Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 1: An Introduction To Assessing Learners With Special Needs

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 Assessment The process of gathering information to monitor progress and make educational decisions if necessary. Monitoring student progress involves comparing a student’s performance to predetermined expectations of performance (charted as an aim line). For students not meeting expectations, interventions are designed, implemented, and evaluated.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3 IDEA (2004) and NCLB (2001) Both IDEA and NCLB require that all students, including students with disabilities, participate in state and local assessments for accountability. Both also strongly emphasize that students with disabilities should follow a curricular path that parallels the general education curriculum as much as possible.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4 Nearly half of all students receiving special education support services do not graduate from high school with a diploma. Accountability is likely to be at the forefront of special education reform movements.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5 Accountability and CLD Students Educational accountability efforts include improving educational outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. CLD students continue to be disproportionately represented in different special education categories and programs for the gifted and talented.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6 Some groups of students are overrepresented in specific categories while others are underrepresented.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7 Traditional Assessment Model General Education Classroom Instruction Student Not Progressing As Expected Student Referred to Multidisciplinary Team Team Completes Assessment Team Meeting Determines Student Found Eligible for Services

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8 Difficulties With Traditional Assessment Practices Lack of Prereferral Interventions Lack of Integrity of Prereferral Interventions Bias in Referral Process Bias in Assessment Process Lack of Consistency in Eligibility Decisions

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 9 Prereferral and Early Intervention Are designed to help struggling teachers Involve support from other teachers Depend on the use of validated practices and documentation of success or failure

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10 Are a part of the general education system, not the special education system Are designed to decrease bias in the referral system and maintain students in the general education system where possible

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 11 RTI and 3-Tier Models of Intervention Response-to-Intervention models rely on: Providing support to students as it becomes apparent that support is needed. Research-based instructional interventions. Highly qualified teachers.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 12 Maintaining the integrity of the model. Increasingly frequent progress monitoring as students receive tier 2 and if necessary tier 3 instruction. See Figure 1.3

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 13 Contemporary Assessment Model General Classroom Instruction with Frequent Measurements And Statewide Assessments Student Not Making Progress General Education Teacher Assesses Skill/Task Using Frequent Measurements, Probes, Error Analysis of Student Products and Performance Interventions Implemented by Classroom Teacher

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 14 Interventions Not Successful General Classroom Teacher Meets with Problem-Solving Team Team Members, Analyze Data, and Generate Hypotheses Teacher and Team Design Additional Interventions Interventions Implemented and Monitored for Integrity Teacher Takes Frequent Measurements and/or Observations Interventions Successful Student Continues in General Classroom Student Continues to Have Difficulty with Academic Progress and/or Behavior

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 15 Team Meets to Analyze Data Team Determines if Additional Assessment is Needed or Additional Interventions Implemented and Monitored for Integrity Team Designs Assessment Plan Interventions Successful Student Remains in General Classroom Student Receives Comprehensive Evaluation

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 16 Team Meets to Determine Student’s Needs Student Receives Accommodations for Educational and/or Behavioral Needs Interventions Monitored for Success Student Found Eligible for Special Education Support Receives Services in General Education Classroom or Special Education Setting Interventions Monitored for Success

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 17 Types of Assessments Norm-referenced Assessment—tests designed to compare a specific student’s ability with the ability of same age students in a representational sample. Standardized Assessment—tests given with specific instructions and procedures, often norm-referenced. Criterion-referenced Tests—tests used to assess a student's progress in skill mastery against specific standards.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 18 Criterion-related Tests—Tests used to assess a student's progress on items that are similar to objectives or standards. Curriculum-Based Assessment— Assessments used to determine how a student is performing using actual content of curriculum such as chapter tests or teacher made tests.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 19 Curriculum-Based Measurement— Standardized and validated assessments used to measure rate of progress of a specific skill over time against an aim line. Dynamic Assessment—Interactive assessment used to determine if a student has potential to learn a new skill by observing student’s cognitive processing skills.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 20 Ecological Assessment—Evaluation of classroom variables to determine possible classroom environmental influences on learning or behavior. Portfolio Assessment—Using a variety of student products to evaluate progress over time in specific areas.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 21 Error Analysis—Evaluation of student work to determine a pattern of errors or specific type of errors. Checklists, Rating Scales, and Observations—A variety of measures used to determine a student's skill level or behavioral functioning.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 22 High-stakes testing— Accountability assessment of state or district standards, which may be used for funding or accreditation decisions. Alternative assessments— Assessment methods for students with disabilities, designed to measure progress in the general curriculum.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 23 The Identification Process Prereferral Intervention and RTI— Prereferral intervention and RTI processes precede referral; a failure to respond to validated interventions is documented. Referral—After sufficient documentation that the student has not responded to interventions, the student is referred for assessment to determine if she/he meets eligibility criteria for special education services.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 24 Comprehensive Assessment (Full Individualized Evaluation) Parent permission is granted for assessment. The multidisciplinary assessment team designs and implements an assessment plan. Eligibility is determined by the team based on their comprehensive assessment.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 25 Determination of Service Provision The IEP committee meets to determine if special education is necessary to meet the needs of the student. If so, the parent must grant permission in order for the student to be placed in special education. If not, the student remains in the general education setting.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 26 The IEP is developed by the IEP team. Placement is determined based on the tenets of the Least Restrictive Environment mandate of IDEA. Service Provision—The student receives services in special education and the IEP must be reviewed at least once a year.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 27 Comprehensive Assessment Data A variety of data should be considered when assessing for eligibility. Standardized norm-referenced test scores (e.g., Achievement and IQ scores) Medical and developmental history Educational background Language proficiency data Parent and teacher interview data

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 28 Teacher anecdotal records Observational data Checklist and rating scales Data collected from prereferral and RTI processes The assessment team must ensure that a student has had a sufficient opportunity to learn before finding the student eligible for special education services.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 29 Cultural Considerations Children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds have historically been disproportionally represented in special education programs. This has also been true for children who live in poverty.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 30 Although increased risks may exist with certain environmental factors (such as poverty), educators must be aware of bias that exists in both the referral and assessment for eligibility processes that result in misidentifying CLD students for special education services.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 31 IDEA 2004, in addition to maintaining nondiscriminatory assessment mandates, requires states and local districts to formally address the problems of disproportionate representation.

Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 6e Overton © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 32 Educators must ensure that students have had an adequate opportunity to learn, which includes provision of culturally responsive instruction, before identifying students for special education services. Vygotsky, some 70 years ago, cautioned professionals to be certain that the disability was not in “the imagination of the investigators.”