HANDWRITING: A SKILL FOR LIFE & LEARNING
Prof. Anna Barnett Oxford Brookes University
[email protected] Research Funding: Pearson Assessment Action Medical Research Oxford Brookes University
OVERVIEW
The importance of handwriting (and keyboarding) The place of transcription skills in a framework for writing The purpose of assessment Assessment of handwriting speed – an example Assessment of handwriting legibility – an example
HANDWRITING – STILL AN IMPORTANT SKILL takes up much of the school day required across the school curriculum helps to consolidate and demonstrate knowledge
used for personal notes & assessed work required for examinations useful in everyday life
not just used on paper!
KEYBOARDING – ANOTHER IMPORTANT SKILL
a different motor skill to handwriting sometimes recommended in place of handwriting
used more now in classrooms required for course work in education required in most workplaces
there are a range of keyboard styles
THE SIMPLE MODEL OF WRITING
Words, Sentences, Text Discourse Generation Common pool of Handwriting, eg: working Keyboarding, memory Executive Planning, Spelling Review Functions Transcription
(Adapted from Berninger and Amtmann, 2003)
IMPLICATIONS Writing is a complex task so learning cannot be left to chance We need to be aware of the different sub processes that have to be orchestrated in order to produce texts Transcription may prove to be a major constraint on progress Acquisition of any skill requires opportunities to consolidate newly acquired skills to ensure automaticity is achieved where possible
TEACHER SURVEYS
Teachers not well prepared to teach handwriting Some schools have good policies Good practice not always captured Focus on neatness No teaching for speed Little time for practice Not clear how to help those with difficulties
WHO HAS TRANSCRIPTION DIFFICULTIES? Common in classrooms (Rubin & Henderson, 1982; Barnett et al, 2006) Children with developmental disorders including: o Developmental Coordination Disorder (Prunty et al, 2013) o Dyslexia (Sumner et al, 2012) o Specific Language Impairment (Connelly, 2005) o Asperger’s Syndrome (Henderson & Green, 2001) o ADHD (Tucha & Lange, 2001) Children with physical impairments/medical conditions e.g. Hemiplegia, Cerebral palsy, arthritis
WHY BE CONCERNED ABOUT POOR HANDWRITING SKILL Poor fluency related to reduced quantity and quality of content (Connelly et al, 2002; 2005).
Can lead to academic underachievement (Briggs, 1970; Sloan & McGinnis (1992), Simner et al., 1996)
Can result in low self esteem (Phelps et al., 1985)
HANDWRITING NEEDS TO BE:
Fluent / Fast / ‘Automatic’ Legible Flexible Comfortable Taught!
WHY ASSESS HANDWRITING?
Identify children with handwriting difficulties Quantify the level of handwriting performance Provide a detailed description of handwriting performance Evaluate intervention programmes Aid research
HANDWRITING TESTS Wallen et al (1996) The Handwriting Speed Test
Killeen et al (2007) An Irish Adaptation of the Handwriting Speed Test (IA) HST Allcock (2001) Data provided from over 2000 students aged 11-16 in the UK, PATOSS website Admundson (1995). Evaluation Tool of Children’s Handwriting (ETCH) Van Waelvelde et al (2012). Systematic Screening of Handwriting Difficulties (SOS) Hamstra-Bletz et al (1987) Concise Assessment method of Children’s handwriting (BHK)
DEVELOPMENT OF THE DETAILED ASSESSMENT OF SPEED OF HANDWRITING (DASH) Barnett, A.1, Henderson, S.2 & Scheib, B.2 & Schulz, J.3 1Oxford
Brookes University
2Institute
of Education University of London
3University
of Hertfordshire
Funded by: Pearson Assessment
Action Medical Research
THE DASH & DASH17+ UK norms Age range: 9-16 years; 17-25 years Carefully selected sample Range of writing tasks Psychometrically sound
Alongside revision of Movement ABC (Henderson & Sugden, 1992) for 3-16 year olds
DASH SAMPLE Representative: 2001 census formed basis of stratification Age Gender Geographical region (12 levels) Parental education level (indicator of SES) (5 levels) Race/ethnic group (4 levels)
Assistance from Prof John Rust & Prof Susan Golombok Psychometrics Centre, City University Cambridge Assessment Centre Ethics approval Oxford Brookes University
SAMPLING 57 schools Parental consent forms distributed Children selected from returned forms Children with known sensory & physical impairments excluded OTs/PTs/Psychologists trained to administer test
UK Region
Sample N
Sample %
Census N
Census %
North East
57
10.4
25
4.6
North West
86
15.8
54
9.9
Yorkshire & Humberside
56
10.3
65
11.9
East Midlands
47
8.6
47
8.5
West Midlands
53
9.7
50
9.2
East of England
16
2.9
34
6.2
London
31
5.7
55
10.1
South East
114
20.9
92
16.9
South West
33
6.0
33
6.0
Wales
26
4.8
22
4.1
Scotland
18
3.3
51
9.3
Northern Ireland
9
1.6
18
3.3
Total
546
100.0
546
100.0
FIVE TASKS Copy for 2 minutes: Copy Best – write in your best handwriting; Copy Fast - write as quickly as possible but make sure every word is readable.
Alphabet Writing for 1 minute. Graphic Speed: Making Xs in circles for 1 minute.
FREE WRITING – 10 MINUTES music
hobbies dance
sports
friends
My Life
birthdays
holidays
clubs pets fashion
television school
Raw Scores
SD-score Copy Best
Alphabet Writing
Copy
Fast
SD-score Free Writing
Graphic Speed
2
31
> 55
18
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE TASKS
Graphic Speed Alphabet Writing Copy Best Copy Fast
Alphabet Writing
Copy Best
Copy Fast
Free Writing
.48**
.52**
.56**
.54*
.72**
.77*
.69**
.82**
.71** .83**
** p
