Handwriting Without Tears(®): General Education Effectiveness Through a Consultative Approach.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric occupational therapy
• Educational psychology
• Developmental psychology

Background:

• Effective handwriting instruction is crucial for academic success.
• Occupational therapy consultation can bridge gaps in general education curriculum implementation.
• The Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) program is a widely used approach for teaching printing skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the HWT kindergarten printing curriculum.
• To examine the role of occupational therapy in supporting HWT implementation in general education.
• To compare student printing legibility using HWT versus a control group.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental design with three cohorts: one control and two experimental groups.
• Students in experimental groups received printing instruction via the HWT curriculum.
• The Test of Handwriting Skills-Revised (THS-R) was administered to assess legibility at year-end.

Main Results:

• Both experimental groups, individually and combined, significantly outperformed the control group on the THS-R.
• Statistically significant improvements (p < .05) were observed in 6-7 subtests and overall scores.
• Large treatment effects (d = 0.81-1.03) indicate substantial positive impact of the HWT curriculum.

Conclusions:

• The HWT printing curriculum is effective for kindergarten students.
• Occupational therapy consultation enhances the successful implementation of handwriting curricula in general education settings.
• HWT provides a successful framework for foundational printing instruction.