Are you concerned that your
child might have special needs or might be struggling in school? Are you
wondering how to or whether or not you should have your children tested? How
about when to have them undergo tests?...These might be some basic concerns
shared parents who are concerned about their child's academic success and it is
important for parent's to stay as involved in their student's academics as
possible.
One way for parents to
learn about child success is by meeting with teachers and other school
personnel and go over assessments, which is a tool most teachers use to help
document a child's progress and “refers to almost any form of measurement and
appraisal of what children know and can do, including tests, observations,
interviews, reports from knowledgeable sources, and other means” (McAfee &
Leong, 2011). In other words, assessment basically is the process of evaluation
and includes all information about a child, which is used to measure child
process, individual strengths and weaknesses and communicate any concerns to
parents.
Used for multiple purposes such as “to monitor children’s development and
learning, to guide classroom planning and decision-making in order to help
children learn, to identify children who might benefit from special help and to
report and communicate with others” (McAfee & Leong, 2011), assessments are
generally seen as a valuable tool.
However, assessments that involve standardized testing have not been without
criticism. Commonly referred to as “standardized one-way-of-assessing tests”,
many people “have raised concerns about how heavily they are relied on for
feedback about student performance. Most critics of standardized tests care
very much about children and the education that they receive, but feel that
standardized tests alone cannot accurately convey whether or not a child is
learning and progressing” (wiseGeek, 2011). Despite this, many advocates
maintain that standardized testing is “practical” and “objective”
(eCampusTours.com, 2009).
Despite this, most parents of
special needs children might be concerned that the same assessment expectations
and practices that are typical of a non-impaired learners, might be unrealistic
and even unethical when concerning a child who is impaired.
There are some assessments in
effect that are used to identify children who may benefit from special help.
“Teachers may be involved in screening, pre-referral strategies such as
response to intervention (RIT), or other processes to identify children who
might need an in-depth assessment to see if they could benefit from specialized
services” (McAfee & Leong, 2011). Programs such as No Child Left Behind and
Head Start are geared towards improving student achievement in schools and
school readiness. However, “[a special education student’s] lack in ability to
achieve on these standardized achievement tests is not due to laziness or lack
of academic studies, but disabilities that interfere with their abilities to
sort through questions, and in most cases, study at grade level. While it is
always the goal of a special education teacher to ‘catch’ his or her students
up to grade level, the reality is the resources and funding for programs and
technology that would make this possible are simply not available” (Cecchetti,
2009).
Even with all of the criticisms surrounding traditional standardized testing
and special education, assessments are necessary in order to determine those
children who are at the greatest risk and would benefit from additional
services. “Testing is necessary for children suspected of having a learning
disability because: Learning disability testing is required by federal and
state regulations to determine eligibility for special education, provides
important information about the child’s suspected disability and if the child
qualifies, learning disability testing provides specific data for use in
developing an Individual Education Program (IEP)” (Logsdon, 2011).
The reauthorizing of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA allowed schools the
opportunity to utilize other approaches in determining children who may need
special services, the most common of which is the “Response-to-Intervention”
approach (GreatSchools Staff, 2004). “In the RTI approach, a struggling student
is provided with increasingly intensive instruction in his areas of academic
weakness, such as reading. Based on frequent progress monitoring, if the child
is not responsive to these instructional interventions…then an evaluation may
be conducted to determine if he has a Special Learning Disability”
(GreatSchools Staff, 2004). Before this reauthorizing, many schools were
required to use standardized tests or general education classroom instruction
to determine whether there was a discrepancy between the child’s ability and
his achievement, which was often done “before evaluating a child as a
‘pre-referral’ step.” Therefore, I maintain that the ways in which a special
education student is assessed should be different from that of “typical
students.”
Since most children with
disabilities think differently, the key to assessing these children is through
alternative assessments that focuses on creativity and imagination. “The
primary objective is to give the child a chance to demonstrate new learning,
integration of ideas, and mastery of new concepts” (Making accommodations…).
This gives the child the chance to demonstrate strengths.
One assessment technique that I feel is highly effective
is the portfolio, which is a type of assessment that includes “a collection of
student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress, and achievements”
(Special Connections, 2005). Portfolios ultimately allow students to view
themselves as a learner by allowing them the opportunity to “see their
accomplishments” because this assessment process emphasizes what students can
do. For the portfolio assessment to work, students must be given the opportunity
to “determine meaningful work, reflect on their strengths and needs, set
learning goals, see their own progress over time, think about ideas presented
in their work, see the effort they put forth, feel ownership and pride in their
work, and realize their work has personal relevance” (Special Connections,
2005). In other words, it gives an impaired student the chance to have more of
a control over how they are learning and what they are learning.
Overall, I maintain that
assessment is necessary when determining whether a child has a learning
disability and requires additional services; however, it is unrealistic to
expect these students to develop and progress at the same pace as that of
traditional students. Special care needs to be taken when performing
assessments, as teachers need to maintain realistic expectations when
evaluating a student’s progress and understand what the priority in the
education of the student is and parents need to be as involved as they can be
in their child's success. Do not be afraid to ask the necessary questions. The
ultimate goal is to allow a child with a disability or with special needs, the
chance to shine.
Please email with questions, comments and concerns.
-Kristin L.
Reference
Cecchetti, K. (2009, April 13). Standardized tests for
special education students [Web log message].
Retrieved from http://www.merrow.org/ed_advice/2009/04/standardized-tests-for-special-education-students/
.
eCampusTours.com. (2009, February 3). Arguments for
and against standardized testing in college admissions. Retrieved from
GreatSchools Staff. (2004). Special education
evaluation: an overview. Retrieved from
Logsdon, A. (2011). Understanding testing for a
learning disability: what does learning disabilities testing involve?.
Retrieved from
McAfee, O., & Leong, D. J. (2011). Assessing and
guiding young children’s development and learning. (5
ed., pp. 2, 31-32). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Making accommodations and modifications: what are
they?. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Special Connections. (2005). Portfolio assessment.
Retrieved from
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/specconn/main.php?cat=instruction§ion=main&subsection=udl/portfolio.
wiseGeek. (2011). What are some criticisms of
standardized tests?. Retrieved from
I really enjoyed your post, Kristin. I found it very informative and helpful. I have always wondered how children get diagnosed with learning disabilities and you shared great information of different resources and assesments for concerned parents.
ReplyDelete-Bergen