Shawn M. Datchuk

Purpose: Writing interventions for elementary-grade students with learning disabilities have traditionally focused on paragraph-level strategies ( McMaster et al., 2018 ). Students who struggle to compose a complete sentence need more explicit instruction and may benefit from additional language and self-regulation supports ( Kim & Graham, 2022 ). The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of a sentence writing intervention on the writing of a fifth-grade student with a learning disability. Method: This pilot study used an exploratory AB single-case design to measure the effects of a sentence writing intervention on the writing of a fifth-grade boy with a learning disability. The participant received 10 daily sentence writing lessons focusing on writing complete sentences with adjectives to describe pictures. Supports included steps for planning a sentence, a self-checklist for evaluation, and word banks. Results: Results indicated that the sentence writing instruction with supports had a large effect on the participant's use of sentence elements (e.g., noun, verb, adjective) and the length (total correct word sequences), accuracy (incorrect word sequences), and complexity (correct word sequences per sentence) of his sentences. Conclusions: Explicit instruction in sentence construction has potential to increase the length, accuracy, and complexity of the sentences students with learning disabilities write. Added language and self-regulation supports through planning, oral sentences, and checklists increased the current participant's consistency in their final product.

The teaching of writing required many shifts during a period of instructional disruption and emergency remote and hybrid instructional approaches as teachers abruptly transformed their instructional practices. In this study, three high school special education and seven English language arts teachers from across the United States were interviewed about their writing instructional practices within in-person instructional settings and via distance instruction during periods of instructional disruption and remote teaching. Interviews were transcribed and coded using inductive thematic analysis and resulted in an iteratively developed hierarchal coding structure. Teachers’ responses centered around a content focus for instruction, writing supports, asynchronous and synchronous instruction, feelings and beliefs, challenges, opportunities, and instructional settings. Intercoder reliability and member checking were conducted to foster credibility and trustworthiness. Findings suggest that research is needed to explore sustainable models for teaching writing across in-person, remote, and hybrid instructional modalities within instructional continuity frameworks.

Multi-tiered systems of support in reading (MTSS-R) allocate instructional resources to identify and address students’ needs. Tier 1 instruction is designed to meet the needs of most students, with more intensive standardized instruction provided in Tier 2 for students who need additional support. Prior research has emphasized the importance of high-quality Tier 1 instruction and alignment with Tier 2 interventions, but noted that few Tier 2 studies reported sufficient information to determine fidelity or alignment of school-implemented Tier 1 instruction. This review synthesized experimental studies ( k = 26) published since 2011 and found that while reporting of Tier 2 intervention fidelity has improved, many studies provide limited information about school-implemented Tier 1 instruction. Nonetheless, more studies assess or actively manipulate Tier 1 instruction. Increased attention to the wider MTSS-R context of Tier 2 intervention has implications for practice and future research.

Data collection and data tracking (i.e., creating a table or visual display to analyze student progress monitoring data) are critical components of writing quality individualized education program (IEP) goals for students with disabilities. Failure to ensure adequate procedures can manifest into a substantive violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). Unfortunately, teachers often encounter barriers to these procedures which can result in missed opportunities for representing students’ progress, misaligned data collection procedures, or use of inappropriate methods (Swain et al., 2022). This article uses a vignette to support special educators across five recommendations for mapping academically-focused annual goals with assessment procedures for data collection and data tracking, including: (a) prioritize the goal around a specific skill need, (b) consider a continuum of appropriate assessment methods and measures, (c) ensure an appropriate level of rigor, (d) ensure data tracking sheets match the goal, and (e) identify a plan for collecting data to communicate progress to parents.

Many students with learning disabilities (LD) struggle to develop text-writing fluency: the skill of accurately and efficiently composing multiple words into sentences and passages understandable to readers. In prior studies, researchers have used instructional assessments to control for task difficulty and identify precise areas of text-writing fluency to address using explicit instruction. In this article, guidance is provided on how to use instructional assessments—a type of curriculum-based assessment—to inform explicit instruction of text-writing fluency for students with LD. In addition to detailed steps, considerations for implementation and variation are discussed.

We report results of a national survey of secondary teachers who teach special education and/or English language arts in the United States. A total of 50 teachers from 27 different states completed the survey. In the survey, we asked teachers about their experience delivering distance and in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. We specifically focused on three broad areas: writing assignments, writing instructional practices, and adaptations used to support students with disabilities. We also collected information about teacher characteristics, technology use, and teacher attitudes and self-efficacy about writing. On average, teachers reported receiving minimal preparation to teach writing via distance or in-person instruction. When compared to in-person instruction, teachers reported using fewer writing assignments, evidence-based writing practices, and adaptations for students with disabilities during distance learning. We provide implications for teacher professional development and detail limitations related to sample size and response rate

Despite legal protections within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and school requirements in place to provide educational access to students with disabilities, once they graduate from high school these students enroll and persist in college at lower rates compared to peers without disabilities. In addition, graduates of rural high schools have lower college attendance rates compared to students from suburban or urban schools. Jobs today demand additional learning after high school graduation, yet with lower rates of college attendance, individuals with disabilities are more likely to have a lower income earning potential or be unemployed. However, there are rural high schools in Iowa that achieve positive postsecondary education outcomes for students with disabilities even beyond the state average enrollment rate. This qualitative multiple case study set out to investigate what the educators in these high schools are doing to support post-graduation educational outcomes of students with disabilities. Learning from school leaders, school counselors, and special education teachers helps identify common practices that support rural students with disabilities with enrolling and persisting in college. Themes within the findings indicate that effective rural school transition programs place focus on five actionable areas: 1) implementation of pre-transition planning prior to high school through junior high classes, 2) providing explicit instruction in self-determination skills and opportunities for practice, 3) fostering close collaboration with the vocational rehabilitation counselor, 4) offering opportunities for participation in postsecondary programs, and 5) holding expectations to pursue postsecondary education. With these findings, educational leaders of rural schools across the country can strengthen their high school transition programs to support postsecondary education outcomes for students with disabilities.

Many students with learning disabilities struggle with sentence writing fluency, the skill of quickly and accurately generating words that follow rules of semantics, spelling, syntax, and usage within sentence structures understandable to readers. Students who struggle with sentence writing fluency may face difficulty fully expressing their ideas while engaging in academic writing. In the present article, we describe how a combination of explicit instruction and fluency practice can improve the simple sentence writing fluency of students with learning disabilities. We detail how five design and delivery steps can help to create a supplemental writing intervention that addresses simple sentence structure, syntax, and usage.