Assessment

1. Assessment • Parents Due Process • Title 6 and ELL • Using Assessment to Identify • Evaluating Formally • IQ • Achievement • Evaluating Informally • tying into instruction

2. Parental Rights • IEP member (with rights to educational records) • Due Process • A set of legal procedures to ensure the fairness of education al decisions and the accountability of both professionals and parents in making those decisions. • The parent can call a hearing when they do not agree with the school’s plan for their child; outside and independent evaluation at public expense • State mediator allowed to work with both parties • Attorney fees are reimbursed if parent prevails

3. Assessment Issues • Culture-bound • Intelligence tests make assumptions about past experience. (I.e.. A 9-10 year old has seen the words letter, diamond, and iron.) • Believed to underestimate IQ • Accommodations • Native Language • Teacher influence • The norm group does not always match the group being assessed.

4. Title 6 and Issues • LEP students shall have equal access to appropriate English language instruction, as well as instruction in basic subject areas, which is understandable to the students given their level of English proficiency, and equal and comparable in amount, scope, sequence and quality to that provided to English proficient (or non-LEP) students • LEP students are entitled to equal access to all programs appropriate to their academic needs • Limited English proficient students with special needs (such as for compensatory, remedial, or exceptional education) and who are at greater risk for under-achievement and/or dropping out, and in need of additional services, shall be provided equal and comparable services to those provided to English proficient students. • Communication with parents who are not proficient in the English language shall be in the language or other mode of communication commonly used by the parent unless such communication is clearly not feasible. • LEP case study in groups

5. Formal Assessment • Standard Scores • Specific areas • Comparison between ability and achievement scores • Some teachers find it difficult to tie to instruction • More teachers prefer informal assessment because it relates directly to their lessons • http://www.tennessee.gov/education/speced/assessment.shtml Sample assessment checklists

6. IDEA reauthorization • What is the current significant discrepancy model? • What is the response to intervention (RTI) model? • What are the pros and cons of each model? • Schools • are not required to use the discrepancy model • may consider using scientific interventions to determine eligibilty • will have access to personnel prep grants for teachers and administration • The hope • We will reach students in need sooner • Effective instruction will run our classes

7. Any concerns with the changes? • Low achievement and ability will be easily identified but higher ability students will not • Why is this a concern? • Teacher judgment may be biased for or against certain populations • Definitions of research-based instruction • What is research-based reading instruction? • What are research-based writing interventions • Math interventions? • How can we make instruction reliable and interventions effective? After all, teachers are the telling variable in student achievement?

8. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) • Purpose – “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education and read, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments”

9. Including students with LD in assessments for school accountability • NCLB – scores are for school accountability and not individual accountability(Warlick, Quenemoen, & Signey, 2004) • Alternate assessments for those with alternate achievement standards • Accommodations are used more frequently than ever (50% of SLD receive accommodations during testing) • Generally, accommodations improve performance • Later in this course, we will show when an accommodation is appropriate and when it is a modification (changes the construct of the question) • Standard testing has moved from norm-referenced to criterion-referenced

10. Alternative Assessments Stats on Alt Assessments http://assessment.air.org/Papers/Psychometric%20Advances%20in%20Alternate%20Assessments_phillips.pdf SC rules on Alt Assess http://eoc.sc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/31E777AB-AEF8-4885-9470-A2080EF6EEE0/12165/RevisedSCAlternateEnglishLangArtsMath.pdf

11. Curriculum-based Measurement http://progressmonitoring.net/video_stan_deno.html Interview with Dr. Stan Deno, one of first researchers with CBM and progress monitoring

12. Informal Assessment - reading • Fluency • Rates: (<1st grade: 30-40 wpm; 1st: 40-50 wpm; <2nd 50-80 wpm; 2nd: 90-120 wpm; >3rd: 100-140 wpm) • CBM progress can be graphed (see handout/overhead) • Comprehension • Inferential v. direct • Oral Reading Errors • DIBELs http://dibels.uoregon.edu/ • Types of artifacts • How do you show the reading level of a student?

13. Informal Assessment - mathematics • Fluency rates • Oral (age 7: 20 problems/min; age 8: 25 probs/min; age9+: 35 probs/min) • Written (age 7: 25 digits/min; age 8: 30 digits/min; age9+: 40 digits/min) • CBM • Graphing progress through fluency or percentage • What are some types of artifacts that show prowess? • Addition with 0-9 addends? • Multiplication with answers 0-81?

14. Formative and Summative • Statewide assessments greatly influence perception, funding, and taxes. • What kinds of data should be used to show growth in content areas and behavior? • Perceptions: whose perceptions matter and how do we react appropriately? • Which one, informal or formal, should drive our instruction?... Yes, this is a trick question

15. Summary • How and where can you apply informal assessment to special education? • What are two concerns with current assessment and identification practices? • Explain assessment concerns and needs for ELL populations • What is an alternative assessment and why and with whom does this option exist? • How is CBM used in educational assessment?