Abstract:
This study examined the effectiveness of the Self-Regulated Strategy Development
(SRSD) model of writing instruction on the writing performance and acquisition of selfdetermination
skills for middle school-age students with emotional and behavioral
disorders (EBD). SRSD instruction was modified by incorporating instruction on selfdetermination
skills during the lessons. A group experimental design was conducted in
which 21 seventh-grade students with severe EBD were randomly assigned to either
experimental or control groups. The intervention was conducted during 30-minute
sessions, four times per week, for 33 days. Six special education teachers participated in
the study. Experimental teachers were trained on SRSD procedures and implemented the
intervention with a high degree of fidelity. Using the SRSD model, experimental groups
were taught to plan and write persuasive essays and incorporate self-advocacy into their
writing. Students in the control condition received writing instruction with the
established school writing curriculum, Write Traits (Spandel, 2002).
Dependent measures included students’ written essays that were evaluated according to
length, number of words, paragraphs, sentences, transition words, and overall quality.
The fluency test of the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement was used as a
standardized measure. In addition, students were administered (a) a self-efficacy writing
measure; (b) a criterion-based test, to assess their knowledge about self-determination
and self-advocacy; and (c) a strategy awareness prompt to evaluate their knowledge about
the components of a persuasive essay. Furthermore, students and teachers were
interviewed to assess their perspectives about the intervention. Students were evaluated
at pretest and posttest in all measures. Maintenance and generalization to a content area
were also assessed on the persuasive essay measure. Postintervention findings revealed
experimental students significantly outperformed control students in all the persuasive
essay-writing components assessed, in their ability to recall the parts of a persuasive
essay, in the self-efficacy measure; as well as in their self-determination knowledge and
perceptions about self-determination behaviors. At maintenance, experimental students
outperformed control students, obtaining statistically significant differences in all writing
measures (except number of words). At generalization, experimental students
significantly outperformed control students in quality of overall essays and number of
essay parts. Students and teachers interviews revealed an overall satisfaction with SRSD
procedures and the results. Findings are discussed with respect to future research and
practice.
