The Test of Written Expression (TOWE) provides a comprehensive yet efficient norm-referenced assessment of writing achievement for students ages 6-6 through 14-11. The TOWE, which can be administered conveniently to individuals or groups of students, uses two assessment methods to evaluate a student’s writing skills. The first method involves administering a series of 76 items that tap different skills associated with writing. The second method requires students to read or hear a prepared story starter and use it as a stimulus for writing an essay (i.e., the beginning of the story is provided, and the writer continues the story to its conclusion). The TOWE provides an excellent source of writing samples that can be used independently in a norm-referenced assessment of writing or as a component of a student’s portfolio of written products.
The TOWE reports its scores in raw scores, standard scores (M = 100, SD = 15), and percentile ranks. The scale consists of a normative sample of 1,226 students residing in 21 states. The sample is representative of the nation as a whole across gender, race, and geographic region. Evidence of validity and reliability (internal consistency, test retest, interscorer) is provided in the test manual (averaged coefficients are in the .90s). Three types of validity are explored: content validity, criterion-related validity, and construct validity. Criterion-related validity was determined by correlating the scale¹s results with writing scores from the Test of Written Language, the Wide Range Achievement Test, and the Diagnostic Achievement Battery, among others. Construct validity was established by computing the scores of the TOWE with scores from numerous aptitude measures, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude, and scores from various scales of achievement, including the Woodcock-Johnson – Revised and the Gray Oral Reading Tests – Third Edition.
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