Development and application of a writing attitude survey for grades 1 to 3

The purpose of these studies was to develop and use a writing attitude survey for students in Grades 1 to 3 modeled after the survey developed and used with students in Grades 4 to 8 in 1991. A 19-item survey was administered to 394 children in Grades 1, 2, and 3. The instrument was then used in an experiment to assess the effect of instructional treatment, grade, and participation on 112 students' attitudes toward writing. There were no significant main effects for treatment or for time of measurement. There were no significant interactions, but there was a significant main effect for grade. Follow-up of significant main effects using Tukey tests indicated that 52 third graders had significantly more positive attitudes toward writing than 60 fifth graders.