Talks about the benefits of failure, both to the individual teacher and to the writing center as an institution. Examines the phenomenon of the hard-to-help student and how it leads scholar-teachers to reexamine their approaches and pedagogies. (TB)

Describes an expository writing lesson, taught in the context of a modified writing workshop, that motivates needy students to compose meaningful essays. Explains that this approach promotes self-pacing and independent learning. Concludes that this method helps struggling readers see themselves as writers. (PM)

Reports what experienced English teachers believed were the shared characteristics of the reluctant writers they had encountered. Suggests some strategies that may help engage reluctant writers. Shows that reluctant writers have a variety of beliefs about writing and themselves as writers. Suggests that stronger and more direct interventions…

Examines the interactions that take place as nine exemplary teachers from New Zealand provide support for struggling writers in ways that inadvertently often turn out to be less effective than they hoped. Discusses four ways to produce unintended outcomes. Illustrates that even for exceptional teachers of writing, conducting effective conferences…

Results from a study of 61 learning-disabled (LD) elementary students provide evidence that the Handwriting Scale included in the Test of Written Language is a valid measure of LD students' handwriting and that LD students have handwriting difficulties. (IAH)

The paper examines ways to use word processing programs to ameliorate children's writing problems. Case studies of three children contrast samples of their handwritten work and their compositions using word processing A list of word processing programs for use with children with special needs is included. (Author/DB)

Describes a case study of a basic writing student that was undertaken to examine the ways that low self-confidence can undermine a writer's voice and text. Emphasizes the important role basic writing instructors have in strengthening students' sense of self in addition to their intellectual competence. (MAB)

Describes, in a case study-like format, a cognitive strategy that might be helpful to the learning-disabled (LD) college student who must organize and write a longer text. Presents a brief description of an LD student and an actual writing assignment. Describes how the student completed the task. Discusses educational implications. (RS)

Argues that the notion of writing as the expression of a fixed and unified individual identity is inappropriate for the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) student. Suggests that composition teachers recognize that writing in English engages the nonnative speaker in a dialectic of identity and difference and promote this difference rather than…

This article describes both portfolio assessment and curriculum-based measurement; offers a rationale for using these two assessment strategies together; and gives specific steps for combining these two approaches, using a case example of a learning-disabled boy with difficulties in written expression to illustrate the synthesis. (DB)

Provides a rationale for and describes the use of computer-based outlining programs as tools for studying material in content area textbooks. Describes its implementation in two high school global studies classes, focusing on students performing in the lower third of each class. (SR)

Relates the story of a teacher research project, a case study designed to consider how word processing affected an undergraduate student's writing process, especially in terms of revising and of detecting basic surface errors. Describes research articles that substantiated what were originally thought to be idiosyncratic writing techniques. (PRA)

Describes Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), cognitive strategy instructional approach in which students are taught task-specific strategies along with more general strategies for regulating strategy use and learning process. Focuses on how this approach has been used to help students with learning problems develop as writers. Explains…

The progress of a 12-year-old boy with learning disabilities and severe writing difficulties is followed from initial assessment through instruction in strategies for planning, revising, and managing the composing process using a validated instruction model, Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). Recommendations for applying the SRSD model to…

Discusses three technological innovations that hold promise for middle and high school students with learning disabilities in reading and writing: speech synthesis programs (text-to-speech); organizational software; and voice recognition software. Examines advantages and disadvantages of each. Outlines considerations for the successful adoption of…