Chapter 4 – Assessing Student Needs
How Do your Student Assessment Contribute to Special Education Decisions?
o Assessment – the process of gathering information to monitor progress and to make educational decisions when necessary
o Most common ways – standardized tests or informal tests
· Screening – The decisions about whether a student’s performance differs enough from that of his or her peers to merit further, more in-depth assessments to determine the presence of a disability
· Diagnosis – type of assessment decision concerning whether or not a student meets established federal guidelines for being classified as having a disability and, if so, the nature and extent of the disability
· Program Placement – type of assessment decision concerning when a student’s special education services will take place
· Curriculum Placement – type of assessment decision concerning where to begin instruction for students
· Instructional Evaluation – type of assessment decision concerning whether to continue or change instructional procedures that have been initiated with students
· Program Evaluation – type of assessment decision concerning whether a special education program should be terminated, continued as is, or modified
What Information Sources are used in Programming for Students with Special Needs?
· High-Stakes Achievement Tests – assessments designed to measure whether students have attained learning standards
o AKA – criterion referenced – benchmark testing
o Students are entitled to a range of accommodations
· Standardized Achievement Tests – designed to measure academic progress, or what students have retained from the curriculum
o AKA – norm referenced – performance of one student is compared to the average performance of other students in the country
o Types:
§ Group-Administered Tests
§ Individually Administered Tests
· Psychological Tests – measure abilities that affect how efficiently students learn in an instructional situation
o Can be helpful if they clarify why students may not be learning in class and lead to effective changes in instruction
· Alternate Assessments – a form of functional assessment for students with severe disabilities who are unable to participate in the standard state and district-wide assessment programs
o Option is intended for students whose disabilities have prevented them from achieving grade-level proficiency and who are not likely to reach grade-level achievement within the same timeframe as their classmates without disabilities
· Curriculum-Based Assessments – method of measuring the level of achievement of students in terms of what they are taught in the classroom
o Measure repeatedly over time
o Teacher select the skills that are assessed based on what you teach in class, thus ensuring a match between what is taught and what is tested
What kinds of curriculum-based assessments can you create for your students?
· Probes of Basic Academic Skills
o Probes – quick and easy measures of student performance in the basic skill areas of reading, math, and written expression
o Major types: see-say, see-write, hear-write, and think write
· Content-Area Assessment
o
How are curriculum-based probes used to make special education decisions?
· Peer Comparison in Screening
o Key question is whether a student is different enough from his peers on important skills in a given academic area (or areas) to indicate that some form of classroom accommodation is necessary
· Fluency and Accuracy in Diagnosis
o CBA can help to diagnose specific skills deficits
· Skill Mastery and Curriculum Placement
o Group students by rank ordering and then visually inspect students’ probe scores
· Monitoring Student Progress and Instructional Evaluation
o Monitor results of teaching
o CBA probes are ideal for monitoring student progress in class
Outside Resources | |
American Psychological Association – kinds of assessment | www.apa.org |
National Assessment of Educational Progress – national test of academic progress | www.nagb.org |
My Education Lab | |
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