La escritura 2026 Texas, Grade 4

Evaluation for 1.1a
Materials include an explanation of the stated purpose of the supplemental program (e.g., additional instruction and/or practice, targeted remediation or acceleration).

The “Efficacy” section of the grade 4 Teacher Edition identifies the supplemental program’s stated purpose. It states, “The act of handwriting supports the brains of developing readers. As students practice forming letters, they learn to recognize the letters when they read.” It also outlines both the short- and long-term goals of the program. In the short term, the program aims to help students write automatically, efficiently, and legibly. Long-term goals include helping students apply their handwriting skills to communicate their thoughts and ideas and to build connections within learning communities.

Additionally, the materials explain the purpose of the supplemental program through the Teacher Edition, which describes structured handwriting instruction aligned to the TEKS. The “Program Components” section also identifies the materials as “quick, explicit instruction” with ongoing practice opportunities, demonstrating the program’s purpose of providing supplemental handwriting instruction and practice.

Evaluation for 1.1b
Materials include guidance on how to appropriately use the supplemental program to support an existing core reading and language arts program.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition provides guidance for educators on how to appropriately use the supplemental program in the section “Time-Saving Routines for Teaching Handwriting.” Specifically, this section outlines the program’s utility as a versatile supplement, offering guidance for whole-class instruction, independent work, and at-home practice to reinforce an existing core literacy curriculum. The publisher consistently states throughout the materials that the program’s designers intend for educators to teach it effectively and efficiently in lessons of about 15 minutes.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition provides explicit guidance for integrating the supplemental handwriting program with core reading and language arts instruction. The “Fast, Efficient Instruction” pages outline flexible implementation options in five-minute to 10-minute instructional routines, practice opportunities, reinforcement activities, and lesson components that support letter formation and literacy development.

Evaluation for 1.1c
Materials include a scope and sequence outlining student expectations, skills taught, and a rationale for the design of the scope and sequence.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition includes a “Correlation to TEKS” section. The TEKS correlation table outlines student expectations down to the breakout level. This table identifies the specific Teacher Edition and Student Workbook pages where each breakout standard is addressed.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition includes a “Groupings, Patterns, and Progress” section that provides a clear rationale for the scope and sequence. The program explains that manuscript and cursive letters are intentionally grouped by common strokes, visual patterns, and developmental progression to support efficient handwriting instruction and improve legibility. This section identifies how letters are introduced in sequenced groupings based on shared formations, such as vertical, horizontal, circular, and diagonal strokes, helping educators understand the progression of skills and instructional purpose across the program.

Evaluation for 1.1d
Materials include guidance on time requirements (e.g., duration, frequency) and suggested pacing for effective implementation.

In the grade 4 Teacher Edition, the “Fast, Efficient Instruction” section guides the program’s time requirements. Educators can implement the program in 15 minutes per day. The Teacher Edition also provides educators with explicit instruction and practice opportunities for implementation throughout the day. The lessons provide for flexible implementation within the daily plan.

While the materials do not provide a pacing guide for the Spanish side of the program, additional supports in the Teacher Edition include a rationale for the program’s scope and sequence. “Program Basics” materials include whole-group instruction resources, animated letter models, instructional videos, home practice activities, and explicit handwriting instruction with practice and reinforcement opportunities.

Evaluation for 1.1e
Materials include resources and guidance to support educators with implementing the materials as designed.

In the grade 4 Teacher Edition, “Program Components” pages support effective program implementation by providing educators with visual examples of the various materials, including the student and educator guides. These examples identify and explain the different sections on each page and describe how educators and students should use the materials during instruction. Each section of the sample page is highlighted and labeled to clarify its purpose for educators. Additionally, the “Your Components at a Glance” page offers further implementation support by listing each program component, providing a brief description of its purpose and benefits, and identifying where educators find the resources.

Implementation guidance for the program appears throughout the grade 4 Teacher Edition. The materials familiarize educators with the program’s key resources, including the Teacher Edition, Student Edition, and Practice Masters, and explain the intended use of each component. The Practice Masters provide additional opportunities for student practice through reproducible pages that educators can use for small-group instruction, learning centers, or homework assignments.

Evaluation for 1.1f
Materials contain supports for families in both Spanish and English with suggestions on supporting the progress of their student.

The grade 4 Practice Masters include family supports in Spanish. These include printable pages for educators to send home with students for handwriting practice with their families. Some of these pages include “Notes to Families” that offer guidance and tips for supporting student learning at home. While these family support materials are available in Spanish, they are not provided in English.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition includes a “School-Home Connection” initiative designed to encourage family involvement in supporting students’ handwriting development at home. The materials highlight the importance of family support and identify available practice materials and digital resources for use outside the classroom. For example, the materials state, “Adults can use the codes to help reinforce correct letter formation as students practice.” While the guidance provided is for Spanish-speaking families, it is not available in English. Finally, the “School-Home Connection” supports educators, but it is not a family-facing resource.

Evaluation for 2.1a
Materials include appropriate instructional assessments for the stated purpose of the supplemental program (e.g., diagnostic placement assessments for targeted remediation or acceleration).

In grade 4, educators introduce students to the self-assessment work they will be doing throughout their workbook. At the beginning of the Student Edition, educators guide students through the four “Keys to Legibility” of manuscript handwriting, which are “Shape, Size, Spacing, and Slant,” and what considerations each of these qualities encompasses. As students practice their handwriting, they are expected to stop each time they encounter a red checkmark stop sign on the page and assess the handwriting quality, or “Key to Legibility,” displayed on that page. Students self-assess their handwriting by circling the letter that best represents their work on that page’s “Key to Legibility.” This self-assessment provides students with opportunities for growth and improvement in their handwriting quality as they progress through the program.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition also provides a summative assessment to help educators evaluate students’ progress at the end of the school year or after students complete the instructional cycle. The posttest is at the end of unit 4. Students rewrite the same poem used in the pretest. To support students, educators meet with them and compare pre- and posttest results. Furthermore, the materials provide guidance to help educators interpret results and identify whether students need more practice or have achieved mastery.

Evaluation for 2.1b
Materials include the definition and intended purpose for the instructional assessments included.

In grade 4, the Teacher Edition of La escritura features an “Assessment and Progress Monitoring” section under “Designed to Help Texas Students and Teachers Meet the TEKS!” The section indicates that the program contains embedded self-assessments for students. The materials, however, do not clarify what these self-assessments are or explain their intended use, which limits educators’ ability to understand how to use them to track student progress.

Additionally, the Teacher Edition of La escritura includes a “Legibility” section that outlines the “Keys to Legibility,” brief tools embedded in the curriculum as formative assessments. This page notes the role of self-evaluation, stating that “self-evaluation is a key component in building confidence and helping students take ownership of their learning.” While the section explains the use of self-assessments in the program, it does not offer an explicit, clearly stated purpose for those assessments.

Evaluation for 2.1c
For instructional assessments administered by educators, materials include guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of instructional assessments.

In grade 4, the educator-facing materials include prompts for educators to cue students to self-evaluate their handwriting and self-assess throughout the workbook. These self-assessments, in which students evaluate their handwriting, focus on criteria such as letter formation, size, spacing, slant, and stroke direction. The assessment provides student-facing prompts aligned to the lesson objective that ask students to evaluate aspects of handwriting legibility. However, the materials do not provide guidance on the time allocation, grouping, or resources necessary to ensure consistent and accurate administration of instructional assessments.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition provides educator-facing support for handwriting instruction, including letter-formation activities, handwriting practice, and student self-evaluation opportunities. However, the materials do not provide educator guidance for administering assessments, scoring student responses, or ensuring consistent implementation of assessments across settings. The materials do not provide guidance to support consistent and accurate administration of instructional assessments.

Evaluation for 2.1d
Instructional assessments include items at varying levels of complexity.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition assessments provided in the program include items at varying levels of complexity. The “Groupings, Patterns, and Progress” page outlines the systematic sequence embedded in the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting program. The program groups manuscript letters by stroke type and teaches them in a developmentally appropriate sequence, with rigor increasing as the program progresses. The students evaluate their writing during each lesson. The lessons progress from writing strokes to letters and then to words, sentences, and paragraphs.


As an additional feature, the grade 4 program materials provide assessments at the end of each unit. These assessments increase in complexity as the students progress through the instructional cycle. For example, in unit 2, the “Evaluation” has students evaluating cursive handwriting using the four “Keys to Legibility”; in unit 3, they copy a paragraph in cursive; and in unit 4, they write complete sentences. The posttest for the grade 4 program requires students to rewrite a poem in cursive that the materials present in manuscript. With each passing unit, the complexity of the materials increases as students’ skills develop.

Evaluation for 2.2a
Instructional assessments and scoring information provide guidance for interpreting student performance.

In grade 4, the Teacher Edition includes a “Record of Student’s Handwriting Skills.” This checklist serves as a tool for educators to track their students’ progress and growth from the beginning to the end of the supplemental program. However, the checklist does not provide any scoring information, nor does it serve as a rubric that outlines domains with guidance for scoring levels of performance in each domain for handwriting assignments.

Also, the grade 4 Teacher Edition includes scoring information in the “Cursive Evaluation Rubric,” which guides the educator’s evaluation of students’ handwriting for correct shape, size, spacing, and slant using a four-point scale. The rubric has four rating categories: “Proficient,” “Satisfactory,” “Developing,” and “Emergent.” The rubric provides further guidance and describes the criteria for each rating. For example, under the category of shape, the rubric classifies “Proficient” writing as having “all of the letters [in] the Zaner-Bloser style.” The rubric lists “Satisfactory” writing as having “most of the letters . . . in the Zaner-Bloser style.” However, the rubric does not provide specific and explicit guidance on how to interpret and use these results gathered from student performance, nor on how to develop a support plan for students who still need one as they improve or stagnate in their cursive handwriting skills.

Evaluation for 2.2b
Materials provide guidance for the use of the supplemental program to respond to student trends in performance on assessments.

In grade 4, the Teacher Edition includes a “Record of Student’s Handwriting Skills.” Educators use this checklist to monitor their students’ progress and development throughout the supplemental program. However, this tool does not provide direction on how to respond to observed student trends, such as strengths or areas needing improvement. In other words, even if educators are able to identify a common area where students require additional support, the program does not offer specific activities or instructional strategies to respond to those needs.

Similarly, students have access to an online platform called Handwriting Quest, which allows them to monitor their progress and development in both manuscript and cursive writing. However, the assessment information available to educators through this portal does not effectively highlight patterns in student performance, such as strengths or areas needing improvement. Although educators can review students’ attempts on various handwriting tasks, the platform does not offer sufficient guidance or clarity to accurately evaluate and score their writing assignments.

Evaluation for 2.2c
Materials include tools for educators to track student progress and growth, and tools for students to track their own progress and growth.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition provides educators with a “Record of Student’s Handwriting Skills.” Educators use this record to track students’ progress as they work through the program. The tool lists all the essential skills taught in the program and allows the educator or student to check whether a skill needs improvement or demonstrates mastery. The directions for the “Record of Student’s Handwriting Skills” instruct the educator to make a copy for each student and to mark whether the student needs more work or has mastered the skill. Educators should review the list throughout the year and check for mastery when the student demonstrates it.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition materials provide students with an online way to practice and track their progress and growth. In “My ZB Portal,” students access the “Zaner-Bloser Handwriting” tool. Students can practice proper letter formation and review basic strokes. Once they have practiced, they can capture a digital image of their work and revisit it later in their “Handwriting Portfolio.” The portfolio enables students to track their progress as they evaluate their growth. Students earn achievements by completing “Free-Write” and “Trace” activities and saving snapshots to their portfolios.

Evaluation for 2.2d
If applicable for the stated purpose of the supplemental program, materials include guidance for entry and exit criteria.

This guidance is not applicable to the program because the program has a stated purpose of additional instruction and/or practice, not targeted remediation or acceleration.

Evaluation for 3.1a
If applicable for the stated purpose, materials include educator guidance for differentiated instruction and activities for students who have not yet reached proficiency in grade-level skills.

In grade 4, the Student Edition presents a section focused on the four “Keys to Legibility,” which are “Shape, Size, Spacing, and Slant.” In this section, students revisit guidelines for forming letters and engage in activities that help them identify features connected to each key. Students practice handwriting and stop each time they see a red checkmark stop sign on the page to assess their handwriting for the “Key to Legibility” shown on the page. Students evaluate their own handwriting by circling the letter that best represents the target “Key to Legibility.” This self-assessment process helps students grow and improve their handwriting as they move through the program.

However, in the Teacher Edition, pages that align with the student “Key to Legibility” pages do not offer guidance for differentiated instruction. The Teacher Edition also does not provide activities designed to support students who have not yet met grade-level handwriting expectations, such as writing legibly in cursive to complete assignments.

Evaluation for 3.1b
If applicable for the stated purpose, materials include educator guidance for differentiated instruction and activities for students who have demonstrated proficiency in grade-level skills.

In grade 4, the materials include an online activity tool titled Handwriting Quest, where students can complete tasks and view achievements aligned to the program objectives for each lesson. This resource includes supplemental handwriting activities that allow students to continue practicing and developing handwriting skills at their own pace. It also includes activities and achievement features aligned to lesson objectives.

The materials related to this interactive tool, which is available in the student portal, provide educators with guidance on how to use these activities as enrichment or extension for students who have already mastered grade-level skills. Furthermore, the materials provide recommendations on how to differentiate instruction for groups of students with similar learning needs using the variety of related tools available within “My ZB Portal.”

Evaluation for 3.1c
Materials include educator guidance for providing specially designed instruction (SDI) for students receiving supports and services through special education.

In grade 4, the publisher has provided educators with a document named “Tips from an Occupational Therapist” in the section called “Program Basics” within the My ZB Portal website. This document lists a series of activities developed by leading occupational therapists that support the development of gross and fine motor skills that lead to improved handwriting.

However, the materials do not include guidance for adapting instruction, modifying materials, addressing individual learning needs, or implementing specially designed instruction for students receiving special education services. The materials do not provide educator guidance that connects activities to individualized supports or specialized instructional practices.

Evaluation for 3.2a
Educator-led supplemental programs include explicit (direct) prompts and guidance to support the educator in modeling and explaining the skill(s) to be learned.

In grade 4, the Teacher Edition provides educators with prompts that support explicit, direct instruction and guides them in modeling and explaining handwriting skills. As educators introduce and demonstrate each target letter, the materials include detailed, step-by-step verbal cues that show how to form both lowercase and uppercase letters through specific strokes. In addition, the materials provide focused self-assessment questions that encourage students to evaluate their own work, paying attention to stroke formation, line alignment, and intersection points. These built-in supports help ensure that educators have the guidance needed to effectively model and reinforce handwriting skills.

The Teacher Edition gives educators questions aligned with the self-assessment questions that students should ask themselves as they work through the program. However, the materials do not include educator-facing explanations, scripted instructional support, or guidance for explaining underlying handwriting concepts and addressing potential misconceptions. The materials provide modeling prompts but do not include guidance for explicitly teaching handwriting concepts.

Evaluation for 3.2b
Educator-led supplemental programs include educator guidance and recommendations for effective delivery and facilitation using a variety of instructional approaches.

The grade 4 materials offer a range of instructional methods designed to support handwriting practice. The Student Edition organizes these approaches into clearly defined, focused sections that structure how students interact with the content and how educators assess their progress. Through these sections, students participate in inquiry-based tasks, apply their skills, and reflect through self-assessment activities as they develop handwriting proficiency.

However, the materials do not offer educators guidance or recommendations for applying these instructional approaches to ensure effective lesson delivery or facilitation, nor do they outline best practices for grouping students. Additionally, the activities do not offer opportunities for student discourse or collaboration.

Evaluation for 3.2c
Materials include guidance for educators on recommended structures (e.g., whole group, small group, individual) to support effective implementation.

In grade 4, the materials provide recommendations for how much time students should spend practicing handwriting. The materials pair instruction with opportunities for practice. Throughout the materials, the publisher emphasizes that educators can deliver the curriculum both effectively and efficiently in lessons of approximately 15 minutes or less.

However, the materials do not include explicit educator guidance, lesson plans, or recommendations for implementing whole-group, small-group, or individual instructional structures for the stated purpose of additional instruction.

Evaluation for 3.3a
Materials include educator guidance on providing linguistic accommodations for various levels of language proficiency [as defined by the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)], which are designed to engage students in using increasingly more academic language.

This guidance is not applicable to the program because the language of instruction is Spanish.

Evaluation for 3.3b
Materials include implementation guidance to support educators in effectively using the materials in state-approved bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs.

In grade 4, the Teacher Edition outlines the advantages of handwriting practice and calls out resources for emergent bilingual (EB) students. The section “Handwriting Instruction and Emergent Bilingual Students” describes the supplemental program’s role in supporting language development for EB students. Citing research on cross-linguistic transfer, the materials demonstrate how abilities gained in Spanish can aid English acquisition (and vice versa), showing that this supplemental handwriting program addresses the needs of diverse students.

The program does not offer educator-facing guidance to help educators implement the materials within specific state-approved bilingual or ESL program models (for example, dual language immersion or transitional bilingual programs). Although the educator edition references EB students, it does not offer concrete tools, step-by-step instructions, or illustrative examples for course-, unit-, or lesson-level implementation. The program also does not provide a dedicated implementation guide or related professional development resources to support adapting instruction for bilingual or ESL contexts.

Evaluation for 3.3c
If designed for dual language immersion (DLI) programs, materials include resources that outline opportunities to address metalinguistic transfer from English to the partner language.

This guidance is not applicable because the program is not designed for dual language immersion (DLI) programs.

Evaluation for 7.1a
Materials include explicit (direct) and systematic handwriting instruction (e.g., sequenced from lowercase letters to uppercase letters) in alignment with grade-level TEKS as appropriate for the program's stated purpose.

In grade 4, the materials provide students with systematic handwriting instruction aligned with the Texas handwriting standards, as appropriate for the program’s stated purpose of additional instruction. The supplemental program offers educators clear objectives and a system that groups letter instruction by common strokes, formation patterns, and visual attributes. The program supports students’ handwriting development through explicit modeling, guided practice, and structured opportunities for independent practice.

This supplemental program offers a clear progression for handwriting instruction, from lowercase to uppercase cursive letters to phrases and complete sentences in cursive. However, it does not include educator-facing supports such as specific instructional routines, intentional feedback strategies, connections to students’ prior knowledge, or guidance for implementing the “gradual release of responsibility” model.

Evaluation for 7.1b
Materials include frequent opportunities for students to develop and refine handwriting skills through guided practice and independent practice in alignment with grade-level TEKS as appropriate for the program's stated purpose.

The grade 4 Student Edition provides students with frequent, guided opportunities to develop and strengthen their handwriting skills through educator-led practice, self-assessment prompts, and independent practice as they progress through the curriculum. These practice activities align with the Texas grade-level standard of writing legibly in cursive to complete assignments. The program supports students in meeting the grade-level standard by offering multiple cursive-writing practice tasks, from letters to phrases and then to complete sentences.

Additionally, the program provides students with frequent opportunities to develop and refine their handwriting skills while involving families through the Practice Masters. These reproducible practice pages are available in print through a stand-alone booklet and online through “My ZB Portal.” Educators can use these pages for small-group instruction, centers, or homework and send them home as students progress through the curriculum. Each “Practice Master” offers additional independent practice with support, such as the QR codes on each page that link to “Animated Letter Models” and instructional videos, which families can watch by simply scanning the codes with their mobile phones.

Evaluation for 7.1c
Materials include guidance for educators to provide feedback to students to develop and refine their handwriting skills (e.g., writing position, writing grip, letter spacing, size, slant, directionality) in alignment with grade-level TEKS as appropriate for the program's stated purpose.

The grade 4 Teacher Edition provides educators with instructional prompts for students to support letter formation and self-assessment prompts to evaluate their handwriting. The program also provides students with multiple opportunities to practice through educator modeling and digital resources that support continued learning with the Practice Masters at home.

However, the materials do not provide educators explicit, actionable guidance for evaluating and improving students’ handwriting. Educators do not receive guidance on how to assess position, grip, and strokes, or how to use those observations to provide clear feedback that corrects misconceptions and supports practice. Although the materials include prompts to guide letter formation, they do not provide concrete directions, recommendations, or scripted language that educators can use during lessons to deliver intentional, effective feedback.