Intro to assessments

1. INTRODUCTION
TO ASSESSMENT
w3s1 EDSP 413 – Dr. Sandy Battige

2. HOUSE
KEEPING

3. DEVOTIONAL
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4. LOOKING BACK
• EDTPA OVERVIEW
• EDTPA EVALUATION
TEMPLATE
PAST DUE!!
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5. INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENTS
FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION
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6. PRIMARY ASSUMPTION OF ASSESSMENT
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01
All children can
learn – When
evaluators BELIEVE
that all children
can learn,
assessment takes
the role of finding
strengths rather
than weaknesses.
All children can
communicate –
One important
goal of assessment
should be to
determine HOW
students
communicate. All
behaviors
communicate!
02
Assessment must
be culturally
responsive – When
an assessment
reflects the
perspective of
only one cultural
group, the results
may be biased
against students
from other groups.
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01

7. PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENTS
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Screening and
Identification
to screen
children and
identify those
who may be
experiencing
delays or
learning
problems.
Are there
unrecognized
problems?
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
Does the child
qualify for
special
education?
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
Is the child
making
progress on
their goals?
Instructional
Planning
to develop
and plan
instruction
appropriate
to the child's
special
needs
Is the student
making adequate
progress toward
state standards
of learning?
Evaluation
to evaluate
student
progress.
Is the current
program
working?

8. DEFINITION OF ASSESSMENT
An assessment in special education is the process used to determine a child’s specific learning strengths and
needs, and to determine whether or not a child is eligible for special education services. Assessment in
special education is a process that involves collecting information about a student for the purpose of
making decisions. Assessment, also known as evaluation, can be seen as a problem-solving process
(Swanson & Watson, 1989) that involves many ways of collecting information about the student. According
to Gearheart and Gearheart (1990; cited in Pietrangelo and Giuliani, 2006), assessment is “a process
that involves the systematic collection and interpretation of a wide variety
of information on which to base instructional/intervention decisions and,
when appropriate, classification and placement decisions. Assessment is
primarily a problem-solving process”
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9. 9
Formal Informal Formative Summative Direct Indirect
Administered in
a highly
structured
environment
Requires the
person
administering
the tests to have
training
Allows for
accommodations
Provides Norm-
Referenced
Results
Does not
require
standardized
administration
Provides
Criterion
References
Results
Administered
frequently,
Informs
instructional
practices, and
used to make
decisions about
instruction.
For example,
quizzes
Often used for
IEP progress
monitoring
Administered
at the end of a
learning
sequence (unit
test, EOY ) to
Assesses
multiple skills
learned over a
long period
Administered
by the teacher
to gather
information
about the
individual
Documents
what a student
can and cannot
do.
Gathers
information
from other
sources such as
adults who are
familiar with the
student.
Assessment Categories

10. FEDERAL PROVISIONS REGARDING ASSESSMENT
1. Tests are to be selected and administered so as to be racially and culturally nondiscriminatory.
2. To the extent feasible, students are to be assessed in their native language or primary mode of communication such as
ASL or Communication Boards
3. Tests must have been validated for the specific purpose for which they were used.
4. Tests must be administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by the test produces.
5. Tests used with students must include those designed to provide information for specific educational needs, not just
general intelligence quotient.
6. Decisions about students are to be based on more than a single test of their performance
7. Evaluations are to be made by a multidisciplinary team that includes at least one teacher or specialist with knowledge
of the area of suspected disability.
8. Children must be assessed in all areas related to a specific disability including – where appropriate – health, vision,
hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communication skills, and motor skills.
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11. UNDERSTANDING ASSESSMENT RESULTS
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DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ARE CALCULATED USING BASIC MATHEMATICAL
OPERATIONS (ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION, AND DIVISION), AS WELL AS,
SIMPLE EXPONENTIAL OPERATIONS
(SQUARES AND SQUARE ROOTS).
ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE OF
MATHEMATICS IS NOT REQUIRED!

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13. STANINES
Short for “standard nines”,
stanine scores are standard-
score bands that divide a
distribution into nine parts.
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14. PERCENTILE RANK
Percentile Ranks indicate the
percentage of people whose
scores are at or below a
given raw score. It is NOT
the same as the percentage
correct.
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15. DEVELOPMENTAL SCORES
• AGE EQUIVALENT = The child’s raw score is the average performance for that
age group. For example, if your 6-year-old child has an age equivalent score of
10.0 it means their score is the same as the average score for all 10-year-olds
taking the test. It does not mean they are mentally 10 years old.
• GRADE EQUIVALENT = The child’s raw score is the average performance for
that grade level. For example, if your 5th-grade child obtains a grade-
equivalent score of 10.5 in math, it means that they can solve 5th-grade math
problems as well as the average 10th-grade student. They are performing
better than the average 5th grade but most likely cannot perform as well as a
10th grader on 10th-grade material. 15

16. HOT UPDATE! = PERCENTAGE CORRECT
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Instructional
Level
85-95%
Frustration
Level
85% or less
Independent
Level
95%+

17. IEP
PERCENTAGES
OF ACCURACY
LEVELS
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Frustration Level
The student knows less than 85% of the material
and feels frustrated when attempting the task.
Instructional Level
The student can successfully complete the task with 85-95%
accuracy. The task provides a degree of challenge where
the student is likely to be successful, but success is not
guaranteed.
Independent Level
The student can perform 95% or more of the task
without assistance and experiences little frustration.

18. LOOKING FORWARD
• READ: MORNINGSTAR CHAPTER 3 DUE 2/2/23
• ASSESSMENT PRESENTATIONS BEGIN 2/16/23
*NOTE CHANGE IN CANVAS!!!
• ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT – PSYCHO-
EDUCATIONAL REPORT DUE 3/5/23
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