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Updated: Jun 11, 2026
A Tablet-Based Curriculum-Based Measurement Protocol for Kindergarten Writing
Published on: February 7, 2025
Development and preliminary evaluation of a computer-assisted assessment tool for Chinese prewriting skills in
Zhongling Liu1, Dan Wu1,2, Shaotong Peng3
1Division of Children's Health Care, School of Medicine, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Introduction:
Writing readiness is a critical milestone for children transitioning from preschool to formal schooling. This preliminary study introduces the Chinese Pre-writing Assessment Tool (CPAT), a computer-assisted instrument designed to provide an objective evaluation of pre-writing skills. Unlike traditional measures, the CPAT uniquely integrates both perceptual-motor and linguistic-cognitive components tailored to the Chinese writing system.
Methods:
A preliminary evaluation was conducted with 143 senior kindergarteners to examine the tool's psychometric properties. The analysis assessed internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater reliability. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to validate the construct validity and explore the predictive relationships between pre-writing components and writing outcomes.
Results:
The CPAT demonstrated promising reliability and robust internal structural validity, offering an option for the objective evaluation of pre-writing skills. SEM results indicated that writing legibility is primarily predicted by visual-motor integration (VMI) and orthographic awareness (OA), whereas writing fluency is significantly influenced by VMI speed. Notably, pencil grip emerged as a potential facilitator for Chinese writing performance, showing a distinct pattern compared to alphabetic scripts.
Discussion:
These preliminary findings suggest the CPAT is a promising framework for evaluating Chinese pre-writing. However, the small sample size and cross-sectional design limit generalizability. Future work should focus on establishing formal cut-off scores, implementing automated scoring, and incorporating real-time force tracking to enhance the tool's clinical and predictive utility.
