Dr. Karen Harris: On a Mission to Help Every Child to Find Their Voice

Early in her career, Dr. Karen Harris taught in a small coal-mining town in West Virginia, where many of her students faced tough challenges. Karen believed passionately that every child deserved to find their voice through writing. They were bright and creative, but writing left them overwhelmed—staring at blank pages, unsure how to begin.

She realized they didn’t just need writing assignments—they needed tools, strategies, and confidence. So she began researching and developing a new way to teach writing: one that combined step-by-step strategy instruction with self-regulation skills like goal-setting, self-talk, and reflection.

That work became SRSD - which powers Writing to Learn™ - a model now used around the world. But it all started in one humble classroom, with a teacher who believed her students could do more than just write. She believed they could own their writing—and their futures.  

At Reynolds Center TLC, we share Karen’s belief that every child’s voice matters. But they need the skills to share their voices with the world. That’s why we’re proud to support efforts to bring Dr. Karen Harris’ Self-Regulated Strategy Development model—SRSD model (which is core to her approach to teaching writing) to every teacher and student in the country - and beyond.   To learn more about Writing to Learn™ program, click here.