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Discover what assessment methods you should be using, and how, when, and where they should be administered to ensure appropriate services are selected for all exceptional students.
A practical, applied approach to assessing learners with special needs from early childhood through transition Assessing Learners with Special Needs: An Applied Approach, 8/e provides readers with a practical, step-by-step approach to learning about the complex procedures of the assessment process. This new edition provides a new presentation format and a new format for assessing student mastery of material through interactive learning activities. The Enhanced Pearson eText features embedded video, assessments, and exercises.
This book provides readers with a practical approach for learning about the complex procedures of the assessment process. The readers are presented with the procedures in a step-by-step manner with exercises to help them solidify their knowledge of each step. Portions of assessment instruments, protocols, and scoring tables are provided to aid readers in their work with the practice exercises. Additionally, readers with participate in the educational decision-making process using data from classroom observations, curriculum-based assessment, functional behavior assessment, and data from norm-referenced assessment. KEY TOPICS: implementation of IDEA 2004, progress monitoring, assessment process according to the regulations of IDEA 2004, transition, early childhood assessment, assessment in infancy and early childhood, response to intervention, consideration of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, autism diagnostic assessment and techniques-including accurate assessment of pervasive development disorders, curriculum-based assessment, functional behavior assessment, norm-referenced assessment. Divided into four parts: Introduction to Assessment, Technical Prerequisites of Understanding Assessment, Assessing Students, and Interpretation of Assessment Results. MARKET: For special education teachers and other education professionals working with students who have special needs. A main text for college courses in Assessment in Special Education.
Learning disabilities are among the most common disabilities experienced in childhood and adulthood. Although identifying learning disabilities in a school setting is a complex process, it is particularly challenging in low- and middle-income countries that lack the appropriate resources, tools, and supports. This guide provides an introduction to learning disabilities and describes the processes and practices that are necessary for the identification process. It also describes a phased approach that countries can use to assess their current screening and evaluation services, as well as determine the steps needed to develop, strengthen, and build systems that support students with learning disabilities. This guide also provides intervention recommendations that teachers and school administrators can implement at each phase of system development. Although this guide primarily addresses learning disabilities, the practices, processes, and systems described may be also used to improve the identification of other disabilities commonly encountered in schools.
Assessing Students with Special Needs to Produce Quality Outcomes promotes outcome-based evaluation to guide the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) in selecting appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, classroom modifications and accommodations, as well as optimal instructional strategies. It advances the development of assessment-based IEPs to enable the MDT to pinpoint and address specific needs to improve student outcomes. Obtaining data from a variety of perspectives and settings improves the opportunity for identifying overall competencies and needs in preparation for higher functioning in all settings. Assessing Students with Special Needs to Produce Quality Outcomes presents an integrated look at a variety of assessment methods in an easy to read book. FEATURES: Recommends student-centered, strength-based assessment techniques by providing reality-based stories to aid the reader in understanding how the tools of formal, informal, and authentic assessment merge to provide a more complete understanding of the student. Provides special features for linking IEP development and daily instruction to highlight the fundamental relationship between assessment and the IEP. Emphasizes the growing role of technology in the assessment process as identified by IDEA 2004 to utilize assistive technology in evaluation and instruction. Includes innovative, research-based techniques not extensively explored in other assessment textbooks. Explains the impact of cultural diversity on assessment issues and provides specific recommendations for addressing nondiscriminatory, culturally-sensitive evaluation to prepare the reader to meet the needs of a diverse society. Proposes authentic strategies to increase parent, teacher and student participation in the IEP process as mandated by IDEA 2004.
This book is intended to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities in district and state assessments as required by the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. First, an introductory chapter offers reasons for including students with disabilities in district and statewide accountability systems. Chapters 2 through 6 address the specifics of including children with disabilities, such as deciding how students participate in district and state tests, eligibility for assessment accommodations, how to decide which accommodations are appropriate for use in assessments, the characteristics of alternate assessments, and including English language learners with disabilities in assessments. Chapters 7 through 10 address using assessment results, how the Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be restructured to promote greater participation in the accountability system, teacher and service provider collaboration, gaining support from administrators, parent involvement in testing decisions, and the legalities of restructuring accountability systems that include all students. Extensive appendices include sample forms and worksheets for participation decision making, IEP development, assessment accommodations, and student feedback; checklists of criteria for deciding about participation, accommodations, and assessment type; a guide to staff development; and a list of Technical Assistance and Dissemination Networks. (Individual chapters identify additional resources.) (CR).
Make the best decisions about the design and development of AA-MAS, so students can reach their full potential and schools can meet adequate yearly progress requirements. A comprehensive, research-based guide for policymakers and administrators.
Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.
