Grade Level Expectations in Lexical Measures and Accuracy of Written Narrative Samples.

This project aimed to describe selected micro structural aspects of written narratives of school age children and examine the relationship between narrative measures and performance on standardized assessments. Investigators utilized written personal narratives of 907 children in 1st-8th grade. Children's responses were described in terms of lexical diversity, productivity, and accuracy (grammatical, spelling, and conventions) by grade. The relationship between written narrative measures and performance on statewide assessments was analyzed through correlational and regression analyses. Findings demonstrated an upward trend in lexical measures across grades and a decrease in the proportion of errors. Children's performance on written language sample measures were significantly correlated to performance on standardized language and literacy assessments. The proportion of errors in written samples appeared to explain more unique variance than lexical measures. Findings substantiate that lexical measures and accuracy of written narrative measures are educationally relevant tools in first through eighth grade for predicting performance on standardized statewide language and literacy assessments. Results provide additional resources for educators on expected distribution of performance of school age children on written narrative measures. Findings further affirm the construct validity of using written narrative sample measures as a developmental index of language acquisition.