General outcome measures of beginning handwriting development.

Abstract

Handwriting is the primary form of written expression for young elementary school students and has a tremendous impact on children's ability to express their thoughts in writing. In order for students to be able to use handwriting as an effective tool for written expression, their progress in handwriting skill development must monitored as they receive handwriting instruction. Progress monitoring young children's handwriting development will allow teachers to determine which students are struggling with acquiring the skill and will allow teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted handwriting interventions. However, existing standardized handwriting assessments are not appropriate for use within such a progress monitoring system. In this study, the researcher developed several general outcome measures of beginning handwriting development that could be used within a progress monitoring system for handwriting development. The technical adequacy of these measures was examined, including specific examination of reliability, validity and sensitivity to change in ability due to development or instruction. Results of these examinations and implication for future work are discussed.