A. Writing Needs Checklist
Consider the following aspects of writing as you determine the target student's strengths and needs.
Conventions: Handwriting and Mechanics
       Is handwriting easy or laborious? 
       Is his or her handwriting legible? 
       Does he or she have keyboarding experience? 
       Does he or she prefer handwriting or word processing? 
       How much handwritten text can he or she produce in 15 minutes? 
       Does he or she express when physical limits have been reached? 
       Can he or she produce the appropriate size of text for tasks? 
       Does he or she use appropriate spacing between words? 
       Does he or she have appropriate margins? 
       Does he or she use appropriate punctuation and capitalization? 
Spelling
       What is his or her underlying spelling pattern (deviant, pre-phonetic, phonetic, transitional, or standard speller)? 
       Is he or she an inconsistent speller? Are spelling difficulties scattered across both low- and high-frequency words or do they only occur with low-frequency words? 
       Is he or she a consistent first-letter speller? 
       Can he or she recognize a word spelled incorrectly? 
       Does the student think he or she can catch his or her spelling errors? 
       Form and Syntactic Maturity 
       Does he or she have difficulty with the word order in sentences? 
       Does he or she have difficulty with grammatical features (e.g., pronouns, verb tense, present progressive)? 
       Is he or she using complete sentence structures? 
       Does he or she use complete sentences (e.g., sentences with no main clauses)? 
       Do his or her sentences have agreement within and across other sentences? 
Content and Vocabulary
       Does he or she have difficulty finding the right word to express meaning? 
       Does he or she have a weak vocabulary? Consider both everyday, favored words and specialty, sophisticated words. 
       Does he or she understand a variety of word meanings?
       Does he or she avoid words because of spelling difficulties? 
Fluency
       Is he or she able to easily generate writing ideas? 
       Is he or she able to generate original ideas? 
       What is the average length of text he or she is able to produce? 
Organization
       Does he or she plan before writing? 
       Is he or she able to represent his or her thoughts in writing? 
       Is he or she able to produce a cohesive writing product? Is there a clear shape, sequence, or direction? 
       Are there differences in his or her written output when he or she is using a prewriting organizer? 
       Does he or she use an organizational structure that is appropriate to the task? 
       Does he or she produce a variety of types of writing products? 
       Does he or she have a sense of audience when writing? 
Editing
       Is he or she willing to edit? 
       Is he or she able to revise during the writing process? 
       Does he or she revise after the first draft? 
       Is he or she a one-shot writer (does no revising)? 
       When the student's text is read aloud, can he or she detect writing errors? 
       Visual and Auditory Discrimination Skills 
       Is he or she able to auditorily discriminate between words? 
       Is he or she sensitive to sound (classroom noise or synthetic speech)? 
       Would he or she be able to utilize on-line correction? 
       How many features would he or she be able to utilize when writing without inhibiting the writing process? 
       Is the student distracted by "extra" visual stimuli? 
Attitudes and Beliefs
       How motivated is he or she to write? 
       Does he or she enjoy writing? 
       Does the student like to have others read his or her written work? 
       Does the student believe that people understand what he or she is saying when writing? 
       Does the student believe that his or her papers look good (handwritten or word processed)? 
       Does the student think he or she is a good writer? 
       Does the student think he or she is a good speller? 
       Does he or she persist when confronted with a difficult task? 
       Is he or she a risk taker? 
Approach and Strategy Use
       What strategies or problem-solving skills does he or she use when approaching a writing task? 
       Is he or she able to write independently without assistance)? 
       Does he or she demonstrate any avoidance behaviors or strategies when writing? 
       Does he or she become frustrated when writing? 
       Can he or she accept feedback about his or her writing needs? 
       Does he or she benefit most from direct instruction discovery learning? 
Illustrations
       Does the student need to produce writing products paired with illustrations? 
       Does the student have motoric difficulty when illustrating? 
       Would an illustration program be motivating or provide the student with writing topics? 
       Writing Needs Summary 
       What penalizes students most in school (e.g., classroom goals, grading) as far as producing adequate writing products? 
       Which of the above needs most negatively impacts his or her writing process? That is, which need requires the most cognitive and/or physical effort? 
       Ask the student what is mot difficult about writing. What is most enjoyable about writing? 
       Ask parents or teacher what student finds most difficult about writing. What does he or she enjoy about writing? 
       Do the student's writing needs match the concerns of the student, parent, and teacher? 
B. Writing Requirements Checklist
       What types of writing products is the student currently completing at home and at school? 
       What types of writing activities would you like this student to be able to do in the future?
        How many writing tasks does he or she complete per class/day/week? 
       How many writing tasks does he or she complete per class/day/week? 
       What is the typical length required for each writing task? 
       How much time is student given for each writing task? 
       How many hours or days is student given to complete each type of assignment? 
       Does the time given match the time needed? 
       Does student need more time than is typically given to complete written tasks? 

C. Features of Computer-supported Writing
       Would the student benefit from auditory feedback on individual letters, words, sentences, entire documents? 
       Would computer feedback be most helpful during the writing process or following completion of studentâs writing? 
       Are the studentâs spelling skills good enough that the spell checker generates the appropriate choices? 
       Would the student prefer on-line (immediate) or end-of-document spelling error feedback? 
       Would he or she benefit from spelling suggestions? 
       Would he or she benefit from print or auditory feedback? 
       Would the student benefit from prompts cueing particular organizational structures? 
       How severe are the studentâs grammatical needs? 
       What level of feedback can he or she handle? 
       Does the student need to improve his or her keyboarding skills? 
       Does the student need to produce writing products paired with illustrations? 
       Does the student have motor difficulty when illustrating? 
       Would an illustration program be motivating or provide the student with writing topics?
Note. Copyright (1996) by Janet Sturm