Based on the Writer(s)-within-Community Model, this article focuses on the role of handwriting in writers' composing process. With the goal of highlighting the importance of researching and promoting handwriting, we provide an extensive summary of current evidence on the topic. It is well established that an important condition for skilled writing…

Calligraphic culture in education had a long tradition in the Hispanic World. This entailed the cultivation of specific forms of script to the detriment of others. Since the late eighteenth century, discussions about the shape of letters and the differences between different alphabets were associated with national characters. The "letra…

The First Grade Baseline Evaluation is an optional tool that can be used at the beginning of the school year to help teachers get to know the reading and language skills of each student. The evaluation is composed of seven screenings. Teachers may use the entire evaluation or choose to use those individual screenings that they find most beneficial…

The First Grade Pre-Screening is designed to be used at the start of the first grade school year so that teachers can obtain information about their incoming students. This information is intended to give teachers insight about what math and reading skills a student may or may not have at the beginning of the year. The information can aid teachers…

In a recent study we (Greaney & Arrow, 2009) undertook an analysis of the types of spelling errors that students had made during a National Education Monitoring Project writing task (Crooks, Flockton & White, 2007). We discussed several issues related to spelling, including the value of analysing students' error-response patterns as a way…

Problems with handwriting can negatively impact the writing of students with learning disabilities. In this article, an example is provided of a fourth-grade special education teacher's efforts to assist a new student by using a problem-solving approach to help determine an efficient course of action for special education teachers who are trying…

This review-specific protocol guides the review of research that informs the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention reports in the Children and Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder topic area. The review-specific protocol is used in conjunction with the "WWC Procedures and Standards Handbook" (version 3.0). This review focuses…

In this technical report, the authors describe the development alternate forms of three types of early literacy measures as part of a comprehensive progress monitoring literacy assessment system developed in 2006 for use with students in Kindergarten through fourth grade. They begin with a brief overview of the two conceptual frameworks underlying…

One component of the Reading Plan for Michigan is to develop and implement methods of assessing children's progress in acquiring early literacy skills and of communicating their status and progress to other teachers and parents. This document presents an assessment and instructional system, the Michigan Literacy Progress Profile 2001 (MLPP 2001),…

The road to becoming a reader begins the day a child is born and continues through the end of third grade. At that point, a child must read with ease and understanding to take advantage of the learning opportunities in fourth grade and beyond--in school and in life. Learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school. Very…