Evaluation Process for Special Education

Achievement tests directly assess students’ skill development in academic areas such as reading, math, and written language. They measure the extent to which a student has profited from schooling and/or life experiences compared to others of the same age or grade. Achievement tests provide a global index of academic skill development and may be used to identify individual students for whom educational intervention is necessary. Achievement tests are used most often to assess students in an effort to identify those who demonstrate relatively low-level, average, or high-level skills in comparison to their peers.

Examples of achievement tests may include the following:

• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement - (WJ -ACH)

• Young Children’s Achievement Test (YCAT)

• Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement - (KTEA)

• Tests of Kindergarten/First Grade Readiness Skills

• Curriculum -Based Measures (CBM)

• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test(WIAT)

• Achievement test for diagnosing specific skill development may include the following:

• Gray Oral Reading Test(GORT)

• KeyMath Diagnostic Test

• Tests of Written Language -(TOWL)

• Tests of Reading Comprehension (TORC)

• Brigance Basic Skills Inventory

Cognitive tests are usually administered for the purpose of identifying processing strengths and weaknesses relative to learning. Cognitive testing assesses verbal and nonverbal reasoning, perceptual skills, attention, and memory. Cognitive assessments are often called intelligence tests. Individually administered intelligence tests are often used for making educational placement decisions.

Examples of cognitive assessment may include the following:

• Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC)

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test

• Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT)

• Woodcock –Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities - (WJ)

• Cognitive Assessment System (CAS)

• Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML)

• Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (CTONI)

• Leiter International Performance Scale –Revised

• Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS)

• Wechsler Primary Preschool Scale of Intelligence -(WPPSI)

• Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP)

Tests of personality and social-emotional behavior evaluate an individual’s behavior according to societal expectations. The purpose of assessing social, emotional, and behavioral development is to establish instructional interventions for areas identified as delayed. Methods commonly used are rating scales, self report measures, situational measures, observational procedures, and technical characteristics.

Assessments in behavior/personality may include the following:

• Attention Deficit Disorder Evaluation Scale - (ADDES)

• Conners Parent/Teacher Rating Scale

• Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist

• Devereaux Child Behavior Rating Scale

• Behavior Assessment System for Children(BASC)

• Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function

• Draw-A-Person

• Roberts Apperception Test for Children

• Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale

• Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System

• Other data such as observations, interviews, and Functional Behavior Assessments

Speech tests measure the student’s ability to articulate sounds and speak intelligibly. Language tests measure a student’s ability to understand and use language. Language consists of syntax, morphology, semantics, and pragmatics. Syntax and morphology refer to the use of accurate sentence structure and word endings such as past tense, plurals, possessives, etc. Semantics refers to the understanding and use of vocabulary and concepts. Pragmatics is a measurement of how the student uses his/her language to meet their social needs.

Examples of Speech assessment may include the following:

• Clinical Assessment of Articulation and Phonology (CAAP)

• The Apraxia Profile

• Speech Sample

• Hearing Screening

• Photo Articulation Test

• Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA)

• Test of Minimal Articulation

Competence Examples of Language assessment may include the following:

• Expressive One-Word Picture

• Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT)

• Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT)

• Comprehensive Receptive & Expressive Vocabulary Test Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- (CELF)

• Test of Language Development Primary (TOLD)

• Test of Auditory Comprehension

• The Listening Comprehension

• Test Language Processing Test

• Language Scale (PLS)

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

• Test of Semantic Skills

• Expressive Vocabulary Test (EVT)

• Test of Pragmatic Language

• Test of Problem Solving

• Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL)

• Test of Narrative Language

• Boehm Test of Basic Concepts