Abstract
Writing is essential for all students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills across various subject areas and tasks. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) indicate that first graders should write opinion papers, explanatory texts, and narratives. By sixth grade, students are expected to support claims with evidence in their essays, use domain-specific vocabulary, and use a variety of transitional words to sequence events.
Further, the CCSS requires students beginning in kindergarten to explore digital tools to produce and publish writing, making the use of digital tools for reading, writing, and communicating a requirement rather than a preference. The integration of technology into the classroom has been a long-stated goal of policy makers in the United States, as the use of technology in schools is believed to enhance learning and prepare students for jobs of the future. However, researchers report that a majority of teachers said they never use some technologies for writing instruction (e.g., Graham et al., 2014).
Writing with or without technology is a complex process that requires students to brainstorm, plan, create, edit, and revise their work. Exacerbating the need for effective writing instruction and technology integration are the significant writing needs of students in today’s diverse classrooms.
The needs of students with high-incidence disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disabilities, high-functioning autism) have been well documented, noting difficulties in writing quality, organization, vocabulary, sentence fluency, conventions of spelling, grammar, handwriting, and genre elements (e.g., Asaro-Saddler, 2016; Graham et al., 2016).
Whereas expert writers are strategic, are goal directed, move in a recursive manner, and use transitional ties for cohesion (Graham et al., 2007), students with disabilities find composing a multiple-paragraph essay or even a well-developed paragraph to be an arduous task.
Effective strategies for teaching writing to students with disabilities in Grades 4 to 12 include strategy instruction with and without the self-regulated strategy development model, collaborative writing, setting goals for writing, and word processing (Graham & Perin, 2007a, 2007b).
The WEGO (Writing Efficiently with Graphic Organizers) team at George Mason University were awarded the Stepping-Up Technology Implementation grant from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in 2012 (CFDA 84.327S/H327S120011; Evmenova & Regan, 2012) and in 2018 (84.327S/H327S180004; Evmenova et al., 2018).
As a result, a series of technology-based graphic organizers (TBGOs) was developed, including (a) a computer-based version that can be used in Microsoft Word, (b) a mobile-based TBGO application, (c) a web-based TBGO for Google Chrome, and (d) a TBGO+ enhanced version with a teacher dashboard. The varied versions are available for persuasive, argumentative, and personal narrative essay genres. WEGO TBGOs incorporate the following elements identified as effective research-based strategies to support writing for students with high-incidence disabilities.
Graphic Organizers
Teaching students to strategically plan ahead is an effective method for improving the quality of their writing. Graphic organizers are helpful tools for assisting students to systematically plan and organize their writing ideas (Ciullo & Reutebuch, 2013). WEGO TBGO is a digitally based graphic organizer that scaffolds the writing process into distinct parts that are revealed only once the student completes the previous part (see Figure 1).
Writing Efficiently with Graphic Organizers technology-based graphic organizer with built-in research-based supports for persuasive essay genre
Self-Regulated Learning Strategies
Self-regulation of writing refers to the thoughts and actions writers use to improve their skills, maintain focus, and enhance the quality of their writing (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). Such self-regulated learning strategies as goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-evaluation are embedded into the WEGO TBGO (e.g., Hughes et al., 2019). Students pick a goal for their essay, use a self-monitoring checklist, and evaluate their writing, including an opportunity to get peer and teacher feedback within the TBGO.
Strategy Instruction
Such strategies as mnemonics (e.g., letter strategies to facilitate memory) support students with disabilities as they process any given task (Scruggs et al., 2010). The mnemonic IDEAS is built into the TBGO and guides students to follow specific steps in order to compose an essay across genres (persuasive, argumentative, personal narrative). For example, IDEAS for the persuasive genre stands for I - identify your opinion; D - determine three reasons; E - explain or say more; A - add transition words as you go; and S - summarize.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Supports
Additional UDL features include (a) audio comments that provide just-in-time instruction to scaffold writing-skill development; (b) a table-to-text feature, where students are asked to write one sentence at a time; (c) hover-over-text hints; (d) drop-down menus; (e) built-in text to speech; (f) rows in the TBGO activated based on the essay goal selected; and (g) links to sample essays. Thus, students may choose any number of supports they require in a writing task (e.g., Evmenova & Regan, 2019).
Video Models
The TBGO+ version for Google Chrome also incorporates video models that provide students with personalized high-quality instruction. The video models provide ample opportunities to reinforce concepts of the writing process, such as what it means to persuade, how to activate one’s prior knowledge, and how to brainstorm high-quality essay parts (e.g., opinion, reasons, explanations). They also provide teachers with remediation activities on writing mechanics (e.g., capitalization, punctuation, grammar). The video models are designed to teach a specific learning objective and provide practice opportunities in a playful, creative, and engaging manner (Raaijmakers et al., 2018). Video models are accompanied by video guides that offer additional suggestions for mini lessons and activities based on the students’ needs.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Finally, the teacher dashboard in the newest TBGO+ version incorporates opportunities for data-driven decision making that is responsive to student needs. Data can be used to modify instructional decisions for identifying and implementing appropriate and personalized interventions for students with disabilities. Data-based instruction has resulted in significant academic improvement across subject areas, including writing (e.g., Jung et al., 2017). TBGO provides teachers with easily accessible data, tools to analyze them (a rubric), and suggestions for instructional decisions.
Over time, WEGO TBGOs went through a series of iterations based on student and teacher feedback and student performance across multiple research studies (e.g., Boykin et al., 2019; Evmenova et al., 2016; Regan et al., 2017). Versions of the TBGO have been tested with more than 1,000 students across fourth through 12th grades, including 685 students with disabilities and those who are struggling with writing.
Seventy teachers from 48 inclusive, 15 self-contained, and seven co-taught settings across 20 schools have used the WEGO TBGO and provided their feedback. Overall, the majority of struggling writers in Grades 4 through 12 improved the quantity of essay writing (e.g., number of words and sentences), and all students, regardless of ability, improved the quality of essay writing (e.g., writing quality score).
When given sufficient practice, students maintained progress when the TBGOs were removed. All teachers and students reported to be very satisfied with the tool and believed the TBGO helped students to become better writers. The WEGO team continues to develop and test the products. If you are interested in testing TBGOs with your students, please contact us at