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WHAT ARE ASSESSMENTS?
Assessments often include various tests,
both standardized or criterion-referenced, but testing is
not the only way that educators measure students’
aptitude. Assessments are evaluations, and might
consist of anything from simple observations that a
teacher or aide jots down while a student works on an
assignment to complex, multi-stage procedures such as
a group of teachers assembling a large portfolio of
student work. 
 Then there are assessments that are required
by individual schools, districts or states that help
educators determine whether or not a student
qualifies for special education and, if so, the
types and frequency of services that will best
support a student’s success.
IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT
The importance of assessment should never be
underestimated. In special education, you will work with
many professionals from different fields. You are part of
a team, often referred to as a multidisciplinary team,
that tries to determine what, if any, disability is present
in a student. The team’s role is crucial because it helps
determine the extent and direction of a child’s personal
journey through the special education experience
(Pierangelo and Giuliani, 2006).
 Consequently, the skills you must possess
in order to offer a child the most global,
accurate, and practical evaluation should be
fully understood. The development of these
skills should include a good working
knowledge of the following components of the
assessment process in order to determine the
presence of a suspected disability:
Collection: The process of tracing and gathering
information from the many sources of background
information on a child such as school records,
observation, parent intakes, and teacher reports
Analysis: The processing and understanding of patterns in
a child’s educational, social, developmental,
environmental, medical, and emotional history
Evaluation: The evaluation of a child’s academic,
intellectual, psychological, emotional, perceptual,
language, cognitive, and medical development in order
to determine areas of strength and weakness
Determination: The determination of the presence
of a suspected disability and the knowledge of
the criteria that constitute each category
Recommendation: The recommendations
concerning educational placement and program
that need to be made to the school, teachers, and
parents
PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment in educational settings serves five primary
purposes:
1. screening and identification: to screen children and
identify those who may be experiencing delays or
learning problem.
2. eligibility and diagnosis: to determine whether a
child has a disability and is eligible for special
education services, and to diagnose the specific nature
of the student's problems or disability
3. IEP development and placement: to provide detailed
information so that an Individualized Education
Program (IEP) may be developed and appropriate
decisions may be made about the child's educational
placement
4. instructional planning: to develop and plan
instruction appropriate to the child's special needs
5. evaluation: to evaluate student progress. (Pierangelo
and Giuliani, 2006)
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TESTING
AND ASSESSMENT
There is sometimes confusion regarding the terms
"assessment" and "testing." While they are related, they
are not synonymous. Testing is the administration of
specifically designed and often standardized educational
and psychological measures of behavior and is a part of
the assessment process. Testing is just one piece of the
assessment process.  Assessment encompasses many
different methods of evaluation, one of which is using
tests. 
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1. INDIVIDUAL INTELLIGENCE TESTS: 
As the name suggests, individual intelligence tests
are administered to a student one on one.
A. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC):
The school psychologist usually administers this
test, which measures a student’s intelligence in a
variety of areas, including linguistic and spatial
intelligence. This is a norm-based test, meaning that
student performance is measured against the
performance of students at various grade levels.
B. Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale (derived from the
Binet-Simon Test): The school psychologist or special
education team administers this test, which, like the
WISC, is also norm-referenced. The questions are
designed to help educators differentiate between
students performing below grade level because of
cognitive disabilities and those who do so for other
reasons.
2. GROUP INTELLIGENCE TESTS:

Group intelligence and achievement tests are

often administered in the general education
classroom. It is through these types of tests
that a teacher might first suspect that a student
has a learning disability. These tests have two
functions, measuring academic ability as well as
a child’s cognitive level.
3. SKILL EVALUATIONS:
Specialists such as the school speech pathologist and
the child’s general practitioner use certain diagnostic
measures for determining a child’s gross motor skills,
fine manipulative skills and hearing, sight speech and
language abilities. Teachers typically refer parents to a
pediatrician or specialist so that the student can receive
a full physical and evaluation as part of the process of
gathering the evidence necessary to develop an 
individual education program (IEP).
4. DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY:
The child’s classroom teacher, parents, pediatrician
and school specialists help formulate this narrative
assessment. They may fill out checklists, answer
questions, participate in an interview or write a report
addressing a child’s strengths, challenges and
development (or lack thereof) over time. The focus here
is on issues such as the child’s health history,
developmental milestones, genetic factors, friendships,
family relationships, hobbies, behavioral issues and
academic performance.
5. OBSERVATIONAL RECORDS:
Anyone who works with the child can provide
information about the child’s academic performance and
behavioral issues. Daily, weekly and monthly
observational records that show a child’s performance
over time typically fall into the domain of the general
education teacher, as he or she is the individual working
most closely with the child on a regular basis. The
general education teacher also typically has a firm
notion of how a child’s work and behavior compares to
that of other students of the same age and grade level.
6. SAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK:
The general classroom teacher also provides most
of the evidence in this domain. A folder of assignments,
tests, homework and projects can provide a snapshot of
a child’s abilities and challenges in performing grade-
level work. A more nuanced portfolio, which may
include a research project, a writing assignment with
several drafts or samples of work throughout a
thematic unit, affords the materials for an in-depth
investigation of a child’s learning style, thought process
and ability to engage in critical thinking tasks.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Public
Law 105-476, lists 13 separate categories of disabilities under
which children may be eligible for special education and
related services. These are:
1. autism: a developmental disability significantly affecting
verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction,
generally evident before age 3
2. deafness: a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child
is impaired in processing linguistic information, with or
without amplification
deaf-blindness: simultaneous hearing and visual impairments
3. hearing impairment: an impairment in hearing,
whether permanent or fluctuating
4. mental retardation: significantly subaverage general
intellectual functioning existing concurrently with
deficits in adaptive behavior
5. multiple disabilities: the manifestation of two or more
disabilities (such as mental retardation-blindness), the
combination of which requires special accommodation
for maximal learning
6. orthopedic impairment: physical disabilities, including
congenital impairments, impairments caused by disease, and
impairments from other causes
7. other health impairment: having limited strength, vitality,
or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems
8. serious emotional disturbance: a disability where a child of
typical intelligence has difficulty, over time and to a marked
degree, building satisfactory interpersonal relationships;
responds inappropriately behaviorally or emotionally under
normal circumstances; demonstrates a pervasive mood of
unhappiness; or has a tendency to develop physical
symptoms or fears
9. specific learning disability: a disorder in one or more
of the basic psychological processes involved in
understanding or in using language, spoken or written,
which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to
listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do
mathematical calculations
10. speech or language impairment: a communication
disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a
language impairment, or a voice impairment
11. traumatic brain injury: an acquired injury to the
brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in
total or partial functional disability or psychosocial
impairment, or both
12. visual impairment: a visual difficulty (including
blindness) that, even with correction, adversely affects a
child educational performance
WHO AND WHAT IS INVOLVED?
1. Anyone involved in the child’s life and education
might suspect a learning disability or similar issue
and ask specialists to explore it further.
2. The first person to conduct an informal assessment is
typically the classroom teacher, though a guardian or
pediatrician might start the assessment process. At
this point, the teacher should review student work
and conduct more formal observations of student
behavior and performance to note any issues.
3. A classroom teacher or pediatrician might request a
referral to a medical specialist, therapist, psychologist
or other specialist to focus on a particular area of
concern. These individuals keep written records of
findings, and should also write descriptions of any
discussions concerning the child.
4. The school’s special education department or student
study team begins informal and formal evaluations.
They will request that the classroom teacher and other
individuals working with the child submit any evidence
gathered.
 WHY SO MANY ASSESSMENTS?
In the world of education, quantity is not always quality.
However, educators require multiple measures to ensure that
they gain an accurate picture of a student’s performance
compared with others at the same grade level. This process is
essential, because a student might not do well on a specific
assessment due to performance anxiety or a learning disability,
but an alternate measure might demonstrate that the student can
function at grade level given certain conditions. For example,
some students perform poorly on standardized tests but do well
in authentic assessments (those that mirror the usage of skills in
the real world) such as hand-on projects.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
No single test or evaluation can capture a child’s full
spectrum of strengths and challenges.  Assessments give
educators guidance as to how to provide the best
services and support for children, but they are not
everything. As a parent or teacher, you will provide
multiple assessments on an ongoing basis. From these,
you can create short-term and long-term goals for the
child.
 For example, if you find that the child has
trouble meeting grade-level benchmarks in
writing, you might focus on broadening the
contexts in which the child writes, providing
multiple opportunities for engaging, authentic
practice. The child might write lists, label
maps, keep a dream journal, sing songs and
record the lyrics, try different forms of poetry
or start a blog.
 In the course of practicing and refining skills, the
child should be given time for self-
assessment. Student-led activities such as reviewing
work and choosing items for a portfolio allow
metacognition (thinking about thinking) to
happen. This process is underscored by the fact that a
student’s work need not look identical to the work of
grade-level peers, but that the child should instead
focus on improvement over time.
REFERENCES:
https://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/what-is-special-education
/the-importance-of-the-assessment-process
/
https://www.naset.org/index.php?id=2876#c14508