This study examined whether discourse and topic knowledge separately predicted the overall quality and the inclusion of basic genre elements in 5th grade students' stories, persuasive papers, and informational text once the other type of knowledge as well as topic interest, spelling, handwriting fluency, length of text, and gender were controlled.…

The purpose of this study was to determine what students know about the process of writing and the characteristics of stories, persuasive arguments, and informational reports. Participants were 50 grade 5 students. Students responded to questions about writing process and the three different types of writing, and showed a nuanced but relatively…

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…

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 viability of self-instructional strategy training was investigated in a study involving 22 learning disabled and 11 normal fifth and sixth graders. Training produced meaningful and lasting effects on composition skills and heightened the sense of self-efficacy of subjects. (TJH)

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)