Post by lillian on Mar 8, 2008 10:14:03 GMT -5
When I first suspected that my son had a writing disability, I took him for testing. That was the beginning of a long journey with a steep learning curve! Over the years, many people have tested my son's writing, and I have learned what tests tell me the most and are the most helpful when considering remediation. Below is my list of favorite and least favorite tests and the ones I would and would not recommend for evaluating a child's writing. I hope this is helpful for anyone beginning the journey!
The tests that have told me the most:
Test of Written Language (TOWL). As a parent, I insist my son is given this test. Some evaluators do not like to use it because it uses a picture, as a writing prompt; however, I have found that this test has consistently pinpointed my son's writing difficulties, unlike any other writing test he has been given.
WIAT Written Expression. This requires a child to write a paragraph from a written prompt. Although the scores are not broken down, as they are on the TOWL, this test is a good indicator of how a child will write in the school environment because most writing in the school environment comes from a written prompt. It's also interesting to compare this with the TOWL, to see if your child writes more easily with a written prompt or with a picture prompt.
Test of Written Spelling. This is the most comprehensive spelling test my son has been given. When older children's writing is assessed, I think it is very important that a thorough, comprehensive spelling evaluation is done, by someone who knows how to look at spelling errors and tell if they are phonological or morphological/orthographic. Spelling instruction is an essential part of remediating writing, so you need to know why your child is having spelling difficulties.
Woodcock Reading Mastery. My new favorite test! It is the most thorough test on the market for assessing a child's ability to decode psuedowords and read real words. If phonological difficulties are holding your child back in writing, this test is great for seeing which phonemes are causing your child the most difficulty.
Occupation Therapy assessment. This should include an assessment of your child's pencil grip, letter formation, ability to write on the lines of the paper and within the margins of the paper, ability to copy off the board and overhead, ability to take oral notes, eye tracking skills, and visual/motor integration skills. For the latter, I like the Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor Integration.
Writing samples from across the curriculum. I have found that a child's writing assessments across the curriculum can help shed a lot of light on particular writing difficulties the child is having--whether it is with spontaneous writing, highly structured writing, writing from an oral lecture, writing to explain what s/he has studied for a test, etc.; therefore, it is essential that examples of your child's writing from English, science, history, art, whatever, be evaluated and assessed.
Now, a list of my least favorite tests for assessing writing:
Woodcock-Johnson Test of Academic Achievement's Written Expression. This only requires that a child write sentences, which is inappropriate for the older child, who must write paragraphs and essays in school.
Woodcock-Johnson's and WIAT's spelling sections. Not thorough enough to tell you anything.
The tests that have told me the most:
Test of Written Language (TOWL). As a parent, I insist my son is given this test. Some evaluators do not like to use it because it uses a picture, as a writing prompt; however, I have found that this test has consistently pinpointed my son's writing difficulties, unlike any other writing test he has been given.
WIAT Written Expression. This requires a child to write a paragraph from a written prompt. Although the scores are not broken down, as they are on the TOWL, this test is a good indicator of how a child will write in the school environment because most writing in the school environment comes from a written prompt. It's also interesting to compare this with the TOWL, to see if your child writes more easily with a written prompt or with a picture prompt.
Test of Written Spelling. This is the most comprehensive spelling test my son has been given. When older children's writing is assessed, I think it is very important that a thorough, comprehensive spelling evaluation is done, by someone who knows how to look at spelling errors and tell if they are phonological or morphological/orthographic. Spelling instruction is an essential part of remediating writing, so you need to know why your child is having spelling difficulties.
Woodcock Reading Mastery. My new favorite test! It is the most thorough test on the market for assessing a child's ability to decode psuedowords and read real words. If phonological difficulties are holding your child back in writing, this test is great for seeing which phonemes are causing your child the most difficulty.
Occupation Therapy assessment. This should include an assessment of your child's pencil grip, letter formation, ability to write on the lines of the paper and within the margins of the paper, ability to copy off the board and overhead, ability to take oral notes, eye tracking skills, and visual/motor integration skills. For the latter, I like the Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor Integration.
Writing samples from across the curriculum. I have found that a child's writing assessments across the curriculum can help shed a lot of light on particular writing difficulties the child is having--whether it is with spontaneous writing, highly structured writing, writing from an oral lecture, writing to explain what s/he has studied for a test, etc.; therefore, it is essential that examples of your child's writing from English, science, history, art, whatever, be evaluated and assessed.
Now, a list of my least favorite tests for assessing writing:
Woodcock-Johnson Test of Academic Achievement's Written Expression. This only requires that a child write sentences, which is inappropriate for the older child, who must write paragraphs and essays in school.
Woodcock-Johnson's and WIAT's spelling sections. Not thorough enough to tell you anything.
