Developed by the National Writing Project (NWP), the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) seeks to improve students' argument writing by building teachers' understanding of and skill in teaching source-based argument writing. The program features intensive professional development, skill-based instructional resources, and…

The article presents the results of a randomized experimental study of a writing curriculum for college developmental writing courses based on strategy instruction with self-regulation integrated with practices common in college composition. Students in a full semester course learned strategies for planning and revising based on rhetorical…

The Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) was developed by California State University (CSU) faculty and high school educators to improve the academic literacy of high school seniors, thereby reducing the need for students to enroll in remedial English courses upon entering college. This report, produced by Innovation Studies at WestEd,…

One area of writing that may be particularly problematic for less skilled writers and writers with learning disabilities is constructing well-formed sentences. In this single-subject design study, sentence-combining practice with a peer-assistance component was used to improve the writing ability of 6 fourth-grade students with and without…

The effects of a secondary academic intervention, embedded in the context of a positive behavior support model, on the writing of second-grade students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorder and writing problems were examined in this study. Students were taught how to plan and draft a story using the self-regulated strategy development…

A study examined the effectiveness of a highly explicit, teacher-directed instructional routine used to teach three planning strategies to 20 fourth-fifth graders with learning disabilities. In comparison to peers who received process writing instruction, those taught goal setting, brainstorming, and organizing spent more time planning stories and…

Examines the contribution of handwriting to learning to write in an experimental training study. First-grade children experiencing handwriting and writing difficulties participated in sessions designed to improve accuracy and fluency of their handwriting. In comparison to their peers in a control condition, participating students made greater…

This study evaluated the use of guided imagery practice to enhance creative writing with 43 academically gifted students (stratified as either high or low creativity) in grades 3 and 4. Groups receiving the guided imagery practice (regardless of original creativity level) generated more original writing, which contained more sensory descriptions…

Three fifth graders with learning disabilities received instruction designed to help them incorporate three common planning strategies into their current approach to writing. Students learned to set goals, brainstorm ideas, and sequence their ideas while writing stories and completing assignments. The schematic structure of stories improved, and…

In this replication study, supplemental writing instruction in strategic planning was used to improve the story writing ability of young writers with learning disabilities (LD) and poor writing skills. Six 2nd-grade students with learning disabilities who experienced difficulty with story writing were taught a strategy for planning and writing…

Reports on a study which viewed writing instruction as an interactive social process between the teacher and students. Written responses to student writing assignments assessed content rather than accuracy of spelling or grammar. States that written feedback encouraged greater quantity and quality of writing with spelling accuracy being maintained…

Examines the effectiveness of imbedding strategy instruction in the context of a process approach to writing. Finds that the strategy instructional procedures had a positive effect on the fourth- and fifth-grade students' writing, for both students with and without a learning disability. Shows that, overall, improvements in story quality were…

The study with three sixth-grade learning-disabled students found that a self-instructional strategy to facilitate the generation, framing, and planning of argumentative essays had a positive effect on the students' writing performance and self-efficacy. Effects were maintained over time and transferred to a new setting and new writing genre.…

Studies the effects of listening to and discussing different qualities of children's literature on fifth grade students' writing. Finds that stories written by children who heard and discussed higher quality literature were rated significantly differently on traits related to literary quality and genre development than those written by children…

Investigates the effects of explicit story structure instruction on below-average fourth and fifth grade readers' narrative writing performance. Finds that explicit story structure instruction positively influenced the narrative writing performance in terms of both quality and quantity of their writing. (MG)