Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting, Second Edition

Can I photocopy the DASH-2 materials onto colored paper (or use a colored overlay) if that is the student’s usual way of working?

For the DASH-2 standardization, all test materials were printed on white paper. As any changes made to the materials may affect the examinee’s results, these types of modifications are not generally recommended. However, when a student uses colored paper or overlays for their usual way of working, you may decide that adapting the test in this way is appropriate. When reporting and interpreting the test results, the change must be noted and commented on.

How do I decide which sentence to use on the Copying tasks?

Sentences A1 (for ages 8-16) and A3 (for ages 17-25) should be used the first time an individual is being assessed. When you are re-assessing, check the previous Record Form and confirm that the correct sentence was used. Then use the alternate form when repeating the test.

What should I do if making the time mark seems to disrupt the flow of the student's writing - can I omit this?

No; do not omit the time marks as this would change the way the tasks are administered and reduce the amount of useful information gained from the test (e.g. the profile of wpm during the 10-minute free writing task). If you feel making the time mark has had an effect on the student's result, the disruption should be noted and commented on in your report.

Do I need to administer all five tasks in the DASH-2?

Handwriting speed may vary across different writing tasks. DASH-2 was designed to be a comprehensive measure of legible handwriting speed, therefore it includes a range of tasks involving different writing demands. Ideally all tasks should be completed, however parts of DASH/DASH 17+ have been used successfully for different purposes. For example, the Copy Best and Copy Fast tasks have been used outside of the DASH as part of a broader writing/dysgraphia assessment.

Is DASH-2 suitable for use with students with English as an additional language?

Yes. The standardisation sample included those with English as their primary language and those with English as an additional language (EAL). However, any student who was unable to understand English (i.e. follow instructions, interact with the examiner, attempt all tasks) was excluded from the sample. Examiners should always use their professional judgement to ascertain whether a slow handwriting speed may be associated with language issues.

Can I use DASH-2 to look at response to intervention?

Yes, you can. The fact that DASH-2 includes both an overall measure of handwriting speed as well as scaled scores for a variety of tasks with differing demands makes it ideal for assessing progress in this area. Also, the supplementary scores can be used as measures of change.

Can I use DASH-2 in telepractice?

Yes, you can. Guidelines are provided to help you prepare for and administer a remote assessment. See this link for further information on telepractice, DASH-2 and further resources Telepractice and the DASH and DASH 17+

What if the student writes for less than 10 minutes on the Free Writing task, how do I score this?

The formal scoring instructions in the manual should be followed as if the student wrote for the full 10 minutes. Take the total number of words written, divide by 10 to calculate an average wpm score and find the appropriate standard score from table B1. However, it may also be useful to calculate a wpm score which is based on the total amount of time that the examinee actually wrote (e.g. a student who wrote X words then stopped after 3 minutes would have a formal score of X/10 and an “informal” score of X/3. A comparison of these two scores may be helpful in your interpretation of the formal test results.

How do I choose which Free Writing topic to use?

The ‘My Life’ topic should be used in most circumstances for the first administration of DASH-2. The alternative topic ‘Past/Present/Future’ can be used if 'My Life' is not considered appropriate due to family or personal circumstances, or for re-assessment. Examiners may also choose to use 'Past/Present/Future' if they feel it's appropriate and necessary to use a more challenging topic than 'My Life'.

How do I score illegible words in the Free Writing task?

Words that cannot be read/deciphered, even given the context of the writing, should be bracketed and counted up separately. These are not included in the wpm score but are used to calculate the percentage of illegible words overall. The percentage of illegible words should be considered alongside the scaled score for the task.

Were there students in-education and out-of- education in the standardization sample and was there a difference between them?

There were students both in and out of education in the sample. These groups were compared and no significant difference was found between them on either the individual tasks or the total standard score. Consequently,data from these two groups were combined to derive the norms.

What proportion of students with dyslexia were included in the standardization sample?

All standardized tests aim to include a representative proportion of individuals with various educational/clinical characteristics in the sample. The DASH-2 sample included some individuals with dyslexia. In addition, a separate validation study was undertaken which compared a group of individuals with a diagnosis of dyslexia to a typically developing group matched on age, sex and parent/caregiver educational level. The results confirmed that DASH-2 was suitable for students with dyslexia.

Why are the confidence intervals shown in Table B.2 different from those calculated using information shown in Table 7.15?  

Many methods can be used to calculate confidence intervals (CIs). In DASH-2, Table 7.15 provides information based on the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), which is derived from the distribution of observed scores obtained during the test’s standardisation.  In Table B.2, the CIs for the Total Standard Score (TSS) were calculated using the Standard Error of Estimation (SEE). Although less familiar, this method centres the confidence interval on the estimated true score rather than on the observed score, and has the advantage of including a correction for true-score regression toward the mean. 

Because the method of calculating CIs is different in the two tables, an assessor comparing the range of scores that emerges around some TSSs might find they are slightly different. However, the differences are mostly small and tend to occur at the extreme high and low ends of the distribution. This is because the effects of regression to the mean are always greater at the ends of a distribution of scores. Importantly, the differences do not mean that one method is correct and the other wrong. They are complementary and provide the user with a choice.  

How should I report confidence intervals for DASH-2?

Reporting Confidence Intervals (CIs) for test scores has become common practice as they serve as a reminder that measurement error is inherent in all test scores and that observed scores obtained from a single assessment are only estimates of true ability. There are many methods that can be used to calculate CIs, and they all produce slightly different confidence interval values.  

DASH-2 uses 2 complementary methods: the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), which is derived from the distribution of observed scores obtained during the test’s standardisation (table 7.15) and the Standard Error of Estimation (SEE), which centres the confidence interval on the estimated true score rather than on the observed score, and has the advantage of including a correction for true-score regression toward the mean (Table B2). 

When reporting Total Standard Scores for DASH-2, the use of Table B2 is recommended. However, if the assessor has been trained to use SEMs and also wants to report CIs for individual tasks then Table 7.15 can be used.  Because the method of calculating CIs is different for the two tables, the band widths around some TSS will be slightly different but are mostly small. Also, when differences do occur, they tend to be at the extreme ends of the distribution due to greater regression to the mean effects at the ends of a distribution of scores 

The assessor may always choose the level of confidence they wish to assign to an individual’s score.