Psycho-educational Assessment & Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs

1. Launch of the Professional Practice Guidelines Psycho-educational Assessment & Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs 2 Nov 2011

2. Launch of Professional Practice Guidelines on Psycho-educational Assessment and Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs Dr Mariam Aljunied Lead Specialist Educational Psychology

3. Background Guiding principles Chapter highlights Reliability of SEN category Next Steps Q & A Overview

4. Professional Practice Guidelines for Psycho-educational Assessment & Placement of SEN children • RATIONALE • Changes and diversificationof special needs landscape • Clarity and consistency in professional advice needed tohelp parents make informed choices • Shared understanding and standards among professionals across different settings

5. Background • Developed by a Multi-Professional workgroup from MOE, KKH DCD, NUH Department of Pediatrics, IMH, NCSS, SPED Schools from March 2010 to September 2011. • Focus on students with SEN (6 – 18 yrs). • Use by psychologists and allied health professionals who are involved in the psycho-educational assessments of students with SEN

6. Guiding Principles • Contextualized • Evidence-informed • Implementable • Guide (not replace) professional judgment

7. Chapter 1: Definitions 1.1 Psycho-educational Assessment 1.2 Special Educational Needs (SEN) 1.3 Educational Placement

8. A student is considered to have SEN when all of the criteria, a, b, and c, stated below have been fulfilled: a) Has a disability and b) Displays: Greater difficulty in learning as compared to majority peers of the same age Or Difficulty accessing educational facilities catered for the majority of peers of the same age Or Some areas of impairment, in terms of social, academic, physical or sensory functioning (i.e., the student is not on par with the majority of the peers) and c) Requires different and/or additional resources beyond what is conventionally available Pg 6 Special Educational Needs

9. “As a student’s SEN are an interaction between the student and the environment, the type and level of needs may change over time and across different contexts.” Pg 7

10. Chapter 2: Psycho-educational Assessment Data 2.1 Sources of Assessment Data 2.2 Types and Areas of Assessment 2.3 User of Assessment Tools and Data 2.4 Factors to Consider in Selecting and Using Different Assessment Measures

11. 2.3 User qualifications Based on the criteria defined by test publishers, the person conducting Level C tests (e.g., individually administered tests of intelligence, personality tests, and projective methods) could be an independent user or a supervised user of the test. An independent user is a registered psychologist with certification by the Singapore Psychological Societyor by any of its recognized professional bodies A supervised user should onlyadminister such tests in the context of a planned supervisory relationship with an independent user of the test. User of Assessment Tools and Data Pg 12

12. Chapter 3: Assessment for Specific Purposes 3.1 Assessment to Ascertain Appropriate Special Educational Placement 3.2 Ascertaining Student’s Suitability for Placement into a Mainstream School 3.3 Ascertaining Student’s Suitability for Placement into an Appropriate Special Education (SPED) School 3.4 Assessment for Access Arrangements (or ‘Special Arrangements’) and Curricular Exemption Pg 19

13. Chapter 4: Assessment Considerations for Specific Populations 4.1 Students with Visual Impairment 4.2 Students with Hearing Impairment 4.3 Students with Cerebral Palsy 4.4 Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder 4.5 Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder 4.6 Students with Central Auditory Processing Disorder 4.7 Students with Dyslexia 4.8 Students with Intellectual Disability 4.9 Students with Multiple Disabilities

14. Chapter 5: Framework and Pathways for Educational Placement of Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) 5.1 Framework for SEN 5.2 Categorisation of SEN 5.3 Pathways

15. A “Differentiated” and “Many Helping Hands” approach in supporting students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Local SEN Policy MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOLS ( MILD SEN) (MODERATE-SEVERE SEN) Increasing support, resources, community partnerships 15

16. A balance of consideration of all of these factors: Child’s Cognitive functioning Child’s Adaptive Functioning Resources & provisions in current landscape Ascertaining a student’s Special Educational Needs

17. Pg 39 Categories of SEN

18. Common frame of reference for professionals across different agencies Common language between referral agencies and receiving schools Facilitate transition and resource planning Purpose of Categorisation

19. Good consensus among professionals in the use of the categories for placement Agreement ranged from ‘moderate’ to ‘almost perfect’ Agreement improved when quality of assessment data improves, e.g.: Information about intervention received Adaptive beh obtained from multiple sources (parent, teacher, direct observations) Conclusion

20. Next Steps(2012 & beyond) • Parents’ Version of the Professional Practice Guidelines • Joint Continued Professional Development sessions involving multi-agency professionals • Coordination and streamlining of SPED applications • Clearer articulation of admission’s criteria into specific SPED schools • Availability of locally normed standardised tests • Continued consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders, e.g. VWOs, CDC, CGC, SPED Schools, NCSS

21. Q & A Thank you