Assessments - 1
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Entitlement decisions a progression:
1. First type is the screening decision.
2. Second type is the referral. Generally made by the classroom teacher.
3. Third type is determining whether the child has an exceptionally or special learning needs. (IE. Does the child qualify?)
4. Fourth type of decision, upon determining the child is eligible, the IEP must be developed what goes in this.
5. Fifth type is what setting the child will receive the services in.
6. Sixth are re-evaluation decisions.
7. Seventh is an accountability decision which is system wide.
Entitlement exceptionality areas:
Autism
Emotional disturbance
Learning disabilities
Visual impairment
Cognitive disability
Orthopedic impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Nationally normed referenced tests: Been given in various areas to various groups to get an overall average norm for the entire population. Standards are based on these norms the standards show what is normal for each group.
Factors which can come into play are:
SES, ethnic differences, single parent family, has the student been retained, etc.
Consider the difference between an inner city and a rich neighbourhood: the same scores will mean very different things on a nationally normed test.
The smaller you can get your norm group, the more accurate your decisions will be. This is the reason for the popularity of classroom/schoolwide norms.
Determining eligibility wont make any difference if you dont have the intervention required.
Domains of assessment:
Physical
Behavioural
Academic
Four ways of evaluating or assessing a student:
Observation
Tests
Interview (includes ratings scales, self reports, etc.)
Record review
When doing assessment, Ask: Is the instruction a good match and is the academic environment a good match.
When doing assessment, we are going to assess academic skill (what skills has the student mastered and what does the student lack). We will assess the academic curriculum (what has been and is being taught). We will assess the classroom environment (teaching style, instructional time, physical environment, grouping patterns, and resources and materials used in the classroom. Finally, we want to look at the impact of the home and other environments of the child.
Assessment must utilize Multi-trait, Multi-method procedures.
When you develop hypotheses, you want to develop more than one. You want to think broad, and you will test them in the order we think they are correct. The one which truly makes the most sense may not be the one we first thought would make the most sense.
Filed under: EDC 514-515 Academic Assessment for Intervention
Copyright: January, 2004 - David Profitt
