Introduction to the Special Issue: Teacher Educators for Children with Behavioral Disorders (TECBD) Conference.
SRSD has forty years of writing research behind it, and fresh studies keep adding new formats like quick writes for kids with LD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Thomas et al. (2021) wrote a story-style review about Self-Regulated Strategy Development for writing. They traced nearly forty years of SRSD work in schools.
The paper is not a number-crunching meta. It is an invited narrative that maps where SRSD began, where it has gone, and where teacher educators still need answers.
What they found
More than twenty SRSD writing studies exist. The body shows a clear program of research, yet big questions remain for special-education teachers.
The authors list gaps: how to train teachers faster, how to fit SRSD into busy classrooms, and how to help kids keep the skills after the unit ends.
How this fits with other research
Ciullo et al. (2021) extends the SRSD line. They taught fourth- and fifth-grade students with learning disabilities to do quick persuasive writes. All eight kids wrote longer, better essays after SRSD.
Cramm et al. (2009) backs the same path. Their systematic review of writing for students with intellectual disabilities found strategy instruction, including SRSD, works.
Cheng et al. (2022) shifts the lens. They show students with ADHD struggle most with planning and editing, not output. That points SRSD teams toward teaching planning tricks first.
Why it matters
You do not need to wait for more trials. Use SRSD now for any student who freezes at a blank page. Start with one strategy, such as POW (Pick my idea, Organize, Write). Track planning time and essay quality. Share the R et al. gaps with your team and pick one to tackle this year, like brief teacher training or built-in maintenance checks.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purpose of this invited article is to provide an example of the evolution of programmatic research in learning disabilities. We first note the four strands of writing research in which we have been involved since the early 1980s, and then address the theoretical and pedagogical groundings of our research in Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD). Over 20 studies involving SRSD have been conducted to date. One of these studies is briefly described, followed by a closer examination of how this study and other previous research led to two subsequent studies. We conclude with an overview of the many research questions and directions that remain in the area of writing, strategies instruction, and the development of self-regulation.
Education & treatment of children, 2021 · doi:10.2307/1511259