A new issue of the Blackwell journal Literacy is out and there is at least one article that caught my eye. The journal is typically much more teacher oriented, but certainly has a couple of gems here or there that can be of significant use to literacy assessment. In this case the article is supportive of the inclusion of writing/automaticity within literacy/reading assessments. A model I have become very familiar with over the past few years with the Process Assessment of the Learner (PAL) and the work of Virginia Berninger. I have included the abstract that interested myself down below:
Journal: Literacy (UK)
Issue: April 2007 - Vol. 41 Issue 1
Title: Handwriting: what do we know and what do we need to know?
Authors: Jane Medwell and David Wray
Abstract: Handwriting has a low status and profile in literacy education in England and in recent years has attracted little attention from teachers, policy-makers or researchers into mainstream educational processes. This article identifies a substantial programme of research into handwriting, including studies located in the domains of special needs education and psychology, suggesting that it is time to re-evaluate the importance of handwriting in the teaching of literacy. Explorations of the way handwriting affects composing have opened up new avenues for research, screening and intervention, which have the potential to make a significant contribution to children's progress in learning to write. In particular, the role of orthographic motor integration and automaticity in handwriting is now seen as of key importance in composing. Evidence from existing studies suggests that handwriting intervention programmes may have a real impact on the composing skills of young writers. In particular, they could positively affect the progress of the many boys who struggle with writing throughout the primary school years.
The journals table of contents can be found by CLICKING HERE.
