DASH Assessment- VCE Special Exam Provision

Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting

Special Examination Arrangements (SEA) may be approved for students with disabilities, illnesses or other circumstances that affect their ability to access a VCE external assessment.

Students with a Motor Coordination Disorder, Motor Dysgraphia, health impairment or other physical disabilities may possess specific motor skill deficits which can cause significant difficulties with slowness and/or inaccuracy of handwriting.

The DASH assessment is ideal for providing formal evidence of handwriting speed difficulties in students.

SEA applications are made to the VCAA (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) through the student’s school and must be endorsed by the principal.

Disability and/or illness does not automatically entitle a student to SEA. The prime consideration is the impact of a disability and/or illness on the student’s capacity to undertake their VCE external assessments and, if necessary, what reasonable adjustments can be made to enable the student to complete VCE external assessments on the same basis as students without a disability and/or illness.

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The DASH assessment is ideal for providing formal evidence of handwriting speed difficulties in students. One of the below Detailed Assessments of Speed of Handwriting (DASH) assessments must be administered no earlier than the student’s final year of primary schooling (i.e. Grade 6).

 DASH 9–16 years, Pearson, 2007
 DASH 17 years, Pearson, 2010

While not mandatory, the VCAA will consider other motor coordination assessments, in addition to school observations, as supplementary evidence where there is a request for extra working time, use of a computer, scribe and/or assistive technology on the basis of handwriting difficulties. Examples include;

The Handwriting Speed Test, Wallen, Bonney and Lennox, 2006
The Beery Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, 6th edition (Beery VMI)