Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Letter Form Assessment Version 2 (LFA-2) Scale

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Occupational Therapy

Background:

• Handwriting is crucial for academic success and early literacy.
• Identifying letter formation difficulties is essential for intervention.
• The Letter Form Assessment Version 2 (LFA-2) was developed to assess letter formation fluency but requires validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the interrater reliability of the LFA-2.
• To assess the construct validity (factor structure) of the LFA-2.
• To evaluate the concurrent validity of the LFA-2 with other measures.

Main Methods:

• Observational cross-sectional analysis of data from a longitudinal study.
• Seventy-eight kindergarten students in Australia participated.
• Interrater reliability was tested on a subgroup of 16 students.

Main Results:

• Excellent interrater reliability for the LFA-2 total score (ICC = .96).
• Factor analysis confirmed unidimensionality with strong reliability (ω = .92).
• Moderate to strong correlations were found with alphabet writing, visual-motor integration, fine motor precision, and manual dexterity.

Conclusions:

• Preliminary findings support the LFA-2's reliability and validity for assessing letter formation fluency in beginning writers.
• The LFA-2 demonstrates good interrater reliability and a unidimensional structure.
• Further research with larger samples is needed to confirm these findings.