Give Them a Good Hand

Essays written in a 'good hand' get better marks than those written in a 'poor' hand. That was discovered over 50 years ago. Perhaps the computer will eradicate the influence of handwriting on the marks awarded to written work, once we can all type and all have the hardware. Then the frantic scribblings of the examinee will be replaced by the pristine uniformity of machine type, or perhaps by 'vocalised' expressionless 'darlek' speech. In the meantime, however, each child produces his or her unique, and frequently baffling squiggles, and we still have to decode them. When compared with other basic skills, research into handwriting has lagged behind. Investigators are still trying to reach agreement as to what constitutes legible handwriting, let alone the factors that cause readers to respond differently to different styles. Handwriting is essentially an art form and is therefore difficult to measure. It is easy to see the potential handwriting has for effecting essays marks. It is even more unsettling to discover that handwriting is only one of several factors that affect marker reliability.