Assessment in Special Needs
Eduction.
NUREDIN NASIR
2011E.C
Unit One
Overview of Assessment
1.1Defining assessment and related terms
 Screening
 Test
 Evaluation
 Diagnosis/Identification.
 Assessment
Screening
• Screening is a process for evaluating the possible presence of
a particular problem
• Screening involves determining whether a more thorough
evaluation for a particular problem is warranted
• The purpose of screening is to determine whether a person
needs assessment
• The outcome/result is normally a simple yes or no
• To determine whether there is a reason or suspicion that there
is a reason for continued testing.
Screening
• Screening is a process designed for the purpose of
identifying potential problems in learning or
development.
• Screening instruments are quickly and easily
administered to identify children who need more
extensive assessment.
• Screening is a vital assessment activity.
Test
•
•
•
•
An instrument or tool /process that requires an
individual to perform some behavior(s)
It is used to measure a personal attribute, trait, or
characteristic thought to be important in
describing/ understanding behavior or predicting
outcomes
A test is essentially an objective and
standardized measure of a sample of behavior
An instrument or formal process that presents
tasks that yields a specific type of measurement.
Evaluation
• Evaluation is the process of making judgments about the
– merit,
– value,
– Amount
– Number or
– worth of things such as educational programs, projects,
materials, or techniques.
The process of determining the worth of something in relation to
established benchmarks using assessment information.
Identification/Diagnosis
• Identification- school based
• Diagnosis- clinic based
• Identification of a condition, disease, disorder, or
problem by systematic analysis of the background
or history, examination of the signs or symptoms,
evaluation of the research or test results, and
investigation of the assumed or probable causes.
Assessment
• What is assessment?
– Assessment is a way of gaining some understanding of a
child in order to make an informed decision (Sattler, 2001)
– Educational assessment is a formal attempt to determine
students’ status with respect to educational variable of
interest (Popham, 1995)
– “The gathering and integration of data for the purpose of
making evaluation, accomplished through the use of tools
such as tests, interviews, case studies, observations, and
specifically designed apparatuses and measurement
procedures” Cohen & Swerdlik (2005)
Assessment Cont’d
• Assessment is a global term for observing, gathering, recording
and interpreting information to answer questions and make legal
and instructional decisions about students.”(Cohen & Spenciner,
2003).
•
Assessment is a flexible, not standardized, process aimed
at reaching a defensible determination concerning one or
more issues or questions, through the collection, evaluation,
and analysis of data appropriate to the purpose at hand
(Maloney & Ward, 1976 as cited in Urbina, 2011)
• Assessment is a procedure used to determine the degree to which
an individual child possesses a certain attribute
Assessment Cont’d
• Assessment is a process that involves the
systematic collection and interpretation of a
wide variety of information on which to base
instructional/intervention decisions and
when appropriate classification and/or
placement decisions (Gearheart & Gearheart,
1990)
• wide variety (health, educational, developmental…)
Assessment
Note
There is certainly no standard usage of the term
assessment: it is used in so many different
ways, in so many different contexts, and for so
many different purposes, that it can mean
almost anything.
Comparison of Assessment and Testing
Assessment
• "An extremely complex process of
solving problems (answering
questions) in which tests are often
used as one of the methods of
collecting relevant data"(Maloney
& Ward, 1976)
• More inclusive
• Formal and informal
• Flexible
Testing
An objective and standardized
measure of a sample of
behavior"(Anastasi, 199
Narrower than assessment
Paper –and- pencil
Part of assessment
Assessment and Diagnosis
Assessment
• Assessment is a
process
• Gather data using
diverse methods
• Analyze data
• Lead to diagnosis
Diagnosis
Diagnosis comes after
assessment
Diagnosis is a decision
Identify disorder that fits
symptom profile
Helps for problem
identification, discover cause
of problem and treat
problem scientifically
a. True Positive (TP)
• Individuals who perform poorly on screening
measures are called “at risk,”
• When individuals are identified as having the
problem or disability using the screening measure
and also demonstrate the same problem or
disability during the follow up assessment, they
are called “True Positive,”
• True Positive (TP): Screened children as having
some problems, who are also correctly diagnosed
as having the problem
• Hit Rate is the proportion of accurate positive
decisions.
b. False Positive (FP)
• Individuals who perform poorly on screening
measure but do well on later follow up
assessment are “false positives,” which shows
that they do not have the condition for which
they were screened,
• False Positive (FP): Screened children as
having some problems but later turn out to be
normal or healthy; they are incorrectly
identified as having the problem,
c. False Negative (FN)
• Individuals who were considered ‘normal’ or
without any problems using the screening
measure but later they evidence the very
problem for which the screening was
conducted and they are said to be “false
negatives”.
• False Negative (FN): Children screened as
normal or without the target problem but found
out as having the problem during the
assessment; such kind of children are wrongly
left behind as if they had no problem.
d. True Negative (TN)
• “True Negatives” are individuals who were
considered normal or without any problems using
the screening measure and later on found out to
be, or confirmed, without the problem.
• True Negative (TN): Children screened as
normal or without the target problem are also
proven to have no problem in the follow up
assessment; i.e., such children are correctly
identified as having no problem which the
assessment is trying to find out.
1.2.Purposes of Assessment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Screening
Problem solving
Identification/Diagnosis
Classification/Placement
Counseling and Rehabilitation
Progress Evaluation
Making a referral
Determining Eligibility
Program planning
*Decision Making*
Decision Making in the Assessment
Process
• Assessment in special needs education is a process
that involves collecting information about a student
for the purpose of making decisions about an
individual.
• Assessment plays a critical role in the determination
of important decisions
Decision Making in the Assessment
Process…
1. Evaluation Decisions:
• Information collected in the assessment process
can provide detailed information of a student’s
strengths, weaknesses, and overall progress.
2. Diagnostic Decisions:
• Information collected in the assessment process
can provide detailed information of the specific
nature of the student’s problems or disability.
Decision Making in the Assessment
Process…
3.
Eligibility Decisions:
– Information collected in the assessment process
can provide detailed information of whether a
child is eligible for special education services.
4. IEP (IEP Development) Decisions:
– Information collected in the assessment process
can provide detailed information so that an
Individualized Education Program (IEP) may be
developed
Decision Making in the Assessment
Process…
5. Educational Placement Decisions
– Information collected in the assessment process can
provide detailed information so that appropriate
decisions may be made about the child’s educational
placement.
6. Instructional Planning Decisions
– Information collected in the assessment process is
critical in planning instruction appropriate to the
child’s special social, academic, physical, and
management needs.
Decision Making in the Assessment
Process….
• Screening Decisions:
– Are There Unrecognized Problems?
• Progress Monitoring Decisions:
– Is the Student Making Adequate Progress?
• Instructional Planning and Modification Decisions:
– What Can We Do to Enhance Competence and Build Capacity, and How
Can We Do It?
• Resource Allocation Decisions:
– Are Additional Resources Necessary?
• Eligibility for Special Education Services Decisions:
– Is the Student Eligible for Special Education and Related Services?
• Program Evaluation:
– Are Instructional Programs Effective?
• Accountability Decisions:
– Does What We Do Lead to Desired Outcomes?
1.3. Assessment Process and Concerns
E.g. testing
• Before the Testing Begins
– Understand the purpose of the assessment (as stated in
the manual)
– Read the test manual thoroughly
– Carefully review the test items
– Know the administrative procedures
– Organize the necessary materials and check to see that
none are missing
– Reexamine the scoring procedures to verify that answers
can be recorded correctly.
– Practice yourself
Preparing to Administer an Assessment
Instrument
• When the student arrives for assessment
– Establish and maintain rapport
– Convey a sense of confidence about the student’s
performance and avoid statements such as ‘This is going
to be a difficult test.’
– Be aware changes in lighting or noise level once the
testing begins.
– Maintain neutrality during the testing.
– Carefully record student responses in the appropriate
spaces on the test form.
– Be sensitive to the needs of the student.
Preparing to Administer an Assessment
Instrument
• After the Testing is Completed
– Thank the student for participating
– Finish recording additional information;
note any observation of the student
– Compute scores
– Interpret results
– Write reports
1.4 Steps in the Assessment Process
1. Review referral information
2. Decide whether to accept the referral
3. Obtain relevant background information
4. Consider the influence of relevant others
5. Observe the child in several settings
6. Select and administer an appropriate test place.
7. Interpret the assessment result
8. Develop intervention strategies and recommendations
9. Write a report
10. Meet with parents, examinees (if appropriate) and
other concerned individuals
11. Follow up on recommendations and reevaluation
1.5Approaches and Team Members in the
Assessment
• Multidisciplinary
– Individual specialist works with the child, with no interaction with
other team members
• Interdisciplinary
– Individual specialist works with the child, interaction among
members occurs at meetings
• Trans-disciplinary
– Each member interacts with the other to provide service
• Collaborative
– Set of interpersonal relationship among team members structured
to achieve goals
Team Members and Services
 Members can be:
 Educators/special
 Psychologists
 Counselors
 Medical personnel
 Therapists /different type
• E.g.,
Physical therapist
Parents
– School administrator
– School nurse
– Nutritionist
– Any other person who would help inform the
process of affording the child the best possible
individually designed education/intervention
–
Requirements for Team Process
1.
Communication
2.
Cooperation (empowerment of team)
3.
Cohesiveness (team sticks together)
4.
Commitment (investing in team process)
5.
Collaboration (equality in team)
6.
Confronts problems directly
7.
Coordination of efforts (actions support common plan)
8.
Conflict management
9.
Consensus decision making
10.
Caring ( consumer centered)
11.
Consistency
12.
Contribution
Challenges in team process
• Conflicts may arise among team professionals
• Budgetary constraints
• Availability of a range of professional personnel who
have the range of expertise necessary to get the job done
• Time constraints on individual team members,
including sizes of team members
1.6 Principles of Assessment
• Assessment should bring about benefits for
children.
• Assessments should be tailored to a specific
purpose and should be reliable, valid, and fair
for that purpose.
• Assessment policies should be design
recognizing that reliability and validity of
assessments increase with children’s age
Principles of Assessment
• Assessments should be age-appropriate in both content
and the method of data collection.
• Assessments should be linguistically appropriate,
recognizing that to some extent all assessments are
measures of language
• Parents should be a valued source of assessment
information, as well as an audience for assessment
results
Principles of Assessment
• The primary purpose of assessment is to improve practice
– Example: Student learning, treatment, intervention
• Assessment decisions must be based on multiple means of
assessment gathered over time
• Assessment is inherently a process of professional judgment
• Good assessment is valid, ethical, and feasible
• Systems of assessment must be reviewed and improved
regularly
• Assessment contains error
1.7.Ethical and Legal Considerations
Assessment can invade clients’ privacy
• Informed consent
– Nature of information being collected
– Purposes for which results will be used
– Using language understandable to client
• In an education setting:
– It is good to obtain informed consent in written from the
student’s parents, guardian or the student (if he or she has
already reached ‘legal’ age).
– Initial contact with parents & the school is crucial.
– Conveying results to the parents is extremely important.
– Parents, guardians and students must share in the autonomy
of making treatment decisions.
• Relevance
– Is the information gathered through assessment relevant to the service?
– practitioner should be able to clearly state purpose and benefits of assessment
process
Rights
• The Right to the Least Stigmatizing Label
– When diagnosing or categorizing individuals, use the least
stigmatizing label consistent with accurate representation
– Incorporate effects of contextual factors
• Culture , Socioeconomic status, Linguistics
• The Right to Confidentiality
– Results may only be released to a third party (who has
expertise to interpret the results) with the consent of the
client
– Secure assessment information & communicate any limits
to confidentiality
– Keep test content secure
• The Right to Results
– Clients have the right to an explanation of their assessment
results, in terms they can understand
General Assessment Issues-Suggestions
• Avoid biases
– Do not allow a problem in one area to bias your
perception
• Keep the assessment session short
– Children have short attention span
– Fatigued easily
– Schedule more than one session
• Establish rapport
– Be prepared to work hard to establish rapport and to
ensure the children understand your questions
– These help to obtain response that represent children’s
true feelings
General Assessment Issues-Suggestions…
• Make Children Comfortable
– Think about how to make them comfortable
– Think about how to accommodate- seats for children
with physical disability
• Let Children Use any Adaptive Equipment
– Be sure that during evaluation, children use adaptive
equipment which they routinely use
– Eye glass, hearing aid
• Assistance
– Ask children if they need help during assessment
– Do you need help?
– How should I help you?
General Assessment Issues-Suggestions…
• Avoid assumptions and Guesses
–
–
–
–
Do not guess
Do not ‘talk over’
Be patient, listen to and let them speak for themselves
Do not assume or guess that you know what children
are trying to express
• Pay Attention
– Do not do anything that ignores them
– Do not direct your conversation to anybody other than
the child
UNIT TWO
Methods of Gathering Information
school records
• Cumulative school records are useful sources of data
in identifying potential learning problems as well as
academic and creative abilities,
• Records should include achievement test results,
classroom performance, and health history,
anecdotal records showing unusual characteristics,
family history, and other data.
Portfolio, Authentic and Performance based
Assessment
• A portfolio is an organized collection of evidence
accumulated overtime on a student’s or group’s academic
progress, achievements, skills and attitudes
• It consists of work samples and a written rational
connecting the separate items in to a more complete and
holistic view of the student’s or group’s achievements or
progress toward Portfolios give students the opportunity to
direct their own learning
Uses of Portfolios
• Portfolios can be used to determine students’ level
of achievement
• Portfolios can be used to determine students’
growth overtime
• Portfolios can be used to understand how students
think,
reason,
organize,
investigate
and
communicate learning goals
Con….
• Portfolios provide an effective way of collecting
and demonstrating achievement on a broad range of
outcomes
• Portfolios can be used to communicate student
efforts, progress toward accomplishing learning
goals and accomplishments
• Portfolios can be used to evaluate and improve
curriculum and instruction
•
Decide what type of portfolio to use
•
Identify the purposes and objectives of the portfolio
•
Select which categories of work samples should go in to
the portfolio
•
Have students select the pieces to include in their
portfolio
•
Decide how the portfolio will be assessed and evaluated
• Requires students to construct a response or perform
an action
• Emphasizes a student's active generation of a
response and that the response is observable via a
product directly or indirectly
• Performance assessment has three important
features
• A learner must demonstrate his/her knowledge and
skill by actually doing some thing that is valued and
purposeful
• A learner's performance is observed by the teacher
• The teacher uses pre-established criteria to score the
learner's performance
• In judging the quality of the pupil's response, we
usually use two instruments
– Checklists
– Rating scales
Assessing Behavior through Observation
• Two types of observation
– Qualitative observation
• Qualitative observations can describe behavior as well
as its contexts (that is, antecedents and consequences).
– Quantitative
• Objectively defined
Common Observational Techniques
• Anecdotal Records
The observer describes incidents or behaviors
observed in a particular setting in concrete, narrative
terms (as opposed to drawing inferences about
feelings or motives).
• This type of record allows insight into cause and
effect by detailing what occurred before a behavior
took place, the behavior itself, and consequences or
events that occurred after the behavior.
Event Recording
• The observer is interested in recording specific behavioral
events (such as how many times the student hits or gets out
of his or her seat).
• A tally sheet listing the behaviors to be observed and
counted is useful; when the observer sees the behavior of
interest, he or she can simply make a tick mark on the sheet.
Con….
• Event recording: or frequency recording is when
the observer records a behavior each time it occurs.
– E.g., A teacher can observe and record whether a student
participates and how often he/she participates in
classroom lessons.
– The behavioral event is class participation and the event
recording is counting the number participation.
Con….
• Define how long the observation lasts, it could
be 20 or 30 minutes.
• Carefully define the target behaviors for
observation including the beginning and end of
the behavior.
– E.g.,
• ‘grabbing or snatching another student’s pencil’
• ‘fighting over seating in a desk’
• ‘whistling sound during class lesson’
Con…
• Method of event recording:
– Using tallying: each time the behavior occurs the observer draws a
line and counts the number of tallied lines to refer to the number of
times the behavior occurs.
– Example,
• Tallied shouting: //// //// //// //// = 20.
• Observation period: 10 minutes.
– Rate of occurrence = N/T = 20/10 =
– Where,
• N= the number of occurrence of the behavior,
• T = the length of time of the observation
Duration Recording
• This method usually requires a watch or clock, so
that a precise measurement of how much time a
student spends doing something of concern to the
teacher or assessment team (e.g., talking to others,
tapping, rocking) can be recorded.
Con….
• Duration recording: measures how long a specified event
or behavior persists.
– E.g., A teacher can record how long a student works
independently, or how long a problem behavior persists.
• Precise definition of the beginning and end of behavior must
be set.
– E.g., Definition for independent play begins:
• When the child begins to look at the object,
• When the child approaches the object
• When the child actually picks up the object
• Then, a stop watch can time the length of the behavior.
Con…
• Percentage duration rate is calculated by summing the total
duration of the observed behavior and dividing it by the
total length of the observation time multiplied by 100.
• That is,
– Percentage duration rate = (d/t)100.
– Where,
d = the total duration of the behavior,
t= the total length of the observation period.
Time-sampling Recording
• With this technique observers count the number of
times a behavior occurs during a specific time
interval. Rather than observe for long periods of
time and tally all incidences of the behavior causing
concern, the observer divides the observation period
into equal time units and observes and tallies
behavior only during short periods of time
• Based upon the time sampling, predictions can then
be made about the student’s total behavior
Checklists and Rating Scales
• A checklist usually requires the observer to note
whether a particular characteristic is present or
absent, while a rating scale typically asks the
observer to note the degree to which a characteristic
is present or how often a behavior occurs.
• There are many commercially available checklists
and rating scales, but they may be developed locally
as well
Test
• An instrument/process that requires an individual to
perform some behavior(s) used to measure a
personal attribute, trait, or characteristic thought to
be important in describing/ understanding behavior
or predicting outcomes
• A test is essentially an objective and standardized
measure of a sample of behavior (Anastasi &
Urbina, 1997)
Con…
“A test is a systematic procedure for obtaining
samples of behavior, relevant to cognitive or
affective functioning, and for scoring and
evaluating those samples according to
standards”
(Urbina, 2004)
Uses of tests
• To measure differences between individuals
• To measure the differences between the reactions of
the same individual under different circumstances
• Identification of persons with different kinds of
disabilities
– Intellectual
– emotional
– behavioral
Uses of Psychological tests
• In education
– Classification of children according to their ability to
profit from different types of school instruction
– Identification of learners of different pace
– educational and occupational counseling of high school
and college students
– Selection of applicants for schools, colleges and
universities
• Selection and classification of military personnel
• Individual counseling
• Research as a means of gathering data
Types of Psychological Tests
• Administrative conditions
– Individual tests
– Group tests
• Scoring criteria
– Objective tests
– Subjective tests
• Response limitations
– Power tests
– Speed tests
• Content of items
– Verbal tests
– Non-verbal tests
Con…
• Response mode
– Performance tests
– Paper-pencil tests
• Extent of standardization
– Teacher-made tests
– Standardized tests
• The kind of trait (behavior) they intend to measure
– Maximum performance tests
– Typical performance tests
Ecological Assessment
• Ecological assessment basically involves directly
observing and assessing the child in the many
environments in which he or she routinely operates.
• The purpose of conducting such an assessment is to
probe how the different environments influence the
student and his or her school performance.
• Where does the student manifest difficulties?
• Are there places where he or she appears to function
appropriately?
Ecological Assessment
• What is expected of the student academically and
behaviorally in each type of environment?
• What differences exist in the environments where the
student manifests the greatest and the least difficulty?
• What implications do these differences have for
instructional planning?
• An evaluation that fails to consider a student’s ecology
as a potential causative factor in reported academic or
behavioral disorders may be ignoring the very elements
that require modification before we can realistically
expect changes in that student’s behavior.
Observing within the classroom environment
1) Physical environment
– Seating, positioning
– Lighting (intensity & type of light)
– Noise (minimal noise)
– Distractions (site sound, events & activities)
– Climate (temperature)
– Classroom ( classroom atmosphere)
– General layout of the room (furniture, equipment,
accessibility, space, movement)
2) Learning environment.
– Materials (variety materials, appropriate format)
– Learning activities (instructional methods,
opportunities to share ideas)
– Instructional demands (clear instructions,
appropriateness of difficulty & length, relevance)
– Modifications (change in furniture, equipment, or
materials)
– Grouping (independent and cooperative work)
– Expectations (appropriateness of teacher expectations)
– Student involvement (teacher /peer encouragement of
student involvement in learning activities,)
– Assessment (tools, format, feedback)
– Curriculum (recent reform, standards)
Con…
3) Social environment
– Teacher –student interaction (respect, supportive social
environment, interactions)
– Behavioral interventions (positive behavioral supports,
behavior management strategies)
– Peer interactions (appropriate communications with
students with disabilities)
– General atmosphere (positive classroom climate,
enthusiasm and support for students, destructions kept to
minimal)
Parent Involvement in the Assessment Process
Assessment Steps
Screening
Pre-referral
Eligibility
Program planning
Program monitoring
Evaluation of student
Evaluation of student’s
program
Questions parents may raise
Is my child developing like other
children?
What can we do? Will he/she fall
behind his/her class?
Does his/her behavior indicate a
need for a special service?
What are our priorities for
him/her?
Where would be the most
appropriate setting for services?
How will we evaluate the
services?
Who will coordinate the
services?
How is the plan working?
Do we feel that our child has
made progress?
Does the program meet our
child’s needs?
Parent report form
Parent observation
Observation sheet
Monitoring sheet
Parent historical report of
student’s behavior
Parent observation
Parent report form
Parent-made video or
audiotape
Parent questionnaire
Parent made videotape
Parent questionnaire
Preparing to administer an assessment instrument
Before the Testing Begins
• Understand the purpose of the assessment as stated
in the manual
• Read the test manual thoroughly
• Carefully review the test items
• Know the administrative procedures
• Organize the necessary materials and check to see
that none are missing
• Reexamine the scoring procedures to verify that
answers can be recorded correctly.
Con…
When the student arrives for assessment
• Establish and maintain rapport
• Convey a sense of confidence about the student’s
performance and avoid statements such as ‘This is
going to be a difficult test.’
• Be aware of changes in lighting or noise level once the
testing begins.
• Maintain neutrality during the testing.
• Carefully record student responses in the appropriate
spaces on the test form.
• Be sensitive to the needs of the student.
Con…
After the Testing is Completed
• Thank the student for participating
• Finish recording additional information; note any
observation of the student
-Compute scores
-Interpret results
-Write reports
Rights of Parents and guardians
•
•
•
•
•
•
Right of notification before assessment
Right of consent
Right of evaluation using multiple measures
Right to request for an independent evaluation
Right to participation
Right to notification on proposed changes of
educational program
• Right to access all educational records
• Right to educational records confidentiality
• Right to hearing
Primary Areas of Assessment
Assessment of Intelligence
What is intelligence?
• Intelligence is a multifaceted capacity that manifests itself in
different ways across the lifespan
• Intelligence includes the abilities to:
-Acquire and apply knowledge
-Reason logically
-Plan effectively
-Infer perceptively
-Make sound judgments and solve problems
-Grasp and visualize concepts
-Pay attention
-Be intuitive
-Find the right words and thoughts with facility
-Cope, adjust, and make the most of new situations
Primary Areas of Assessment
• For the non-psychologists, the behaviors most
commonly associated with intelligence were, as
identified by Sternberg
-Reasons logically well
-Reads widely
-Displays common sense
-Keeps an open mind
-Reads with high comprehension
• Most frequently mentioned behaviors associated
with unintelligence
-Does not tolerate diversity of ideas
-Does not display curiosity
-Behaves with insufficient consideration of others
CHC Model
• A synthesis of the models by Raymond Cattell, John
Horn, and John Carroll
• Cattell postulated that there were two overall abilities
people have
-Crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence.
-Crystallized intelligence reflected abilities that were
relatively static (such as learned information)
- Fluid intelligence was more related to novel problem
solving
CHC
Cognitive Tests
Verbal
Comprehension
Visual Auditory
Spatial Relations
Cognitive
Ability
Cognitive Factors
Comp. Knowledge
Verbal Ability
Long Term Retrieval
Visual-Spatial
Thinking Ability
Sound Blending
Auditory Processing
Concept formation
Fluid Reasoning
Visual Matching
Processing Speed
Numbers Reversed
GIA
Cognitive
Efficiency
Short-Term Memory
79
Cognitive /intelligence Tests
•
•
•
•
Stanford-Binet
Wechsler
WJ test of cognitive abilities
Peabody picture vocabulary test
Assessment of Reading
Why we assess reading?
• It is one of the most fundamental skills that students learn
• For poor readers, life in school is likely to be difficult
even with appropriate curricular and testing
accommodations and adaptations
• Life after school is likely to have constrained
opportunities and less personal independence and
satisfaction
Con….
• Students who have not learned to read fluently by
the end of third grade are unlikely ever to read
fluently (Adams, 1990)
• Students’ development of reading skills is closely
monitored in order to identify those with problems
early enough to enable remediation
Assessment of Reading
Diagnostic reading tests are used primarily to improve
two educational decisions
• First, To identify children who are experiencing
difficulty in learning to read
• In this case, tests identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses
so that educators can plan appropriate interventions
• Second, they are given to ascertain a student’s initial
or continuing eligibility for special services
• Diagnostic reading tests may also be administered to
evaluate the effects of instruction
Skills Assessed by Diagnostic Reading Tests
• Good readers are fluent
–they recognize words quickly
–and are in a good position to construct meaning of
sentences and paragraphs
• Reading requires to say the word that is printed on
the page correctly
Con…
• Reading comprehension
– Literal comprehension (understanding the information that
is explicit)
– Inferential comprehension (interpreting, synthesizing, or
extending)
– Critical comprehension (analyzing, evaluating, and making
judgments)
– Affective comprehension (personal and emotional responses
to the material)
– Lexical comprehension (knowing the meaning of key
vocabulary words)
Skills Assessed by Diagnostic Reading Tests
• Word-attack, or word analysis skills
-Those used to derive the pronunciation or meaning of a word
through phonic analysis, structural analysis, or context cues
• Word Recognition Skills
Example of a Specific Reading Test
Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic
Evaluation (GRADE)
• It is a norm-referenced test of reading achievement
• Can be administered individually or in group
• It is designed to be used for students between the ages
of 4 years and 18 years
• Five components of reading are assessed
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Pre-reading
Reading readiness
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Oral language
• You can read about the sub-tests, scoring, norm, validity
and reliability
Assessment of Mathematics
Why Do We Assess Mathematics?
• There are several reasons to assess mathematics
skills
• Teachers and intervention-assistance teams can ascertain a
student’s mastery of specific math skills and plan individualized
math instruction
• Provide teachers with specific information on the kinds of
items students in their classes pass and fail
• All school programs teach math facts and concepts and teachers
need to know whether pupils have mastered those facts and
concepts
• Used to make exceptionality and eligibility decisions
Behaviors Sampled by Mathematics Tests
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Number and Operations
Algebra
Geometry
Measurement
Data Analysis and Probability
Con…
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Problem Solving
Reasoning and Proof
Communication
Connections
Representation
Some math tests include survey questions asking
students about their attitudes toward math
-the extent to which they enjoy math
-the extent to which their friends like math more than they do
Example of a Specific Mathematics Test
Group Mathematics Assessment and Diagnostic
Evaluation (G•MADE)
• is a group administered and norm-referenced test for
assessing the math skills of students in grades K–12
• Designed to identify specific math skill
development strengths and weaknesses
• Provides information about math skills and error
patterns of each student
Example of a Specific Mathematics Test
• Sub-tests
• Concepts and Communication
• Operations and Computation
• Process and Applications
• The items in each subtest fit the content of the following
categories
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Numeration
Quantity
Geometry
Measurement
Time/sequence
Money
Comparison
Statistics
Algebra
• You can read about the scoring, norm, validity and reliability
Assessment of Perceptual and Motor Skills
• Perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, and
organizing sensory information
• Experience, learning, cognitive ability, and personality all
influence perception
• Perceptual–motor skills refer to the production of motor
behavior that is dependent on sensory information
Con…
• Adequate perception and perceptual– motor skills are
important
• They are necessary for school success
• Learning and behavior invariably build on and evolve
out of early perceptual–motor skills
• Thus, they are regularly incorporated in tests of
intelligence
Why Do We Assess Perceptual–Motor Skills?
Perceptual and perceptual–motor skills are assessed for four
reasons
• To screen students who may need instruction to remediate
or ameliorate visual or auditory perceptual problems
• To assess perceptual and perceptual– motor problems in
students who are already experiencing school learning
problems
• To determine a student’s eligibility for special education
• Diagnosis of brain injury or emotional disturbance
1. Academic Problems
• Parents & teachers are concerned about a student not
performing well in school and initiate referral.
• Examples of contents of academic problems include:
– Reading, Mathematics, and written language and
communication
• Academic competence is assessed in making
exceptionality and eligibility decisions
– E.g., a student referred for reading problems might be
given a reading test to provide a comparison of his or her
reading skills with those of other students in the school or
even the nation.
– The result of the test would be used to verify or disconfirm
the existence of a problem.
Con…
• Academic performance is also usually assessed in making
instructional-planning decisions. In deciding what to teach a
student, the teacher or team must specify which academic
competencies the student already has.
2. Behavioral Problems
• Students are often referred for psychological or
educational assessment because they demonstrate
behavior problems.
– Students for whom severe behavior problems can be
specified and verified are often declared eligible for
special education services.
Con…
Behavior problems may include:
• Failure to get along with peers,
• Delinquent activities,
• Excessive withdrawal,
• Unregulated and maladaptive behavior
• Disruptive behavior and
• non-compliant behavior
Assessment results are compared to the typical
child’s behavior.
3.Physical Problems
• Physical problems include sensory disabilities (such
as in vision or hearing), problems of physical
structure (for example, spina bifida or cerebral
palsy) , and chronic health problems (such as
diabetes or asthma)
• Severe physical problems are brought to the
attention of parents by physicians,
• Milder, but nonetheless important, problems
that have not been noticed by the parents are
often discovered during routine screening.
• E.g., when a school nurse notices that a first
grader child has 65-decibel loss in his more
sensitive ear, she could refer him for an
audiologist for further assessment and further
decisions.
Con…
• In some cultures, children are expected to speak
minimally to adults or authority figures;
elaboration or extensive verbal output may be
viewed as disrespectful.
In some cultures, answering questions may be
viewed as self-aggrandizing, competitive, and
immodest. These cultural values work against
students in most testing situations. Male–female
relations are also subject to cultural differences
• Female students may be hesitant to speak to male
teachers; male students (and their fathers) may not view
female teachers as authority figures.
Children may be hesitant to speak to adults from other
cultures, and testers may be reluctant to encourage or
say “no” to children whose culture is unfamiliar.
Children new to the United States may have been
traumatized by civil strife and therefore be wary of or
frightened by strangers.
It may therefore be difficult for an examiner to establish
rapport with a student who has limited English
proficiency. Some evidence suggests that children do
better with examiners of the same race and cultural
background (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1989).
Con…
• Immigrant students and their families may have little
experience with the types of testing done in U.S.
schools. Consequently, these students may lack test
taking skills. Finally, doing well on tests may not be
as valued within the first cultures of immigrant
students.
Con…
• Whereas some students from different cultural
backgrounds may be relatively quick to assimilate with
U.S. culture, other students may not. There are a variety
of factors that may play a role in determining how
quickly such students become familiar and integrated
within U.S. culture. Some are immigrants or children of
immigrants who have come to the United States seeking
a better life. Others are fleeing repressive governments
in their nation of origin. Some have plans to remain in
the United States, whereas others are in the country just
temporarily. Some have a large network of individuals
nearby who speak their native language, whereas
Linguistic Considerations
• The overwhelming majority of classroom and
commercially prepared tests are administered in
English. Students who do not speak or read English
cannot access the content and respond to these tests.
Although a student with limited English proficiency
may speak some English, knowing enough English
for some social conversation is not the same as
knowing enough English for instruction or for the
nuances of highly abstract concepts that may be
included as a part of testing. To assess students’
knowledge, skills, or abilities, students must have
sufficient fluency in the language of the test.
Con…
• Although this proposition is logical and quite easy to
say, the difficult part is in the doing. It is particularly
challenging given the many different languages and
language programs that are used in U.S. schools
today, as well as the differences in rates of English
language acquisition among students with different
background characteristics
Assessment of children with Special Needs
Children who are Eligible for Special Services (but not
limited to)IDEA
The following impairments adversely affect the child’s
educational performances (Cohen & Spenciner, 2003):
1) Autism
2) Deaf-blindness
3) Deafness
4) Hearing impairment
5) Intellectual Disability (Usually IQ of less than 70)
6) Multiple disabilities (combination of disabilities)
7) Orthopedic impairment
Children who are eligible for SNED (cont’d)
8)Other health impairments
9)Serious emotional disturbances
10)Specific learning disability
11) Speech or language impairment
12) Traumatic brain injury
13) Visual Impairment
Learning Disabilities
• The assessment of learning disabilities serves several purposes:
– To obtain an estimate of the child’s general intelligence, in
order to determine whether the child has the ability for higher
achievement despite pas t or present performance
– To determine the child’s areas of impaired functioning,
including those associated with reading, mathematics, and
written expression
– To determine whether the child has deficits in basic
psychological processes
– To find the child’s areas of strength that may prove helpful in
developing interventions
– To arrive at possible explanations for the child’s poor
achievement
– To determine possible intervention
Approaches to determine whether a learning
disability exists
• Establishing whether a child has a learning disability
is not a simple task
• Diagnosis of ability include
-a severe a ability-achievement discrepancy
- a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes
- a need for special education service
- the ruling out of disabilities and cultural factors as
primary causes the child’s impaired achievement
Guidelines for the assessment of learning
disabilities
• When you evaluate a child for possible learning disability,
consider the following:
– The child’s academic, intellectual, perceptual, and motor
functioning (e.g., verbal-linguistic ability, visual-spatial
ability)
– Neurobehavioral factors that may contribute to poor
classroom performance (e,g., short attention span)
– Possible contribution of the family, peer group, teachers,
and school to the child’s learning problems
– Motivational factors that may relate to the child’s
learning problems
– The interaction of the above factors over time and the
effects of they may have had on the child’s performance
and adjustment
Assessment questions
• What are the characteristics of the child’s specific academic
difficulties, such as in reading, mathematics, and written
expression?
• Are the child’s learning problems task or situation specific?
• What specific types of error does the child make in various
academic tasks?
• What is the quality of teaching the student is receiving?
Assessment battery
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Intelligence of tests
Achievement tests
Other relevant tests and procedures
Tests should assess major content areas such as reading,
mathematics, and written language
• There is no standard battery and the selection should be
based on the referral question.
Areas to be measured:
– Intelligence
– Achievement
– Auditory processing skills
– Visual-perceptual processing skills
– behavior
Informal assessment of LDs
• Well-normed standardize tests are not available for
all types of school readiness
– informal tests
– Curriculum based measures
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Informal assessment of reading skills
Informal assessment of mathematics ability
Informal assessment of meaningful memory
Informal assessment of social and environmental
influences
• Informal assessment of personality and temperament
Service delivery and questions Teachers and
Parents ask
• Teachers of young children and parents ask if the child is developing
typically in one or more of the following developmental areas:
– Communication development (e.g., Now that he/she is a four year old should
he/she be talking more?)
– Cognitive development (e.g., Is he/she experiencing difficulty performing
many activities that the other children can do quite easily?)
– Physical development (e.g., Does he/she have problems with fine and gross
motor activities?)
– Adaptive development (e.g., Should he/she be able to feed himself and take
care of toileting needs?)
– Socio-emotional development (e.g., He/she has difficulty getting along with
other children. Will he/she ‘outgrow’ this?)
Questions Teachers and Parents ask (cont’d)
• Teachers of older children and parents frequently have questions
about a student’s achievement, ability, or skills in one or more of the
following areas:
– Academic area (e.g., does he/she have a reading problem?)
– Overall achievement (why is he/she not doing better in school?)
– General intelligence (e.g., will he be able to learn how to compute a math
problem?)
– Socio-emotional status (e.g., how can he/she improve his/her social skills?)
– Vision, hearing, or motor ability (e.g., can he/she hear, see, or walk /sit
easily?)
– Communication (e.g., he/she can hear but cannot understand. What could be
the cause of and intervention to the problem?)
Possible Services for Child with SN and Parents
Audiology
• This service includes identifying the hearing loss, determining the
need for amplification, and providing auditory training, aural
rehabilitation, speech reading, and other services. Guidance and
counseling for children, parents’ and teachers included.
Counseling
• Social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, and other trained
personnel assist the family in understanding the special needs of the
child and enhancing the child’s development.
Early identification and assessment of disabilities in
children
• These services include identifying a disability as early as
possible in a child’s life.
Possible Services for child with SN and
Parents(cont’d)
Medical
• Medical services are provided by a licensed physician to determine a
child’s medically related disability.
Occupational Therapy
• Theses services are provided to improve, develop or restore the child’s
functional ability.
Orientation and mobility services
• Students who are blind or visually impaired can receive these services
to attain systematic orientation and safe movement within the school,
home, and community environments
Possible Services for child with SN and
Parents(cont’d)
• Parent counseling and training
These services are designed to assist parents in understanding the
special needs of their child, provide parents with information about
child development, and help parents to acquire the necessary skills to
support their child’s IEP.
• Physical Therapy
These services promote sensorimotor function.
• Recreation
These services include: assessment of leisure functions, therapeutic
recreation programs, and leisure education.
Possible Services for child with SN and
Parents(cont’d)
• Psychological services: These services include
– Administering psychological and educational tests and other
assessment procedures;
– Interpreting assessment results;
– Obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about behavior
and conditions relating to learning;
– Consulting with other staff members in planning school programs;
– Providing psychological counseling to children and parents; and
– Assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.
• Rehabilitation counseling
– Group or individual counseling sessions focus on career
development, employment preparation, achieving independence,
and integration in the workplace and community.
Possible Services for child with SN and
Parents(cont’d)
School health
These services are provided by the school nurse.
Social work: These services include
• Preparing a social or developmental history on the child;
• Counseling with the child and family;
• Working with parents and others on those problems in the
home, school, and community that affect the child’s
adjustment to school;
• Mobilizing school and community resources to enable the
child to learn as effectively as possible; and
• Assisting in developing positive behavioral interventions
strategies.
Possible Services for child with SN and
Parents(Cont’d)
• Speech-language pathology
This area includes identifying children with speech or language
impairments, diagnosis, referral for medical or other professional
attention, provision of speech and language services, counseling
and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech
and language impairments.
• Transportation
These services consist of travel to and from school and between
schools, travel in and around school buildings, specialized equipment,
such as lifts, ramps, and so on.
Thank you!