1. Professional Practice Guidelines
Launch of the
Professional Practice Guidelines
Psycho-educational Assessment & Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs
2 Nov 2011 1

2. Launch of Professional Practice Guidelines on
Psycho-educational Assessment and Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs
Dr Mariam Aljunied
Lead Specialist
Educational Psychology

3. Overview Background Guiding principles Chapter highlights
Reliability of SEN category
Next Steps
Q & A

4. Professional Practice Guidelines for
Psycho-educational Assessment & Placement
of SEN children
RATIONALE
Changes and diversification of special needs landscape
Clarity and consistency in professional advice needed to help parents make informed choices
Shared understanding and standards among professionals across different settings

5. Background
Developed by a Multi-Professional workgroup from MOE, KKH DCD, NUH Department of Pediatrics, IMH, NCSS, SPED Schools from March 2010 to September 2011.
Focus on students with SEN (6 – 18 yrs).
Use by psychologists and allied health professionals who are involved in the psycho-educational assessments of students with SEN

6. Guiding Principles Contextualized Evidence-informed Implementable
Guide (not replace) professional judgment

7. Chapter 1: Definitions 1.1 Psycho-educational Assessment
1.2 Special Educational Needs (SEN)
1.3 Educational Placement

8. Special Educational Needs
Pg 6
A student is considered to have SEN when all of the criteria, a, b, and c, stated below have been fulfilled:
a) Has a disability
and
b) Displays:
Greater difficulty in learning as compared to majority peers of the same age Or
Difficulty accessing educational facilities catered for the majority of peers of the same age
Some areas of impairment, in terms of social, academic, physical or sensory functioning (i.e., the student is not on par with the majority of the peers)
c) Requires different and/or additional resources beyond what is
conventionally available

9. Pg 7
“As a student’s SEN are an interaction between the student and the environment, the type and level of needs may change over time and across different contexts.”

10. Chapter 2: Psycho-educational Assessment Data
2.1 Sources of Assessment Data
2.2 Types and Areas of Assessment
2.3 User of Assessment Tools and Data
2.4 Factors to Consider in Selecting and
Using Different Assessment Measures

11. User of Assessment Tools and Data
Pg 12
2.3 User qualifications
Based on the criteria defined by test publishers, the person conducting Level C tests (e.g., individually administered tests of intelligence, personality tests, and projective methods) could be an independent user or a supervised user of the test.
An independent user is a registered psychologist with certification by the Singapore Psychological Society or by any of its recognized professional bodies
A supervised user should only administer such tests in the context of a planned supervisory relationship with an independent user of the test.

12. Chapter 3: Assessment for Specific Purposes
3.1 Assessment to Ascertain Appropriate Special
Educational Placement
3.2 Ascertaining Student’s Suitability for Placement into
a Mainstream School
3.3 Ascertaining Student’s Suitability for Placement into
an Appropriate Special Education (SPED) School
3.4 Assessment for Access Arrangements (or
‘Special Arrangements’) and Curricular Exemption
Pg 19

13. Chapter 4: Assessment Considerations for Specific Populations
4.1 Students with Visual Impairment
4.2 Students with Hearing Impairment
4.3 Students with Cerebral Palsy
4.4 Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
4.5 Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
4.6 Students with Central Auditory Processing Disorder
4.7 Students with Dyslexia
4.8 Students with Intellectual Disability
4.9 Students with Multiple Disabilities

14. Chapter 5: Framework and Pathways for Educational Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
5.1 Framework for SEN
5.2 Categorisation of SEN
5.3 Pathways

15. Local SEN Policy
A “Differentiated” and “Many Helping Hands” approach in supporting students with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS
( MILD SEN) (MODERATE-SEVERE SEN)
Increasing support, resources, community partnerships 15 15

16. Ascertaining a student’s Special Educational Needs
A balance of consideration of all of these factors:
Child’s Cognitive functioning
Child’s Adaptive Functioning
Resources & provisions in current landscape

17. Categories of SEN Pg 39 1A1 2A 3A 1A2 1B 2B 3B Cognitive functioning
Adaptive
Functioning
Adequate cognitive functioning
Mild cognitive impairment
(>2SD)
Moderate to severe cognitive impairment
(>3SD)
Mild deficit in adaptive functioning
(delays of 2-4 yrs)
1A1 2A 3A
1A2
Moderate to severe deficit in adaptive functioning
(delays of >4yrs) 1B 2B 3B

18. Purpose of Categorisation
Common frame of reference for professionals across different agencies
Common language between referral agencies and receiving schools
Facilitate transition and resource planning

19. Conclusion
Good consensus among professionals in the use of the categories for placement
Agreement ranged from ‘moderate’ to ‘almost perfect’
Agreement improved when quality of assessment data improves, e.g.:
Information about intervention received
Adaptive beh obtained from multiple sources (parent, teacher, direct observations)

20. Next Steps (2012 & beyond)
Parents’ Version of the Professional Practice Guidelines
Joint Continued Professional Development sessions involving multi-agency professionals
Coordination and streamlining of SPED applications
Clearer articulation of admission’s criteria into specific SPED schools
Availability of locally normed standardised tests
Continued consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders, e.g. VWOs, CDC, CGC, SPED Schools, NCSS

21. Q & A
Thank you