High School Teacher's Implementation of SRSD Informative Essay Writing Instruction in Inclusive ELA Classrooms

Achievement gaps in literacy persist between students with disabilities and general education peers. Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an evidence-based approach for teaching writing to high school students. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of teacher-implemented SRSD instruction for source-based informative writing and its impact on student growth and existing achievement gaps across demographic groups. Participants included three teachers and 97 students from two high schools. Teachers received practice-based professional development and ongoing support while implementing SRSD in inclusive English Language Arts classrooms. Structural equation modeling examined whether improvements in writing performance were influenced by gender, disability, and English learner status. Results indicated stable or improved performance across writing measures. SRSD instruction resulted in equitable growth across demographic groups; notably, baseline differences for students with disabilities did not widen. Teacher interviews and student surveys indicated high social validity, supporting SRSD as an effective approach for teaching source-based informative writing.