Paper Title
Virtual Learning and Handwriting Development

Abstract
American schooling took on new forms with the onset of quarantine measures beginning in 2020. Learning modalities for students included face-to-face with many accommodations, virtual models, paper packets, and hybrid forms of each of these. This study sought to uncover the impacts of virtual instruction on handwriting development for students who were in kindergarten when quarantine measures first began and who remained distance learners for their first-grade year. Data include handwriting samples from 230 second grade students collected upon their face-to-face return to school. Approximately half of these samples were collected from former virtual students, and half from students attending face-to-face for their first-grade year. Hand-writing samples were scored on a four-point rubric and comparisons were made thematically as they mapped onto domains of this rubric. Preliminary findings suggest students attending school virtually for first grade generally required further support in correct letter formation, line usage, and spacing. Future studies will seek to determine if handwriting score can predict reading score as this may tell if a kinesthetic relationship with letters supports reading growth.