Effects of an Interview Article Writing Intervention Using Class-wide SNS on Writing Abilities and Self-Esteem of Students With Intellectual Disabilities and Peers’ Attitudes

Abstract

This study was to investigate the effects of a process-based approach to writing interview articles using class-wide social network site (SNS) on the writing abilities and self-esteem of middle school students with intellectual disabilities. It also aimed at investigating these effects on attitudes of the students’ peers who were interviewed. A multiple probe baseline design across participants was employed to assess the writing abilities of three students with intellectual disabilities. A one-group pre- and posttest design was used to examine the changes in the attitudes of peers toward the students with intellectual disabilities. The intervention improved the writing abilities of the three participants along with increases of their self-esteem. The participants’ peers in the inclusive classrooms also showed positive changes in their attitudes toward the students with intellectual disabilities. This study has significance in that teaching interview article writing using class-wide SNS was effective not only in promoting the writing skills of students with intellectual disabilities but in improving their peers’ attitudes toward them. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Writing Interventions for Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

“…Although no meta-analyses have been conducted, several systematic reviews have identified direct instruction, response prompting, and strategy instruction as effective instructional techniques for teaching writing to students with IDD (e.g., Asaro-Saddler, 2016; Joseph & Konrad, 2009; Pennington et al, 2011; Pennington & Delano, 2012; Rogers & Graham, 2008). Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) has been the most well-researched and appears to be the most effective method of promoting independence across numerous writing skills (Joseph & Konrad, 2009; Rogers & Graham, 2008).…”

“…Although no meta-analyses have been conducted, several systematic reviews have identified direct instruction, response prompting, and strategy instruction as effective instructional techniques for teaching writing to students with IDD (e.g., Asaro-Saddler, 2016; Joseph & Konrad, 2009; Pennington et al, 2011; Pennington & Delano, 2012; Rogers & Graham, 2008). Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) has been the most well-researched and appears to be the most effective method of promoting independence across numerous writing skills (Joseph & Konrad, 2009; Rogers & Graham, 2008). SRSD is a specific six-stage instructional approach that typically uses a criterion-based performance, requiring students to master a specific—usually mnemonic—strategy (e.g., Pick my ideas, Organize my notes, and Write and say more; POW) before ending intervention (Graham & Harris, 2003).…”

“…First, none were exhaustive reviews of the literature. Joseph and Konrad (2009) focused on students with IDD, but they identified only nine studies. Other reviews examined either specific subgroups of students with IDD (e.g., ASD without accompanying ID; Asaro-Saddler, 2016) or focused more broadly on all students with disabilities (e.g., Rogers & Graham, 2008).…”

“…Perhaps one reason for this is that single-case designs (SCDs) are commonly used for low-incidence populations such as IDD, which historically presented obstacles for quantifying intervention effects. Namely, most SCD effect sizes focus on non-overlap metrics (see Parker et al, 2011 for a description and Joseph & Konrad, 2009; Rogers & Graham, 2008 for examples of use in prior reviews), but these are partially insensitive to magnitude of change and often do not include a variance estimate. The lack of variance prevents the weighting of effects, limiting their utility for proper meta-analysis.…”

What students with intellectual disabilities know about writing planning

“…Research has revealed that people with intellectual disabilities have difficulties reaching certain educational levels, primarily in the field of oral and written communication (Di Blasi et al, 2019 ; Lim & Lee, 2019 ; Ratz & Lenhard, 2013 ; Vega & Gràcia, 2016 ). However, written communication skills have rarely been studied in people with intellectual disabilities, although it is always less developed than oral communication (Banikowski & Mehring, 1999 ; Belva et al, 2012 ; Riaño, 2012 ).…”