ABLES Assessment Tool Fact Sheet
About the assessment tool
Brief description
What does the
assessment tell you
about the child?
What are the
components of the
tool?
The ABLES assessment tools for students with disabilities and additional learning needs are
made up of four assessments that are completed online. The assessments cover the learning
domains of English Speaking and Listening, English Reading and Writing, Personal Learning and
Interpersonal Development.
Together they allow a comprehensive profile of a student’s strengths and abilities in
foundational learning skills to be compiled.
This set of assessments gives teachers an indication of the student’s abilities in the four
foundational learning areas described in AusVELS to assist teachers as they develop classroom
programs.
The assessments include four tools, each comprising two linked forms, A and B. One of the tools
Personal Learning has two versions; one for students with intellectual disability and the other for
those with autism spectrum disorder, which means there are four forms in Personal Learning. A
teacher will be allocated access to one version only based on the student data they submit when
they register the student for assessment, identifying them with an autism spectrum disorder
Each tool has from eleven to twenty items. They are all multiple choice.
What is the style of
assessment?
These assessments are teacher observation tools. (The student does not have to be present).
Are there FAQs about
the assessment?
ABLES has Assessment Guidance materials to assist schools to complete the assessments.
What are the ABLES assessments?
The ABLES assessment materials for students with disabilities and additional learning needs are
made up of four assessments that are completed online. The assessments cover the learning
domains of:

English, Speaking and Listening – the development of functional communication skills
leading towards recognition and use of the social conventions of communication

English, Reading and Writing – the development of the use and interpretation of
symbolic forms of representation leading towards early reading and writing

Interpersonal Development – the development of skills to support social interaction,
social responsibility, and a capacity to transcend social difficulties

Personal Learning – the development of basic skills related to attention, memory, and
becoming an independent learner.
Together, they allow a comprehensive picture of a student's strengths and abilities in
foundational learning skills to be compiled.
The ABLES materials were developed through a four‐year program of research, consultation, and
field trials with experienced teachers of students with additional needs. They capture important
indicators of student proficiency and understanding that can be readily observed by teachers in
the context of school and classroom interactions, and upon which teachers can draw when
planning a learning program for students.
It is not necessary to test students prior to completing the online tools, nor do students
participate directly in assessment. The assessments have been designed to describe skills and
abilities that teachers can observe in everyday school and classroom contexts and interactions
with students.
Who should complete the ABLES assessments?
The ABLES assessments should be completed by the student's teachers and preferably with input
from a Student Support Group. In some cases, it may be helpful to include parents or carers in
the group who conduct an assessment for a student in their first year of school.
In many schools, the assessments are completed or jointly reviewed by a student's teacher/s
from the previous year and the student's new teacher/s as part of a transition process for the
student from one year level or teacher to the next.
Ideally, teachers work in collaboration to moderate their observations and complete the
assessments, so that the process of answering the assessment items guides a transfer of
knowledge and understanding of students from one teacher to another, and promotes collegial
discussions and shared responsibility for student outcomes.
How should the ABLES assessments be completed?
Use of the ABLES assessments benefits from a process of moderation between teachers or
between teachers and other members of a student's support group.
Experience in many schools indicates that it is important for teachers to decide on a common
framework for their response to the assessments. In particular, unless otherwise indicated for a
particular item, teachers should choose the response to each item that describes a student's
typical level of independent performance rather than the things a student can do when given
coactive support. This is recommended because it is difficult to discern how much support has
been provided to a student to allow them to demonstrate a particular level of proficiency.
However, if students use assistive or augmentative technologies that allow them to demonstrate
their full proficiency, then the level of ability they display when using the technology should be
chosen as their most typical performance. This is made explicit in the wording of the items on
the assessment tools.
When should the assessments be completed?
The ABLES tools are quick and easy to complete, and can be used by teachers at any time that
they wish to monitor a particular student's learning progress or to reflect on the impact of a
program of teaching and learning for their students.
In many schools, the assessments are used at the start of the school year as part of the transition
of students from one classroom teacher to another, or from one year level to another.
The assessments are also used as part of the normal assessment and reporting cycle in schools,
at midyear and again at the end of the year. Reference to Class Reports generated from the
assessments can be used to guide decisions about placing students into similar ability groupings.
Background to the assessment tool
How was the
assessment tool
developed?
The tools were developed over a four year period through a research and development project
lead by the Assessment Research Centre University of Melbourne, in collaboration with DEECD.
Each tool was developed through a collaborative process with academics and expert
practitioners.
How long has the tool
been used?
The tools were first implemented in 2008 as part of the research. Changes have been made to
the tool as the testing with teachers and schools indicated.
Relevant research
underpinning tool
An Australian Research Council linkage grant 2007, sponsored research into mapping of
developmental learning pathways in literacy and cognitive development of students with
intellectual and developmental disabilities in Victorian schools; led by the University of
Melbourne. Three PhD candidates led elements of the research under guidance from the Chief
Investigator, Professor Patrick Griffin. The assessment tools were products of this research.
Validation process
and data for the tool
The tools were trialled by approximately 700 teachers in 70 schools (specialist and mainstream)
across the state in 2008‐2009. A full psychometric analysis of the items in the tool was
undertaken by the University of Melbourne, including Rasch Modelling, to validate the tool for
use generally.
Further support
Link to the
assessment tool
User guide
the assent tool
http://www.arc-alp.com/ABLES/home.php
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/diversity/pages/ables.aspx