Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(3), 175–183 Copyright C  2005, The Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children Using the Expressive Writing Program to Improve the Writing Skills of High School Students with Learning Disabilities Barbara Walker, Margaret E. Shippen, Paul Alberto, David E. Houchins, and David F. Cihak Georgia State University Abstract. The complex nature of written expression presents difficulty for many students, particularly those with learning disabilities (LD). The literature in the area of written expression and students with learning dis- abilities indicates that explicit, rule-based instruction can enhance the writing skills of struggling students. Research in Direct Instruction (DI) writing programs is promising, but limited at this time to a small num- ber of group design studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the DI writing program, Expressive Writing, for high school students with learn- ing disabilities using a single-subject design methodol- ogy. Results indicated that the Expressive Writing pro- gram improved the writing skills of the students in this study. Students also were able to generalize and main- tain the writing skills learned during intervention. Writing is a complex metacognitive activity that draws on an individual’s knowledge, basic skills, strategies, and ability to coordinate multiple processes. Graham (1997) identified the following four vital areas in the writing process: (1) knowledge of writing and writing topics, (2) skills for producing and crafting text, (3) processes for energizing and motivating participants to write with enthusiasm, and (4) directing thoughts and actions through strategies to achieve writing goals. Scardamalia and Bereiter (1986) also described the cog- nitive factors that influenced writing. These researchers noted factors such as the speed at which memory is searched, the amount of information stored in short- term memory, the speed at which information is placed in long-term memory, the number and nature of com- peting demands for attention, and the efficiency with which the writer can switch attention among competing demands have profound effects on the writing process. Requests for reprints should be sent to Margaret E. Shippen, Ph.D., Georgia State University, Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, P.O. Box 3979, Atlanta, GA 30303. Electronic inquiries may be sent to pshippen@gsu.edu. Less skilled writers consider a writing assignment as an opportunity to tell everything they know about a topic (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1986). Skilled writers, on the other hand, demonstrate knowledge of text structure and the ability to fully develop ideas. The authors found this knowledge of text structure provides a “map” for writ- ers to follow during text generation, resulting in more coherently organized writing. Students with learning disabilities (LD) often find writing an especially challenging task. They struggle more than their peers without disabilities on a variety of written language tasks (Graham, Harris, MacArthur, & Schwartz, 1991). These researchers found that students with LD often have difficulty with the physical demands and conventions of writing fluently. They also have diffi- culty with higher-level cognitive processes such as set- ting goals, generating appropriate content, organizing their writing, and evaluating and revising their prod- ucts. They do little planning, revising, and other self- regulation strategies when writing (Graham, 1997). Other researchers have also noted the numerous chal- lenges experienced by students with written expression deficits. These include a lack of sensitivity to organiza- tional patterns and text structures (Morocco & Neuman, 1986), as well as deficits in the mechanics of writing such as spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and hand- writing skills (Houck & Billingsley, 1989). Moreover, Morris and Crump (1982) reported, when compared with typically developing peers, students with written expression problems used fewer word types in their writing. Similarly, Thomas, Englert, and Gregg (1987) found that students with LD frequently stop the writing process prematurely, indicating difficulty in producing multiple factual statements about familiar topics. Stu- dents with LD also tend to repeat information and gen- erate irrelevant ideas pertaining to the writing topic. Lack of organizational skills, sensitivity to text struc- ture, and difficulties with the mechanics of writing are compounded by motivational problems due to re- peated failure (Graham et al., 1991). However, expres- sive writing research indicates that instructional pro- grams that provide explicit, teacher-directed, rule-based