Top Ten Strength Based, Authentic Assessment Strategies

1. Top Ten Strength Based, Authentic Assessment Strategies Dr. Dee Brown Texas Tech University TEDA Spring Conference, 2011

2. Why use Authentic Assessment? • It’s the LAW! • In conducting the evaluation, the LEA must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining:  • Whether the child is a child with a disability; and • The content of the child's individualized education program (IEP), including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum, or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities.(http://fw.esc18.net)

3. It’s Best Practice. • Animal School • It’s BEST for KIDS! • Portrait of Julia

4. #10: Identify/Include your Stakeholders • A “Stakeholder” is anyone who has a vested interest in the student. This includes (but is not limited to): Parents, guardians, family members, general education teachers, special education teachers, teaching assistants, specialty teachers, therapists, school nurses, school counselors, principals, and… The student him/herself! • Let the “voices be heard.” Stakeholders have a lot of rich information to share and this can impact the depth and breadth of your assessment.

5. #9: Make a Plan: Dot your i’s and cross your t’s! • Develop testing questions and identify the reason for the referral. Determine strategies and assessment tools that will assist you to identify student STRENGTHS and CONCERNS. IDEA (2004) requires that assessment personnel should “Not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability or determining an appropriate educational program for the child.” The assessment should promote access to, and measure the child’s progress within, the general education environment. (Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process. http://framework.esc18.net) • Always obtain appropriate permission from parents or guardians to gather information from stakeholders. The assessment process should remain open for input and transparent in nature. Parents, guardians or adult students should know, and consent to, the formal and informal (“authentic”) assessment instruments or strategies you will use. They should understand what information you want to obtain from your assessment. Gathering information from various sources helps you triangulate your conclusions and may help you uncover “undiscovered” strengths or concerns.

6. #8: “Quantitative” Observations • Quantitative Observations encompass more formal strategies to measure student concerns. Salvia, Yssledyke & Boldt (2010) describe five steps that occur in advance of quantitative observations. “(1) The behavior is defined precisely and objectively, (2) the characteristics of the behavior (for example, frequency) are specified, (3) procedures for recording are developed, (4) the times and places are selected and specified, and (5) procedures are developed to assess inter-observer agreement” (p. 97). Diagnosticians can develop or access published forms to formally record behavior. Stakeholders may be trained to observe and quantitatively record student behaviors. • Behavioral Observations and Assessments • Curriculum Based Assessments and Measurements

7. #7: “Qualitative” Observations • Salvia, Ysseldyke & Boldt (2010) describe qualitative observations as helpful in setting the stage for more formal observations. Qualitative observations are typically not scheduled in terms of time, context or behaviors to be observed. The observer monitors the situation, noting antecedents and consequences and later records the behavior in a narrative format. Stakeholders can provide diagnosticians with a wealth of information by simply writing down their observations about the student’s behavior.

8. #6: Environmental Assessments • Lock and Layton (2008) describe environmental assessments as helpful in examining student “social and physical characteristics across settings” (p. 160). Families may provide helpful insight into the student’s interactions in multiple situations and circumstances. • Consider the roles that the student plays within his/her environment. • Examine the demands that are placed on the student by the expectations and rules of the environment. • Observe the student in his or her classroom(s) – academic and electives, during physical education or recess, at lunch, in the hallway during passing period, etc. • Ecological Inventories (Ability to function in natural environment) • Sociometric Assessments (Examining student behavior/social competence in natural environment)

9. #5: Portfolio Assessments • Encourage teachers and parents to collect work samples (be creative) that show progress and strengths across time. These documents can provide valuable information when examined for common mistakes or apparent gaps in acquisition of basic skills. Mistakes and concerns that may have been overlooked in individual assignments often become more apparent when documents are examined side by side.

10. #4: Communication Notebooks and Journals • Encourage participants to be involved with IEP goals • Provide a permanent product for documentation of generalization of skills • Empower participants to become advocates for the student • Supply all participants with valuable information to increase understanding of what the IEP goals are really teaching • Increase participants’ understanding of student needs and performance across settings • Provide a vehicle for School/Home communication • (Source, Layton & Lock, 2008)

11. #3: Interviews • Gather information from the student and from the stakeholders. Ask open ended questions that are designed to put what you have found into context. You might gather background health information from parents; ask the student what his/her favorite class is and why; seek out positive statements from teachers to identify student strengths, etc. • May be Structured, Semi-Structured or “Conversational” • May use checklists or formal/standardized protocols. • Interviews may be held with ANY stakeholder – parents, teachers, the student, etc.

12. #2a: Behavioral Observations & Assessments - Qualitative • Uses descriptive information rather than examining pre-selected behaviors. • Provides IEP teams with a broad based illustration of student behavior in different settings (Primarily classroom) • Ethnographic (Running Records): Simply watch and record behaviors over a long period of time • Participant-Observer: Observer takes part in classroom activities and makes notes about what is observed • Anecdotal Recording: Documentation of short occurrences of behaviors within a specific time frame.

13. #2b: Behavioral Observations & Assessments - Quantitative • Checklists and Rating Scales • Standardized – generalized screening providing an overall picture of student functioning • Nonstandardized – can be “tailor made” to measure student’s behaviors and skills • Procedure Checklist (ability to complete steps in a task) • Product Checklist (list of critical, final components – measuring completion of components) • Behavior Checklist (Steps in correct sequence to complete a task) • Self-Evaluation Checklist (Inventory used by student to monitor success or progress)

14. #2b: Functional Behavioral Assessment • Antecedent – Behavior – Consequence (ABC) analysis • Phases of Functional Behavioral Assessment • Describing behavior & developing an operational definition • Development of Hypothesis or perceived reason for the behavior • Data Collection - may support or reject the hypothesis • Intervention – may include teaching a replacement behavior • Evaluation of effectiveness of the intervention

15. #1: Facilitate & Acknowledge! • Facilitate. Make it as easy and “painless” as possible for your stakeholders to provide you with helpful information. If needed, provide training in the activities you are asking the stakeholders to do. Provide them with checklists or forms that can be filled in quickly. Provide stakeholders with materials that will simplify gathering helpful information – a small clipboard with a pen attached and mailing labels clipped to the board can be a valuable tool. Teachers can jot down information on the mailing label as it occurs, noting the time and date. These stickers can later be transferred to a spiral notebook to serve as an ongoing anecdotal record of classroom behaviors or as evidence of student learning challenges or acquisitions. • Acknowledge! Recognize the stakeholders’ contributions to your assessment. Give credit where credit is due in your report and in the IEP meeting. Collaboration among team members promotes positive outcomes for the student.

16. References • Layton, C. & Lock, R. (2008). Assessing students with special needs to produce quality outcomes. Upper Saddle River, Jew Jersey: Pearson. • Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Special Education Process. http://framework.esc18.net • Salvia, J. Ysseldyke, J. & Boldt, S. (2010). Assessment in special and inclusive education, 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cenage Learning