Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 8, 2026
A Tablet-Based Curriculum-Based Measurement Protocol for Kindergarten Writing
Published on: February 7, 2025
Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI): An Effective Outcome Measure for Handwriting Interventions for
Beth Pfeiffer1, Beverly Moskowitz2, Andrew Paoletti3
1Beth Pfeiffer, PhD, OTR/L, BCP, is Associate Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; bpfeiffe@temple.edu.
Abstract:
We determined whether a widely used assessment of visual-motor skills, the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI), is appropriate for use as an outcome measure for handwriting interventions. A two-group pretest-posttest design was used with 207 kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students. Two well-established handwriting measures and the VMI were administered pre- and postintervention. The intervention group participated in the Size Matters Handwriting Program for 40 sessions, and the control group received standard instruction. Paired and independent-samples t tests were used to analyze group differences. The intervention group demonstrated significant improvements on the handwriting measures, with change scores having mostly large effect sizes. We found no significant difference in change scores on the VMI, t(202)=1.19, p=.23. Results of this study suggest that the VMI may not detect changes in handwriting related to occupational therapy intervention.
