1. Strategies For Making Assessment Meaningful and Manageable
Andrea M. Capizzi, Ph.D.
M. Alexandra Da Fonte, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University
CEC Convention 2017

2. Agenda Purpose of assessment Importance of quality assessment
Effective assessment reports
Assessment and instruction

3. Goal of assessments Eligibility
Identification of student’s strengths and areas of needs
Guide instruction

4. Why do we need quality assessment?
IEP teams must consider recent student evaluation when developing an IEP (IDEA, 2006)
Assessment results should act as baseline information against which progress toward goals should be measured
Allows IEP development and instructional decision- making based on documented student strengths and needs
(Bateman & Herr, 2006; Etscheidt, 2003; Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2002)

5. What makes meaningful assessment challenging?
Teachers often struggle with using and interpreting assessment results to guide their instruction
Full assessment reports are thorough, contain information related to past and current assessment results, summarize findings, create a picture of student strengths and weaknesses, and make recommendations related to classroom, school, and home.
(Cohen & Spenciner, 2007, Hood & Johnson, 2002; Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2002)
But – many teachers don’t have skills
in conducting comprehensive assessment

7. How can assessment be streamlined and made more meaningful?
Comprehensively evaluate student needs
Provide instruction that is tied to and driven by identified student needs
Use ongoing assessment to evaluate and monitor student progress
Evaluate, modify, and plan instruction accordingly
Follow a systematic process: assessment → instruction

9. Keys to conducting comprehensive assessment
Observations
Identify areas to evaluate and select appropriate tools
(e.g., academic, behavior, communicate, motor, sensory)
Conduct assessment and write report
(Identify strengths and areas of needs)
Plan for instruction
Know student’s limits when conducting assessment – you can’t just plow through
Share observation forms

10. Observations Multiple settings, contexts, times of the day, etc.
Should guide your selection of areas to measure
Consider:
Environment
Adaptations
Behavior management strategies
Academic functioning
Communication skills
Social interactions
Transitions
Motor skills
Know student’s limits when conducting assessment – you can’t just plow through
Share observation forms

11. Identify areas to evaluate and tools to use
Social skills & Behavior
Math
Reading
Writing
Language & Communication
Sensory Skills
Social skills
Conceptual or functional academic skills
Independent living skills
Communication skills
Sensory skills
Personal care skills
Employment or work skills
Severe Disabilities
High Incidence
Know student’s limits when conducting assessment – you can’t just plow through
Share observation forms

12. Conduct assessment and write report
Components of a comprehensive assessment report
Identifying data
Background information (educational, medical, family)
Previous testing and evaluation
Classroom observation
Current assessment
Assessment results
Summary/ conclusions 
Recommendations  

13. Identifying data Name Parents’ Names Age at time of testing Teacher
Gender
Date of Birth
Grade
School
Parents’ Names
Teacher
Referred by
Dates of testing
Examiner(s)
Date of Report

14. Background information
“sets the stage” for the rest of the report.
Family History: tells a little bit about student’s family/living arrangements
Developmental/Medical History: gives relevant history related to milestones and health
Educational History: provides information about past academic experiences, grades, performance. This section should how a pattern of academic performance and should also detail any inconsistencies in the student’s school history.
Social History: gives information related to the student’s social functioning. This may include the student’s involvement with peers, and participation in sports and organizations.
Summary of Previous Testing/Evaluation: provides an overview of past assessments and results

15. 3. Classroom observations
Summary of observations of the student in the classroom or other school settings
Focus on needs and strengths

16. 4. Current assessment List tools used
Provide rational for and brief description of each
These should be appropriate for the student as well as the examiner

17. 5. Assessment results
Behavioral observations of the student’s behavior during testing
List test scores in a table
Organize by test and by content area
Statement of any limitations of the scores or any concerns that the scores don’t adequately represent a student’s true skills

18. 6. Summary/ conclusions    
This is one of the most important parts of the report
Interpret the results by identifying relationships across assessment tools
Helpful to tie to past assessments if possible
Summarize student’s strengths and deficits in skills

19. 7. Recommendations To the school, teacher, parent
Suggest goals that meet stated deficits
Often helpful to number these or put in bullet format
Identify an ongoing assessment plan to monitor student progress

20. Assessment-Based IEPs
IEPs should be developed based on current assessment data
Present Levels statements should drive Annual Goals, which should, in turn, drive Short Term Objectives

21. Graphic Organizer to guide development of PLAAFPs, Annual Goals, STOs (Capizzi, 2008)

23. Present levels of performance: IEP
Provides a ”snapshot” of the student’s performance at the time the IEP is written
Provides a baseline against which you can evaluate progress
State skills positively
Include normative scores, percentiles, behavioral data, specific skills etc.
(Capizzi, 2008; deBettencourt & Howard, 2007)

25. IEP: Annual Goals
Should come from needs identified through annual assessment
At least one goal for each area of need noted in the Present Levels Statements
Should project a realistic level of progress in a year
Essential Components:
Specific description of the skill
Method of measuring the skill
Criterion against which progress will be measures

26. IEP: Objectives/Benchmarks
Allows measurement of progress toward annual goals
These are the “stairsteps” toward reaching the annual goal
Need to be written in a measurable way so that that assessment throughout the year allows progress monitoring
No longer required but many states still require them

28. Instruction Should be designed to meet student needs
Focus on IEP objectives while also addressing grade- level objectives
Objectives for each day’s instruction should be assessed

29. Progress monitoring
Ongoing progress monitoring of progress toward annual goals
Efficiency can be increased by building daily instructional objectives that, when assessed, provide data toward progress monitoring

30. Wrap-up Goal: Writing effective and useful reports
Identification of student’s strengths and areas of needs
Guide instruction
Writing effective and useful reports
Write in a simple style
Write as single space
Write in the third person
Avoid reports longer than 5 pages
Be objective. Explain and describe the data
Use sections headings
Use complete sentences: “tell a story”
Avoid using technical terms/jargon

31. Q&A