HELP FOR HANDWRITING: PROCEDURES DEVELOPED AT TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL.

Because handwriting is viewed as such an important component of academic success, an evaluation has always been included in the diagnostic battery at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital given to children with suspected learning disabilities. For a long time a good evaluative instrument for writing was sought and could not be found. In response to a pressing need, the Children's Handwriting Evaluation Scale (CHES) was developed in 1984. See the Journal of Educational Research, 1985 for a description of the research. The test is a brief paragraph with 197 letters which children are asked to copy. Writing samples were gathered from 1397 students in grades 3 through 8, representative of the sociological data reported in the 1980 census. Standard scores for rate and descriptive and objective criteria for judging quality were evolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]