Measures and References: Foundational Writing Skills

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Measures

Numerous measures exist to gain a full picture of a student's learning strengths and challenges. Following are examples of measures used to assess this Learner Factor. These measures should be administered and interpreted by experienced professionals.

Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) (McMaster et al., 2009): For younger learners, measures of letter and sentence copying, dictation, letter and sound writing, and spelling tasks help to assess Foundational Writing Skills. This measure has also been tested for more experienced early writers with extensions such as story prompts to assess idea generation.

References

Abbott, R. D., & Berninger, V. W. (1993). Structural equation modeling of relationships among developmental skills and writing skills in primary-and intermediate-grade writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(3), 478.

Apel, K., & Lawrence, J. (2011). Contributions of morphological awareness skills to word-level reading and spelling in first-grade children with and without speech sound disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 54(5), 1312-1327.

Bourke, L., Davies, S. J., Sumner, E., & Green, C. (2014). Individual differences in the development of early writing skills: Testing the unique contribution of visuo-spatial working memory. Reading and Writing, 27(2), 315-335.

Byington, T. A., & Kim, Y. (2017). Promoting preschoolers' emergent writing. YC Young Children, 72(5), 74-82.

Cabell, S. Q., Tortorelli, L. S., & Gerde, H. K. (2013). How do I write...?: Scaffolding preschoolers' early writing skills. Reading Teacher, 66(8), 650-659.

Cave, A. (2010). Learning how to become a writer in elementary school: A review of the literature from cognitive, social cognitive, developmental, and sociocultural perspectives. I-Manager's Journal on Educational Psychology, 3(4), 1-13.

Coker, D. L. (2013). Writing instruction in preschool and kindergarten. Best Practices in Writing Instruction, 26-47

Fischer, J. P. (2011). Mirror writing of digits and (capital) letters in the typically developing child. Cortex, 47(6), 759-762.

Gillanders, C., Franco, X., Seidel, K., Castro, D. C., & Mendez, L. I. (2017). Young dual language learners' emergent writing development. Early Child Development and Care, 187(3-4), 371-382_._

Guo, Y., Sun, S., Puranik, C., & Breit-Smith, A. (2018). Profiles of emergent writing skills among preschool children. Child & Youth Care Forum, 47(3), 421-442.

Dohla, D., & Heim, S. (2016). Developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia: What can we learn from the one about the other?. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 2045.

Justice, L. M., & Ezell, H. K. (2001). Word and print awareness in 4-year-old children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 17(3), 207-225.

Kent, S., Wanzek, J., Petscher, Y., Al Otaiba, S., & Kim, Y. S. (2014). Writing fluency and quality in kindergarten and first grade: The role of attention, reading, transcription, and oral language. Reading and Writing, 27(7), 1163-1188.

Kim, Y. S., Al Otaiba, S., Puranik, C., Folsom, J. S., & Gruelich, L. (2014). The contributions of vocabulary and letter writing automaticity to word reading and spelling for kindergartners. Reading and Writing, 27(2), 237-253.

Kim, Y. S., Al Otaiba, S., & Wanzek, J. (2015). Kindergarten predictors of third grade writing. Learning and Individual Differences, 37, 27-37.

Kim, Y. S., Al Otaiba, S., Sidler, J. F., & Gruelich, L. (2013). Language, literacy, attentional behaviors, and instructional quality predictors of written composition for first graders. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(3), 461-469.

Longcamp, M., Zerbato-Poudou, M. T., & Velay, J. L. (2005). The influence of writing practice on letter recognition in preschool children: A comparison between handwriting and typing. Acta Psychologica, 119(1), 67-79.

Maki, H. S., Voeten, M. J., Vauras, M. M., & Poskiparta, E. H. (2001). Predicting writing skill development with word recognition and preschool readiness skills. Reading and Writing, 14(7), 643-672.

McCutchen, D. (2006). Cognitive factors in the development of children's writing. Handbook of Writing Research, 8, 115-30.

McMaster, K. L., Du, X., & Petursdottir, A. L. (2009). Technical features of curriculum-based measures for beginning writers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 42(1), 41-60.

Pellegrini, A. D., & Galda, L. (1991). Longitudinal relations among preschoolers' symbolic play, metalinguistic verbs, and emergent literacy. Play and Early Literacy Development, 47-67.

Puranik, C. S., & Lonigan, C. J. (2011). From scribbles to scrabble: Preschool children's developing knowledge of written language. Reading and Writing, 24(5), 567-589.

Puranik, C. S., & Lonigan, C. J. (2014). Emergent writing in preschoolers: Preliminary evidence for a theoretical framework. Reading Research Quarterly, 49(4), 453-467.

Puranik, C. S., Petscher, Y., & Lonigan, C. J. (2014). Learning to write letters: Examination of student and letter factors. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 128, 152-170.

Puranik, C. S., Boss, E., & Wanless, S. (2019). Relations between self-regulation and early writing: Domain specific or task dependent?. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 46, 228-239.

Puranik, C. S., Lonigan, C. J., & Kim, Y. S. (2011). Contributions of emergent literacy skills to name writing, letter writing, and spelling in preschool children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(4), 465-474.

Puranik, C. S., Phillips, B. M., Lonigan, C. J., & Gibson, E. (2018). Home literacy practices and preschool children's emergent writing skills: An initial investigation. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 42, 228-238.

Rand, M. K., & Morrow, L. M. (2021). The contribution of play experiences in early literacy: Expanding the science of reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 56, S239-S248.

Rawlins, A., & Invernizzi, M. (2019). Reconceptualizing sight words: Building an early reading vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 72(6), 711-719.

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Singleton, J. L., Morgan, D., DiGello, E., Wiles, J., & Rivers, R. (2004). Vocabulary use by low, moderate, and high ASL-proficient writers compared to hearing ESL and monolingual speakers. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 9(1), 86-103.

Treiman, R., & Cassar, M. (1996). Effects of morphology on children's spelling of final consonant clusters. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 63(1), 141-170.

Williams, C., & Mayer, C. (2015). Writing in young deaf children. Review of Educational Research, 85(4), 630-666.

Zumbrunn, S., & Bruning, R. (2013). Improving the writing and knowledge of emergent writers: The effects of self-regulated strategy development. Reading and Writing, 26(1), 91-110.