Transcript Alternative assessments (pp. 81-83)

Chapter 7: Assessment
Identifying Strengths and Needs
“Assessment is the process of gathering
data for the purpose of making decisions
about individuals and groups”.
Assessment is not just “testing”.
Role of assessment (pp.75-77)



reveals insight into abilities, intelligence,
strengths, needs, and behaviours of the
students in question
collects information into an exceptionality
and influences future of the program/
instruction
assessment happens everyday (e.g.
monitoring behaviour, observing, tests)
Role of assessment (pp. 75-77)



assessments should identify needs and
strengths and special needs students
assessment information is collected
through a number of sources and a variety
of assessment strategies
The process for assessing student with
special needs is more extensive and
thorough, producing IEPs
Who does it? (pp. 77)


Assessments should be done by teachers
and continues throughout school career
other people who assess students include:
special education teachers, psychologist,
speech pathologist etc.
Components of assessments
(pp. 78-81)

Assessment information collected includes





What the student has been doing? (by
classroom observations)
Systematic collection of student work
Discussion and information sharing with key
person, e.g. parents, other teachers
Testing
Informal tests (by teachers), e.g.
observations, rating scales and checklists
Components of assessments (pp. 78-81)

Formal Tests






assessment battery - formal assessment
intelligent (IQ) tests (WISC IV)
may include projective tests – psychological test
- inner feelings, e.g. InKblot test (what you see)
academic achievement test (by teachers), used
as screening test in special education
diagnostic tests – suggest areas of remediation,
pre-test for a unit
Test of cognitive ability (memory, problem
solving, and reasoning)
Components of assessments (pp. 78-81)

Developmental and readiness tests to
determine the ability, e.g. to screen gifted

Rating scales, inventories, and checklists
for attitudes, self-esteem, behaviour, learning
skills, etc.

Interviews/ Informal Commentary
teachers and parents- face to face, - anecdotal





current/ intimate information
Medical Information – from doctor
- identifies special needs, hard to attain - privacy
Reports by other Professionals -psychologist
Keys to Assessment (p. 80)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Has the assessment used a broad spectrum
of sources (e.g. Parents, teachers and OSR)
If test instruments have been used, are they
valid and reliable?
Is the examiner properly trained in the
administer and interpret tests?
Was the assessment individually tailored?
(student’s culture, language, age and/or
physical abilities)
Keys to Assessment (p. 80)
5. Was the assessment ecological? It must
examine the student in relation to whole
environment or situation (classroom, home).
6. Does the assessment imply or recommend
responses, e.g. remediation or enrichment?
7. Do key people in the life of the student (e.g.
parents) acknowledge that the assessment
has sampled genuinely representative
factors?
Parental Involvement (p. 81)
Questions for parent interview:






What are your concerns regarding your
child’s learning/behaviour at school?
How does what we do at school affect him
at home?
Has she had particular success in the past
with a strategy or program?
What other reports do you have that we
may need to be aware of?
What goals do you have for your child?
Method of communication?
Alternative assessments (pp. 81-83)
Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA)


-measuring students performance according to
curricular expectations
-make sure that they achieve basic academic
skills and content knowledge outlined in
curriculum
Authentic Assessment


collection of data based on real situations where
students are engaged in an interactive fashion
allow for integration of information learned
Alternative assessments (pp. 81-83)
Portfolio Assessment

collection of students work that represents
growth and development
Ecological Assessment

examine context in which a student learns
Learning Style Assessment


how a student learn
Has some (limited) validity
Issues in using formal tests (pp. 83-85)









power of test mystique
aging of published tests (1940s and 1950s).
bias and tacit discrimination against lower socio-economic
groups, diverse cultures
group tests are meant to be a machine scored (CAT-3 or 4,
CCAT)
potential for misinterpretation
tests are usually timed, hard for deep/slow thinkers
misunderstanding “standardized”
generalized test results e.g. Reading grade 4.2
Ignoring the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM)