Evaluation Tool of Children's Handwriting: ETCH

Evaluation Tool of Children's Handwriting: ETCH

More about the ETCH

Psychometric Properties

Administration and Scoring Competence

Introduction to the ETCH

• Overall standardization - In between excellent and adequate
• Interrater Reliablity - Acceptable
• Test-Retest Reliability - Low
• Content Validity - Adequate
• Criterion Validity - No studies carried out
• Concurrent Validity - Moderate
• Overall Reliability - Adequate

• Research shows that children with good handwriting are able to advance to higher level writing tasks that require complex cognitive processes
• Children who have difficulty with basic handwriting usually have challenges in academic performance
• In the school system, handwriting is one of the most common reason for referral to OT
• OTs determine which domains of handwriting are the most difficult and if there are underlying sensory, motor, cognitive, psychosocial, or other factors interfering with handwriting

• Test should be administered by an OT, PT, general or special educator, child psychologist, or other childhood specialist
• The examiner should have knowledge of typical/atypical child development, experience assessing children of all abilities, experience with standardized assessments, practice administering the ETCH, and education/experience about movement, sensorimotor, cognitive, and psychosocial behaviors
• The administrator should practice administration and scoring on 3 children in grades 1-6 for each test (cursive and manuscript)
• Scoring competencey is required, and there is a tutorial and competency quizzes in chapter 5 of the examiner’s manual

• Evaluation Tool of Children's Handwriting, 1st Edition, 1995 by Susan J. Amundson, Ph.D., OTR/L
• Ages 6 years 0 months to 12 years 5 months (1st - 6th grade)
• Evaluates cursive and manuscript handwriting by looking at legibility and speed of handwriting
• Assesses letter formation, spacing, size, and alignment
• Also assesses components of handwriting such as pencil grasp and pressure, hand pressure, manipulative skills with the writing tool, and classroom observations
• 7 cursive writing tasks, 6 manuscript writing tasks, and items to assess handling of pencil and paper are included
• Available from OT Kids for $150 and Therapro for $200

So what should you remember?

Scoring Procedure

Administration Procedure

• The ETCH assesses handwriting legibility, speed, and related factors in children in 1st through 6th grade
• It is a quick assessment: 15-30 minutes for administration and 10-20 minutes for scoring
• Administration is fairly simple, but scoring and using the manual can be tricky
• Adequate overall reliability, but use individual test scores with caution

• Examiner determines child's information and sets up the testing room to be well lit, with an appropriate size table and chairs, quiet and distraction-free, and charts with manuscript or cursive hidden from child's view
• Examiner explains the purpose of the assessment and what will be happening during the testing time to the child
• Examiner sits across the table or next to the child on the opposite side of his/her preferred hand
• Examiner administers subtests in numeric order to the child
• Administration should take between 15 and 30 minutes

• Time is recorded for all tests
• Use symbols and codes on writing samples
• For IAB and II, place checks in boxes corresponding to symbols made on writing sample, starting with last letter/numeral and working backwards
• For remaining tests, tally up legible words/letters/numerals, fill in appropriate boxes
• Convert time in seconds to minutes using chart in manual
• For III and IV, letter/min is determined by dividing the total letters in the task by time in minutes
• For III through VI refer to charts for percentages
• TOTAL scores - transfer "total legible" words/letters/numerals into chart
• Add final two rows of "task" scores and put that number in "totals"
• Divide attained total points by possible total points for the total legibility percentage

Our opinion.....