Effects of Strategic Planning Instruction on the Writing Abilities of Students With and Without Disabilities

• In Event: Teaching Reading and Writing to Students With Special Abilities

Abstract

Many students, including less skilled writers and writers with a learning disability (LD), may have difficulties with planning their written compositions although planning is an important element of the writing process. In this study we employed supplemental strategic planning instruction to assist writers with and without disabilities to create stories and personal narratives within two inclusive third-grade classrooms in a Northeast United States inner city elementary school. Thirty-seven students, nine of which had identified LD, participated. Results indicated that the planning intervention had a positive and lasting effect on narrative and story holistic quality and other writing quality indicators for all participants. Our results lend support for strategy use to teach story planning within inclusive environments.

Authors

• Bruce Saddler, University at Albany - SUNY

• Kristie Asaro-Saddler, University at Albany - SUNY