Little is known about students' engagement in school writing tasks and the methods that should be used by the researchers to assess this engagement. This exploratory study examines the relationship between the engagement reported by elementary school students (N = 136) in a handwriting and keyboarding activity (Likert scale questionnaire) and…

Handwriting is used throughout the school day and is important to demonstrate knowledge. This research evaluated how handwriting instructional practices and intrinsic and extrinsic factors in actual classroom settings impacted learning handwriting over the course of the school year. Findings indicated that extrinsic factors (educational…

A comparison was made between the accuracy of handwriting on large-spaced paper and normal-spaced paper of urban and suburban students. Results indicated that, with large-spaced paper, suburban students produced more accurate strokes than urban students, but when normal-spaced paper was used, there were no signficant differences. (Author/JN)

Sixteen forms of an essay exam, identical in content but differing in writing neatness and numbers of composition errors, were graded by 480 classroom teachers. The two factors consisted of four writing treatments and four levels of composition errors. No significant differences were found. (Author)

This study investigated the reliability, validity, and utility of three measures of letter-formation quality of handwriting samples from third and fifth-grade students. Findings are discussed with respect to criteria for validating an assessment instrument. (Author/MT)

Examined the development of students' handwriting speed and legibility. Diverse students in grades one through nine completed three writing tasks (copying, writing a narrative, and writing an essay). Researchers measured their speed and legibility. Results indicated that handwriting speed and legibility did not follow a parallel course of…

Subjects (N=52) in a study comparing writing quality of handwritten papers with that of papers produced by word processor showed no educationally or statistically significant differences in performance. Within the experimental group keyboard competence did significantly affect writing quality. (IAH)

A newly developed manuscript alphabet was compared with a traditional one to observe their effects on the teaching of cursive handwriting. Results showed no significant differences between the two types in teaching the production of cursive letters when presented to first graders. (Author/DF)

Printing and writing skills and their interaction were studied to discover if teachers should not teach cursive writing to students with poor printing skills. Writing samples were analyzed using a diagnostic inventory that focused on major elements of form and neatness. Results are discussed. (Author/DF)

Page prompts and beginning handwriting legibility were examined in a study of handwriting and teacher ratings of writing legibility. The relation of letter prompting to legibility was found to be dependent on the measure of legibility used. (Author/DF)

Describes an objective, reliable method for functionally measuring cursive handwriting. Researchers assessed the sensitivity of a functional response-class definition to differentiate easy-to-read from difficult-to-read cursive handwriting. Results showed no overlap between the categories. There was small sample-to-sample variability with the…

Examined the relationship between handwriting style and handwriting speed and legibility. Analysis of three writing samples (narrative, expository, and copying) from 600 fourth to ninth graders indicated that students who used a combination of manuscript and cursive letters were the most fluent handwriters. Papers written with mixed letters…

The effectiveness of computer-based handwriting exercises was compared with traditional pencil-and-paper instruction in remediating handwriting difficulties. Students in grades 4-6 with poor handwriting received either computer-based, conventional, or computer-assisted conventional instruction. The traditional group improved significantly more…

Reviews and updates handwriting research conducted in the 1980s, adding two categories of research efforts to previous work: the use of mental models in forming letters during handwriting instruction; and handwriting instruction for special needs populations such as adult literacy and learning disabled students, remedial education students, and…