Reliability of occupational therapist and teacher evaluations of the handwriting quality of grade 5 and 6 primary school children*

Both occupational therapists and primary school teachers play an important role in identifying children with handwriting dysfunction. The present study investigated the inter‐ and intrarater reliability of evaluations of handwriting quality by occupational therapists and school teachers. Samples of handwriting were collected from 61 grade 5 and 6 school children. Two paediatric occupational therapists, two primary school teachers and the children's class teachers were asked to rate the quality of handwriting on a five point Likert scale. Written data were also collected to determine the variables that participants recognized as critical to handwriting quality. Intraclass correlational analyses and percentage agreements revealed a lack of reliability in the evaluation of handwriting quality, both between and within the separate professions. These results question the reliability of current methods of handwriting evaluation.