Teachers in the school setting need to emphasize quality
handwriting across the curriculum. Quality handwriting means that the written
content is easy to read in either manuscript or cursive form. Handwriting
achievement can be assessed, but not compared to the precision of assessing
basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Handwriting
achievement can be assessed in degrees from being legible to being illegible.
Thus, a rubric, carefully developed and designed, can be used to ascertain
the quality of handwriting achievement. This paper first provides a brief
history of handwriting instruction and then presents the author's personal
history of learning handwriting skills in elementary school in Kansas. It
also discusses handwriting instruction during the author's parents' school
years. The paper outlines 10 criteria that need to be followed by the teacher
in teaching/learning situations in handwriting. It also cites these items to
notice in improving handwriting quality: (1) how much progress does the
student show over previous performance in handwriting; (2) how well. is the
student monitoring his/her handwriting quality; (3) how much effort does the
student show in desiring to improve handwriting skills; (4) how much writing
does the student do in functional situations so that others may read what has
been written; and (5) how much conscientious practice is the learner putting
into improving individual letter formation, staying on the line when writing,
etc. (Contains several handwriting illustrations and 6 references.) (NKA)