Writing Assessments

Test of Early Written Language - Second Edition [TEWL-3]
Test of Written Language - Third Edition [TOWL-3]

Test of Early Written Language - Third Edition [TEWL-3]

Wayne P. Hresko, Shelley R. Herron, Pamela K. Peak, Deanne l. Hicks

The Test of Early Written Language - Third Edition is a revision of the widely used TEWL-2. It includes two forms, each with a Basic Writing and a Contextual Writing subtest. The TEWL-3 is suitable as an individual assessment instrument for children 4 years through 12 years of age. The TEWL-3 provides standard score indexes (M=100, SD=15) for age and grade percentiles, and age and grade equivalents.

The Basic Writing subtest consists of 70 items that are scored 0, 1, or 2. all items are presented according to increasing difficulty. The subtest measures a child's understanding about language and the ability to use the writing tools of language. Included in this understanding is metalinguistic knowledge, directionality, organizational structure, awareness of letter features. spelling, capitalization,, punctuation, proofing, sentence combining, and logical sentences. The Basic Writing subtest can be administered independently or in conjunction with the Contextual Writing subtest.

The Contextual Writing subtest consists of 20 items that are scored 0 to 3. Two sets of pictures are provided, one for ages 5 to 7years and one for ages 7 to 12 years. This subtest measures a child's ability to construct a story when provided with a picture prompt.

The Overall Writing index combines the index scores from the Basic Writing and Contextual Writing subtests. It is a measure of a child's overall writing ability. The child must be at least 5 years of age and have completed both subtests.

Complete normative characteristics including reliability and validity are detailed in the Manual. Testing time for the TEWL-3 is between 30 and 50 minutes on an individual basis.

Test of Written Language - Fourth Edition [TOWL-4]

Donald D. Hammill, Stephen C. Larsen

The fourth edition of the Test of Written Language is a norm-referenced, comprehensive diagnostic test of written expression. It is used to a) identify students who write poorly, b) determine a student's particular strengths and weaknesses in various writing abilities, c) document a student's progress in special writing programs, and d) measure writing in research.
The TOWL-4 has two forms, each of which contains seven subtests:vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, logical sentences, sentence combining, contextual conventions, and story composition. The subtests represent the conventional, linguistic, and conceptual aspects of writing.
All new normative data were collected in 2006 and 2007. Grade-based norms, as well as age-based norms, are provided. Testing time is between 60 and 90 minutes, individually or in a group for ages 9 to 18 years.