Over half of fourth grade students in the United States do not have adequate writing skills to meet classroom demands. The National Assessment of Educational Progress found that three out of four students only partially master the necessary writing skills for effective communication. Self-Regulated Strategy Development instruction is an effective way to teach struggling writers in elementary classrooms to become better writers through more complex and higher quality writing. SRSD uses instruction that fosters self-regulation skills like goal-setting, self-assessment, and managing the writing environment.

1. In the United States over half of forth grade
students do not have the writing skills adequate
to reach classroom demands.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress
found that three out of every four students
demonstrate only partial master of the writing skills
necessary for effective communication

2. A struggling student is one who is defined as
being at or below the twenty-fifth percentile on
the appropriate grade level writing test or, any
student who has been identified by the teacher
as a student who struggles with the writing
process

3. • Self Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)
Instruction is an effective way to teach
struggling writers in elementary classrooms, in
order to become better writers in the way of
more complex and quality writing.

4. • In SRSD educators use instruction which
fosters the development of self-regulation,
including goal-setting, self-assessment, self-
instruction, and self-reinforcement and
managing the writing environment.

5. The Process:
• Build Background Knowledge
• Discuss It
• Model It
• Memorize It
• Support It
• Independent Performance

6. Research
• Specifically SRSD has proven to be successful
in aiding the improvement of writing in
students with learning disabilities, children
with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), struggling writers and regulatory
writers.
• This effectiveness has been established in
three recent meta-analyses which involved 18
studies.

7. Resources
• Graham S., & Mason L., (2006) Improving the writing, knowledge, and motivation of struggling
• young writers: effects of self-regulated strategy development with and without peer
Support. American educational research Journal 43(2). 295-340.
• Helsel L., & Greenberg D., (2007) Helping struggling writers succeed: a self-regulated strategy
• instruction program. International Reading Association, 753- 760.
• Lane K., Graham S., Harris K., Weisenbach J., (2006) Teaching writing strategies to young
students struggling with writing and at risk for behavioral disorders: self-regulated strategy development.
TEACHING Exceptional Children 39(9). 60-64.
• Reid R., & Lienemann T., (2006) Self-regulated strategy development for written expression
• With students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Journal For Teaching
• Exceptional Children 73 (1). 53-68.
• Santangelo T., Harris K., Graham S., (2008) Using self-regulated development to support
students who have “trubol giting thangs into werds”. The Journal of Remedial and Special Education 29(2).
78-89.
• Zito J., Adkins M., Gavins M., (2007) Self-regulated strategy development: relationship to the
social-cognitive perspective and the development of self-regulation. Reading & Writing Quarterly 23, 77-95.