Proficiency In Sentence Writing Strategy

Resources:

Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy Research (.pdf)

Research Articles

• Faggella‐Luby, Michael; Lindo, Endia et. al. (2020, Aug. 31). A University–Lab School Writing Partnership Project: Benefits of Curriculum‐Based Measures and Intervention for Students With Learning Differences. The Reading Teacher. DOI:10.1002/trtr.1938
• Implementation of a Writing Strategy for Students With Learning Disabilities in a Rural Setting Rural Special Education Quarterly, Winter 2015, Vol.34(4), pp.40-49 [Peer Reviewed Journal] Gabriel, Kathleen ; Davis, Teresa.
• Schumaker, J.B., & Deshler, D.D. (2009). Adolescents with learning disabilities: Are we selling them short? Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24(2), 81-92. The authors review the evolution of SIM writing strategies and research that shows students with learning disabilities can learn and successfully use writing strategies under the right instructional conditions.
• Schumaker, J.B., & Deshler, D.D. (2003). Can students with LD become competent writers? Learning Disability Quarterly, 26(2), 129-141. This article summarizes a programmatic line of R&D work that has focused on learning strategies instruction as a method for improving the writing performance of students with disabilities within the context of the general education curriculum as well as on district- and state-wide writing assessments.
• Oas, B.K., Schumaker, J.B., & Deshler, D.D. (1995). Learning strategies: Tools for learning to learn in middle and high schools. Secondary education and beyond: Providing opportunities for students with learning disabilities. Pittsburgh, PA: Learning Disabilities Association of America. This article uses student case descriptions to illustrate how a variety of learning strategies--including the Self-Advocacy Strategy, Sentence Writing Strategy, and Paraphrasing Strategy--might be implemented with students who experience an array of learning disabilities characteristics.

The Story Behind the Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Program from author, Jan B. Sheldon, Ph.D., J.D.:
When Jean Schumaker and I were graduate students at the University of Kansas in the early 1970s, she had an internship at the probation department of the Douglas County Juvenile Court in Kansas. She was assigned several cases of truant secondary students. In working with these students, she learned that they could not write (or read). They told her that one of the reasons they avoided school was that they were embarrassed because they could not complete the work assigned to them. We decided to create a summer school program for these students (and others like them) in our community, and we looked for writing and reading programs to help them. We quickly learned that there were no instructional programs available to teach them writing in an intensive way, and we decided to create one for teaching them how to write a variety of sentences. Over the course of several summers, we refined the program and ensured that it was effective in teaching sophisticated writing skills. Since then, additional studies have been conducted that have shown that the program is effective.

Author's Thoughts about Strategic Instruction
Strategic instruction is one of the few instructional methods that have been shown to be effective through empirical research to produce improvement in the learning and academic performance of at-risk students. The studies conducted on the Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy Program have shown that a variety of students, including middle-school and senior-high students, students with and without disabilities, and students representing a variety of minority populations can learn to write a variety of sentence types when this program is used with fidelity.

Teacher and Student Feedback on the Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy Program
This program has been very popular with both teachers and students. More than 100,000 teachers across the U.S. and internationally have been instructed in how to teach the Sentence Writing Strategy to students. Teachers have used the program in a variety of settings including general education English and language arts classes, resource rooms, tutoring settings, and after-school programs. Teachers have reported that after they learned how to teach the Sentence Writing Strategy, they had learned how to teach for the first time. This program is included in numerous district scope and sequence documents across the nation starting at the fifth and sixth grades.