Donald D. Hammill / Stephen C. Larsen
Ages: 9 through 17.11 years
Administration: Individual or Group
60 - 90 minutes
The TOWL-4 is a norm referenced, comprehensive diagnostic test of written expression. Featuring seven subtests, it is used to identify students who write poorly, determine student’s particular strengths and weaknesses in various writing abilities and document students’ progress in special writing programs. The subtests represent the conventional, linguistic, and conceptual aspects of writing. Subtests 1 through 5 use contrived formats; subtests 6 and 7 use a spontaneously written story to assess important aspects of language. Each of the seven subtests have two forms (Form A and Form B).
Seven Subtests of the TOWL-4:
1. Vocabulary: Writing sentences that incorporate given stimulus words.
2. Spelling: Writing sentences from dictation while using proper use of spelling rules.
3. Punctuation: The student writes sentences from dictation, making proper use of punctuation and capitalization rules.
4. Logical Sentences: Editing illogical sentences so that they make better sense.
5. Sentence Combination: The student integrates the meaning of several short sentences into one grammatically correct written sentence. E.g.: “John drives fast” is combined with “John has a red car,” making “John drives his red car fast.”
6. Contextual Conventions: The student writes a story in response to a stimulus picture. Points are earned for satisfying specific arbitrary requirements relative to orthographic (E.g.: punctuation, spelling) and grammatic conventions (E.g.: sentence construction, noun/verb agreement).
7. Story Composition: Evaluating a student’s story relative to the quality of its composition.
(TOWL-4 ) Test of Written Language
The TOWL-4 Complete Kit includes:
• Examiner’s Manual
• Picture Cards
• Record/Story Scoring Forms (50)
• Form A Student Response Booklets (25)
• Form B Student Response Booklets (25)
• Supplemental Practice Scoring Booklet
Fourth Edition
