Effectiveness of an essay writing strategy for post-secondary students with developmental disabilities

This study examined the effectiveness of the ANSWER Strategy (Hughes, Schumaker, & Deshler, 2005) in improving the essay composition skills of post-secondary students with developmental disabilities. The six-step strategy incorporated analyzing essay prompts, creating an outline, generating an essay response, and reviewing the answer. The students (N = 16) were assigned via a stratified random sample method to treatment or control groups. A pre- and post-test design was employed and the results were evaluated using a strategy scoring rubric. Statistically significant differences were found between the post-tests in favor of the treatment group related to their knowledge of the ANSWER strategy and the use of the strategy steps. Overall, the results indicated that the ANSWER strategy holds promise as an effective writing intervention for individuals with developmental disabilities in post-secondary settings.