LD), in the United States is below the level required for success in college and in the world of work. Despite the importance of writing and students' with LD documented difficulties in this academic domain, writing intervention research for adolescents…

Developing, conducting, and sharing the results of a good intervention study is a challenging task, requiring considerable effort and expertise. I offer my reflections on this enterprise, commenting on the need for studying complex interventions, using multiple methodologies. I also argue that such research should be theoretically grounded and,…

This article presents six principles designed to prevent writing difficulties as well as to build writing skills: providing effective writing instruction, tailoring instruction to meet the individual needs, intervening early, expecting that each child will learn to write, identifying and addressing roadblocks to writing, and employing…

This article describes implementation of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) approach to help students learn a specific essay writing strategy in preparation for a state writing test. It also reviews the theoretical and research bases for using SRSD to teaching writing strategies. (Contains references.) (DB)

Fifth-grade students with learning disabilities who were good (n=12) and poor (n=11) handwriters and 56 matched controls were asked to copy text under two conditions, quickly and neatly. Students with learning disabilities were not as capable of increasing writing speed and demonstrated a slower rate of speed. (Author/CR)

This overview of articles in this special issue introduces the constructivist approach to educating students with learning disabilities. Catalysts for constructivism, the constructivist philosophy, and the whole language approach are discussed. The need for coherent integrated instruction in learning communities that is educationally purposeful,…

The Directed Spelling Thinking Activity (DSTA) is a method of teaching spelling to students with learning disabilities by encouraging active thinking and analysis of word patterns. With DSTA, students compare and contrast words that fit different but related spelling patterns. Words illustrating 37 spelling patterns are listed. (Author/DB)