Understanding Beginning Writers' Narrative Writing with a Multidimensional Assessment Approach

Writing is thought to be the most complex facet of language arts. Assessing writing is difficult and subjective, and few scientifically validated assessments exist. Research has proposed evaluating writing to use a multidimensional approach including both qualitative and quantitative measures of handwriting, spelling, and prose. Given that narrative writing has historically been a staple of literacy instruction in primary grades, it is essential for teachers to understand how to measure beginning writers writing development and sources of writing difficulties through narrative writing. Guided by the theoretical models of early written expression and using empirical data, this chapter exams ways teachers can enact a comprehensive approach to understand beginning writers' narrative writing through assessment. The goal is to help classroom teachers structure a framework in assessing early writing in primary classrooms.