Chapter 1
Human Development and Individual Learning Differences
Course: Special Education Foundational Knowledge 5355
Subject: Special Education Foundational Knowledge 5355
Chapter: Assessment Of Special Education Foundational Knowledge 5355
This lesson focuses on how teachers use assessments to identify student needs, determine eligibility for special education services, and guide interventions. It highlights the importance of selecting and analyzing formal and informal assessments, ensuring cultural and linguistic appropriateness, and developing early intervention strategies. Teachers use assessment data to make informed instructional and behavioral decisions that support all students, including those with exceptionalities.
Developing, Selecting, and Analyzing Assessments
Assessments are an ongoing process used to evaluate student learning, behavior, and intervention effectiveness. They are not one-time events but tools to guide instructional decisions, identify student needs, and determine eligibility for special education services.
Teachers must select assessments that accurately measure the intended skills or behaviors. These can include:
- Norm-referenced assessments, which compare a student to peers
- Criterion-referenced assessments, which measure mastery of specific skills
- Curriculum-based measurements (CBM)
- Behavioral assessments
- Performance assessments
- Informal assessments such as checklists, observations, interviews, and work samples