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##  Helping Students with Disabilities Succeed in State and District                Writing Assessments. ERIC/OSEP Digest.                                       

While writing poses significant challenges for many students with               disabilities, good teaching can help them overcome these barriers.              The writing of students with disabilities typically contains more               mechanical errors than that of their nondisabled peers and is less              polished, expansive, coherent, and effective. Difficulties may exist            because students with disabilities tend to: 
* Know less than their            peers about the characteristics of good writing. 
* Begin writing              with little or no planning. 
* Limit revisions to minor                        corrections. 
* Have problems with transcription processes (e.g.,              spelling, handwriting, punctuation). 
To help students with                    disabilities perform at their best on writing assessments, teachers             can use the following techniques: 
* Use the three principles of               effective writing instruction. 
* Prepare students to participate              in writing assessments. 
* Use assistive technology in instruction             and testing. 
* Provide students with appropriate accommodations               during testing and ensure that the accommodations correspond to                 those used during instruction. USE THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF                    EFFECTIVE WRITING INSTRUCTIONResearch shows that students with              disabilities can be taught to write and to write better. This                   conclusion was borne out in a meta-analysis of research on teaching             expressive writing to students with learning disabilities (Gersten,             Baker & Edwards, 1999). [Meta-analysis is a way of quantitatively               analyzing the results of many studies on a single topic in order to             obtain an overall picture of research results on the topic.]                    Virtually all the interventions analyzed were multifaceted and                  involved students writing every day. Three principles were                      identified as being critical to effective writing instruction: 
*              Using a basic framework of planning, writing, and revision. 
*                 Instructing students in steps of the writing process and the                    features and conventions of the writing genre. 
* Providing                    feedback guided by the information explicitly taught. 
One of many             interventions that follow these principles is Self-Regulated                    Strategy Development (SRSD). Although researchers Karen Harris and              Steve Graham designed SRSD for students with learning disabilities              and other severe learning difficulties, students in general                     education also have been found to benefit. With SRSD, students are              explicitly taught writing strategies and self-regulation                        procedures (e.g., goal-setting, self-monitoring, self- instruction,             and self-reinforcement). 
The goals of the SRSD approach are to 
*            Assist students in mastering the cognitive processes of planning,               producing, revising, and editing written language. 
* Help students            further develop the capability to monitor and manage their own                  writing. 
* Aid students in developing positive attitudes about                writing and about themselves as writers. 
Because many students                have developed negative attitudes about their ability to write,                 teachers address student attitudes first. They help students                    understand that while writing does require effort, making the effort            to learn and use the strategy will enable them to write. Then                   teachers follow a sequence to introduce and integrate the strategy              and self-regulation components of SRSD: 
* Teacher and students                work together to develop student background knowledge and pre-skills            needed to learn the strategy. 
* Teacher and students discuss the              strategy. This includes providing the rationale for the strategy,               explaining each step, and pointing out mnemonics. For example, on an            opinion essay, students may plan what to say using the TREE                     strategy-  Topic sentence, note Reasons, Examine reasons, and note              Ending. Self-regulation is built into the strategy. Students learn              when to use the strategy. 
* Teacher models the self-regulated use             of the strategy as much as needed by individual students. 
*                   Students memorize the strategy, then employ the strategy and                    self-regulation procedures as they compose. Teachers provide as much            support as needed. 
* Students transition to independent                       performance. 
SRSD is not a pre-packaged model. It can be                      individualized for students and should be regarded as part of a                 total writing program. 
Harris and Graham offer suggestions for                teachers using SRSD: 
* Start with one strategy and take it slowly.            Let students progress at their own pace. Do not plan to teach a                 strategy in a set period of time. 
* Offer encouragement. Point to             evidence that shows students are writing better. 
* Be                         flexible--e.g., some students may need more modeling or more                    explicit goal setting than others. 
* Post strategy charts to aid              students' memories. 
* Ask students what is working and not                    working. 
More than 20 empirical studies have shown that SRSD helps            students become better writers. PREPARE STUDENTS FOR                          ASSESSMENTSAll students, but particularly those with                        disabilities, need to have teachers explain the writing task clearly            and fully. A rating scale and example essays are not sufficient.                Having a strategy to use when prompted to write an essay helps                  students feel comfortable and enables them to do their best. 
In               one study (De La Paz et al., 2000), the writing strategy PLAN and               WRITE was used to prepare students for a state assessment. This                 expository writing strategy is as follows: 
Plan-Pay attention to              the prompt; List main ideas; Add supporting ideas; Number your                  ideas. 
Write-Work from your plan to develop your thesis statement;            Remember your goals; Include transition words; Try to use different             kinds of sentences; use Exciting, interesting, $100,000 words. 
The            mnemonics of PLAN and WRITE remind students of the strategy steps,              to plan before starting to write, and to reflect on the qualities of            good writing while composing. Positive results were found for                   students with learning disabilities as well as low-, average-, and              high-achieving writers. USE ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY IN INSTRUCTION               AND TESTINGWithin a strong writing program, technology can                  provide many different types of accommodation to help students                  overcome challenges related to their disabilities. Research is                  identifying potential roles for these new technologies, such as                 easing the physical processes involved in writing, helping to manage            planning and revising processes, and supporting social interaction              and communication. Promising technologies are: 
* Software for                 transcription and sentence generation (e.g., spelling checker,                  speech synthesis, word prediction, and grammar and style                        checkers). 
* Applications for cognitive and planning                          processes (e.g., prompting programs, outlining and semantic mapping             software). 
* Computer networks for collaboration and                          communication. 
For example, students with writing disabilities                might use speech recognition technology for dictation. For students             with learning disabilities in the upper elementary and middle school            grades, dictated compositions are substantially longer and                      qualitatively superior to compositions written by hand or word                  processor. MacArthur and Cavalier (1996) found that students with               learning disabilities produced better essays when dictating to                  either scribes or speech recognition systems than when they wrote by            hand. 
Despite the benefits, speech recognition systems place                  specific demands on students. Users must be trained to speak clearly            without extraneous sounds, pronounce punctuation, and correct                   errors, all of which may interfere with their ability to                        compose. 
Teachers can avoid difficulties by making sure that                  students: 
* Understand the limitations of the tool. 
* Want to               use the tool. 
* Have sufficient training in using the                         tool. PROVIDE TEST ACCOMMODATIONSAssessment accommodations are            alterations in the way a test is administered or the way a student              provides responses that are designed to redress the student's                   disability. Appropriate accommodations do not provide an unfair                 advantage. 
Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams make                  decisions about which accommodations and test modifications are                 appropriate for a student. Types of accommodation include changes in            the time allocated for the test, when or where the test is given,               presentation of the test (how the assignments are given), and how               the student responds. 
Accommodations for writing should address               the student's particular need. For example, if a student writes very            slowly due to a physical disability, accommodations may entail                  extended time, dictating to a scribe, or using assistive technology.            Pencil grips, taping the test paper onto the desk to prevent it from            moving, or replacing the answer booklet with wider-lined paper may              be appropriate accommodations for a student who has difficulty with             handwriting. 
In general, no testing accommodation should be                   recommended for a student unless that student has had an opportunity            to use it during instruction.  Ideally, to be fair to the student               and to get the best measure of proficiency, instructional                       accommodations and test-taking accommodations should                            correspond. RESOURCESASPIIRE and ILIIAD Projects (2000).                  Making assessment accommodations: A toolkit for educators.                      Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children. 
De La Paz, S.,               Owen, B., Harris, K., & Graham, S. (2000). Riding Elvis's                       motorcycle: Using self-regulated strategy development to PLAN and               WRITE for a state writing exam. Learning Disabilities Research and              Practice, 15(2), 101-109. 
Gersten, R. & Baker, S. (2001). Teaching            expressive writing to students with learning disabilities: A                    meta-analysis. Elementary School Journal, 101(3), 251-72. 
Graham,             S., Harris, K., & Troia, G. (2000). Self-regulated strategy                     development revisited: Teaching writing strategies to struggling                writers. Topics in Language Disorders, 20(4), 1-14. 
MacArthur,                C. (1996). Using technology to enhance the writing processes of                 students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning                        Disabilities, 29(4), 344-354. 
MacArthur, C. & Cavalier, A. (1999).            Dictation and speech recognition technology as accommodations in                large-scale assessments for students with learning disabilities.                Retrieved from                                                                  http://www.doe.state.de.us/aab/DSTP_research.html (attachment  #11)             
For more information, see ERIC EC Digest E590, Teaching Expressive            Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities.                                 http://ericec.org/digests/e590.html 
National Center on Educational            Outcomes, http://www.coled.umn.edu/NCEO (for information on                     large-scale testing and accommodations) 
Center on Accelerating                Student Learning, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/CASL 
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ERIC/OSEP            Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and               disseminated, but please acknowledge your source. This digest was               prepared with funding from the Office of Special Education                      Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, under Contract No.               ED-99-C0-0026. The opinions expressed in this publication do not                necessarily reflect the positions of OSEP or the Department of                  Education.                                                                   **Title:** Helping Students with Disabilities Succeed in State and District                Writing Assessments. ERIC/OSEP Digest.                                       **Note:** ERIC/OSEP Digest #E625.                                                      **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for            Exceptional Children, 1110 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA                       22201-5709. Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); Fax: 703-620-2521;                   e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.ericec.org.                **Descriptors:** Academic Standards, Assistive Devices (for Disabled),  Disabilities,             Educational Assessment, Elementary Secondary Education, Student                Evaluation, Teaching Methods,  Writing Instruction,  Writing                    Strategies,  Writing Tests                                                   **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests, Testing Accommodations (Disabilities)                          
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