Overview

        Structural organizers break down the writing process into steps. They help with brainstorming, organizing notes, and laying out the first draft. Many programs come with templates to help students start organizing their ideas.

        Students with a range of disabilities have been shown to benefit from explicit instruction of structural organization and pre-writing strategies (Bishop, Sawyer, Alber-Morgan, & Boggs, 2015). One experimental study found that mid-achieving students benefited from an assistive technology structural organizer (Kidspiration) over a paper-and-pencil method (Lorenz, Green, & Brown, 2009), but overall it seems that regardless of the strategy (paper-and-pencil or assistive technology) students benefit from structural organizer and pre-writing strategy instruction, especially when it comes to written composition organization (Flanagan & Bouck, 2015). Structural organizers may be more effective than graphic organizers for students with visual processing deficits.

        It should be noted that though structural organizers can be done without the aid of computer-based technology, graphic organizing and outline software makes it is easier to manipulate and develop ideas. In addition, other assistive technology can be integrated with it (i.e. word prediction to aid in spelling).

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Research Rating: Due to the experimental nature of the information cited in this description this information is to be trusted as valid and reliable.

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Advantages:

• Most students spend very little time planning and/or at the prewriting stage, and this can be encouraged by structural organizers

• Research shows that when students use pre-writing strategies the quality of their writing improves (Flanagan & Bouck, 2015)

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Disadvantages:

• Using structural and graphic organizers requires comprehensive instruction

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To Consider

• Consider whether or not a computer-based structural organizer is necessary for the student, or whether a paper-based tool may be just as useful

• Providing a structural organization (whether paper-based or assistive technology), will only improve writing if students are properly instructed