Chapter 3: Self-Regulated Strategies Development In Writing: Development, Implementation, and Scaling Up

Since the 1980s, Harris, Graham, and their colleagues have conducted research on the writing of students in elementary through secondary grades. Much of this research has focused on four critical constructs and their importance in the development of writing ability: strategies, knowledge, will, and skills (Graham & Harris, 2012; Harris & Graham, 1999). We have examined these constructs and their importance in typical writing development and their role among struggling writers and those with writing disabilities. We have also focused our attention on the role of basic writing skills, such as handwriting, spelling, and sentence construction, in students’ development as writers. Recently, we have been increasingly pulled into the policy arena as we have joined those making the case for why writing should be an integral part of school and educational reform. Throughout the past 30 years, a central focus has been development and refinement of an intervention for developing writing strategies, knowledge, will, and skills among school-age students.