Effective Assessment for Students With Special Needs: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher

At last, a practical guide to the what, how, when, and where of effective assessment! When determining whether or not a student should receive special education services, what the specific nature of the student's instruction should be, or the extent to which a student is making educational progress, it is critical to know not only what sort of assessment method is most appropriate, but how, when, and where it should be administered. Including a pretest, posttest, and key vocabulary terms, Effective Assessment for Students With Special Needs helps educators make these weighty decisions with highly practical information such as: Formal and informal methods of data collection When to use various assessment practices and what they can show an evaluator Standards for conducting assessments to ensure accuracy Using data to make decisions about the education of students with disabilities and those who are gifted and talented

Table of Contents:
About A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher Acknowledgements About the Authors Self-Assessment I Introduction to Effective Assessment for Students With Special Needs 1. What Should Every Teacher Know About Assessment for Decision-Making Purposes? Screening Decisions Decisions to Provide Special Help or Enrichment Referral to an Intervention Assistance Team Decisions to Provide Intervention Assistance Decisions to Refer for Evaluation Exceptionality Decisions Decisions About Special Learning Needs Decisions About Eligibility or Entitlement Instructional Planning Decisions Progress Evaluation Decisions Program Evaluation Decisions Accountability Decisions 2. What Are the Most Common Assessment Practices? Curriculum-Based Assessment Curriculum-Based Measurement Instructional Diagnosis Academic Time Analysis Assessment of Instructional Environments Outcomes-Based Accountability Performance Assessment 3. How Is Assessment Data Collected? Methods for Collecting Data Tests Observations Interviews Work Portfolios 4. Which Methods of Assessment Should Be Use to Sample Certain Behaviors and Abilities? Intellectual Ability Academic Achievement Sensory Acuity Adaptive Behavior Language Development Psychological Development Perceptual-Motor Development 5. What Standards Must Be Met To Ensure the Accuracy of an Assessment? Reliability: Is Performance Consistent? Representativeness: Does the Instrument Adequately Sample the Behavior? Validity: Does a Procedure Measure What it is Supposed to Measure? 6. What Concerns Do Parents, Students, and the General Public Have About Assessments? Test Fairness Acceptability Consequences 7. What Are the Assumptions Underlying Assessment Practices? The Examiner is Skilled Future Behavior Can Be Inferred From Present Behavior Assessment Is Relatively Free From Error Students Have Comparable Acculturation 8. What Guidelines Should Be Followed for Appropriate Assessment? There Is No One Way To Do It Right There Is No One Cause of School Problems Assessment Must Do More Than Describe Problems Assessment Must Be Directed At Improving Instruction Assessment Should Occur Often During Teaching Assessment Should Concentrate on Relevant Variables Assessment Should Occur Where The Behavior Occurs Tests Should Be Adapted To Accommodate Students 9. Assessment in Perspective Assessment in the Classroom The Effects of Assessment 10. What Have We Learned? Key Points Key Vocabulary Self-Assessment II Answer Key for Self-Assessments On Your Own Resources Books Journals & Articles Organizations References Index

About the Author :
Jim Ysseldyke, Ph.D., is Birkmaier Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, director of the School Psychology Program, and director of the Center for Reading Research at the University of Minnesota. Widely requested as a staff developer and conference speaker, Ysseldyke brings more than 30 years of research and teaching experience to educational professionals around the globe. As the former director of the federally funded National Center on Educational Outcomes, Ysseldyke conducted research and provided technical support that helped to boost the academic performance of students with disabilities and improve school assessment techniques nationally. Today, he continues to work to improve the education of students with disabilities. The author of more than 300 publications on special education and school psychology, Ysseldyke is best known for his textbooks on assessment, effective instruction, issues in special education, and other cutting-edge areas of education and school psychology. With A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher, Ysseldyke seeks to equip educators with practical knowledge and methods that will help them to better engage students in exploring-and meeting-all their potentials. Bob Algozzine is a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of North Carolina and project codirector of the U.S. Department of Education-supported Behavior and Reading Improvement Center. With 25 years of research experience and extensive firsthand knowledge of teaching students classified as seriously emotionally disturbed, Algozzine is a uniquely qualified staff developer, conference speaker, and teacher of behavior management and effective teaching courses. He is active in special education practice as a partner and collaborator with professionals in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools in North Carolina and as an editor of several journals focused on special education. Algozzine has written more than 250 manuscripts on special education topics, including many books and textbooks on how to manage emotional and social behavior problems.