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The TOWL-4 Test of Written Language

Pamela ColtonMay 19, 2010SPLI 678

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A really hoopy frood knows where her TOWeL is…

“… a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason if a non-hitchhiker discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, he will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have ‘lost.’ What the non-hitchhiker will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”

-Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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Basic Information

• Test Name: Test of Written Language (Fourth Edition).

• Acronyms/Versions: TOWL, TOWL-2, TOWL-3, TOWL-4

• Authors: Hammill, Donald D.; Larsen, Stephen C.

• Publication Date: 1978-1996, 2009

• Publisher Information:

PRO-ED, Inc., 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd.Austin, TX 78757-6897

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About the TOWL:

• Purpose: Designed to – (a) identify students who perform significantly more

poorly than their peers in writing and who as a result need special help;

– (b) determine a student's particular strengths and weaknesses in various writing abilities;

– (c) document a student's progress in a special writing program; and conduct research in writing.

• Test Category: English and Language• Administration: Individual or group• Population: Ages 7-0 to 17-11.

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Scores Provided by the TOWL

7 subtest scores• Vocabulary• Spelling• Punctuation• Logical Sentences• Sentence Combining• Contextual Conventions• Story Composition

3 composite scores

• Contrived Writing• Spontaneous Writing• Overall Writing

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ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING

• Designed to be individually administered, but can be group administered. Special instructions are provided for group administration.

• Persons who administer, score, and interpret the test require training in these areas and in evaluation. They should also be knowledgeable about the rules governing English language usage.

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TOWL History

First developed in 1978 in an attempt to create a more objective and relevant test of written language.

TOWL (1978) normed for grades 3-8 with a 9-state sample of 1700 students aged 8.5-14.5 TOWL (1983) normed for individuals aged up to 18 yrs 11 mos,

with a 14-state sample of 3418. Sample intended to reflect the 1980 census information.

TOWL-2 (1988) Major revision. Normed for individuals aged up to 18 yrs 11 months, with a 19-state sample of 2216 students.

Sample intended to reflect the 1985 demographic data of the United States.

Contrived and spontaneous testingComponents: mechanical, productive, conventional, linguistic, & cognitive

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TOWL-3 (1996)

Normative data for the TOWL-3 from a representative sample of 2,217 students in grades 2-12 in 25 states.

Sufficient representation at each age level (range of sample sizes across age levels is 105-350).

Representative of the 1990 U.S. Census

Students with disabilities comprised 10% of the standardization sample and included children with learning disabilities (6%), speech-language disorders (3%), cognitive impairment (1%), & other (1%).

Tried (unsuccessfully) to address problematic floor and ceiling effects (Swerdlick, 1998).

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From the MMY on the TOWL-3

“Scoring instructions are clear and easy to follow, using the tables in the appendix. Nevertheless, the number of steps involved in the process could be daunting to many classroom teachers. Given the complex nature of this test and the administration and scoring procedures, it should not be used by the classroom teacher without training and practice. It would be more appropriate for an assessment professional, evaluator, or school psychologist to be responsible for the administration and scoring. At the very least, such a person should conduct training and set high performance standards for those who would administer and score the test. The cumbersome nature of manual scoring also limits the appeal of this test.”

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More from the MMY

“The TOWL-3 is made up of eight subtests. All items are untimed, making the measure more fair to children with disabilities. Five subtests (Spelling, Style, Vocabulary, Sentence Combining, and Logical Sentences) follow a contrived writing format requiring the student to demonstrate writing skills in isolation, such as incorporating a word into a sentence, spelling from dictation, and combining sentences in a logical manner. The three remaining subtests (Contextual Conventions, Contextual Language, and Story Construction) incorporate a spontaneous writing format. For these subtests, the student produces a spontaneous writing sample (a story), which is evaluated for specific criteria such as vocabulary, grammar, plot, and punctuation.”

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TOWL-4 (2009)

• All new normative data collected to reflect 2005 population demographics.– 2205 individuals, 17 states, ages 9 to 17– Range of disability reasonably represented in the

sample. (p. 58, TOWL-4)

• Test Reliability– Coefficient Alpha low in Story Composition– Test-Retest low in Story Composition

• Validity– Good correlation between the TOWL and other

measures of literacy and intelligence.

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Avoiding Test Bias

• Inclusion of a range of regional, ethnic, and ability differences in normative sample

• Specific measurement of reliability and validity among targeted groups.

• Item analysis and selection

• Avoidance (for the most part) of timed tests.

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TOWL-4 Spontaneous Writing

• “With the exception of the 15 minutes allocated to story writing, the TOWL-4 has no set time limits” (Hammill & Larsen, 2009, p. 10). Possibly reflects/predicts performance on and creation of state level standardized writing assessments?

• Authors estimate 90 minutes for the whole test on average.

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So long and thanks for all the fish.