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Many of our articles dated 2000 and earlier can now be found in this archive.

Effective writing instruction for students with disabilities incorporates three components: adhering to a basic framework of planning, writing, and revision; explicitly teaching critical steps in the writing process; and providing feedback guided by the information explicitly taught. Learn more about methods for using these components in this article.

Creative writing plays an important role in a child's literacy development. This article makes suggestions for the instruction and evaluation of children's stories.

On-going assessment of writing is integral to the effective teaching of writing to students with learning disabilities. Curriculum-based assessments can be used to assess the writing process and product and should take into account purpose as well. The writing process can be assessed through observational and self-observational checklists. The writing product can be evaluated on five product factors: fluency, content, conventions, syntax, and vocabulary. Writing samples also should be assessed across a variety of purposes for writing to give a complete picture of a student's writing performance across different text structures and genres. These simple classroom measures can fulfill various functions of assessment including: identifying strengths and weaknesses, planning instruction, evaluating instructional activities, giving feedback, monitoring performance, and reporting progress.

To many students, revision means correction. This article defines revision and suggests ways teachers can encourage their students to truly revise their work.