Assessment and the Assessment and the Educational SettingEducational SettingAssessment and the Assessment and the Educational SettingEducational Setting

Becky Yates, Ph.D, CCC-SLPBecky Yates, Ph.D, CCC-SLP

University of North TexasUniversity of North Texas

Lecture objectives:Assessment procedures• Dynamic Assessment• Portfolio AssessmentSchool Specific• Response to Intervention• Cross Battery Assessment

Remember

A comprehensive assessment is a single snap-shot in the child’s photo album of life.

• Does the child have a speech/language disorder, delay or difference?

• Eligibility• Does the child need intervention?• What treatment goals to address?

Purpose of A Comprehensive Assessment

What answers are you seeking?

• WNL, delayed, disordered or difference• Etiology

– How the client’s brain works– Impact on academics and/or function

• Recommendations– Classroom or job accommodations– Therapy intervention– Referral to other professionals

• Goals – What does the client need for graduation or

vocation?

• Will it provide answer to assessment questions?

• Age appropriate• Administration and analysis time

Assessment Battery Selection - Considerations

• Case History• Standardized/norm-referenced assessments• Criterion referenced assessments• Address these areas:

– Phonology– Language– Voice/resonance/quality– Fluency– Oral structures– Hearing– Test behaviors

All Comprehensive Assessments

Considerations

• Determine assessment approach based on client’s level of functioning, rather than chronological age.

Standard Scores• LA

– Language age

• MA– Mental age

• CA– Chronological age

• IQ– Intelligence quotient

Norm-referenced Standardized Tests

• Compares performance to a standard or norm

• Often uses statistical principals for comparison (normal distribution)

• Helps clinician’s determine how an individual’s performance compares to expected performance in order to determine if a problem is present

• Standardized administration procedures and normative data

• ExamplesCELF4

Standardized/normed Screening Measures

Standardized Tests• Many states require the student

performs below designated level on standardized measure to qualify for special education/SLP services

• Texas: 1.25 – 1.5 SD below mean plus other measures (criterion/discourse)

Why we DON’T write intervention goals from test

scores

• Too few exemplars• Structured or contrived presentation• No information about how child/adult

responds to intervention

Criterion Referenced Assessment

• Supports standardized assessment results in comprehensive evaluation– Baselines and targets for intervention

• Provides ongoing assessment outside the comprehensive assessment environment– Progress monitoring

Criterion Referenced Assessment

• May be in commercial form or created by clinician

• Allow you to look at specific communication behaviors in depth

• Individualizes the assessment for the client

• Allows observation of skills across a variety of contexts and environments

Criterion based Assessments

• Developmental scales / checklists• Language sampling• Narratives• Portfolio assessment• Dynamic assessment

Portfolio Assessment• Teacher provided work samples• Oral language sample in classroom• Determine child’s ability to use

language in the classroom• Concepts, vocabulary, sentence

structures, scripts and pragmatic skills needed for classroom success

Portfolio Assessment• Samples work over time and can

demonstrate student progress– Student’s classroom writing– Language and narrative samples– Artifact analysis– Onlooker observation (Box 11-17, p.

504)

Dynamic Assessment• Based on Vygotsky’s theory of social

learning, Zone of Proximal Development - region of sensitivity to learning

• Development does not occur until the student can perform the skill independently

• Students are active participants in their ZPD

Dynamic Assessment• Helps determine levels of support

needed• Dynamic assessment uses test-teach-

retest format• Does not provide data for disorder/no

disorder• Provides information on child’s

potential for learning

Dynamic Assessment• Evaluates how the child/adult performs with

and without assistance and instruction• The goal of dynamic assessment is to

determine if the child/adult’s language skills can be modified, and if so, what modifications are effective

• Graduated prompting is introduced during teaching

Dynamic AssessmentWhy dynamic assessment is

important– Helps distinguish between

language difference vs. disorder– “dynamic assessment has been

shown to be better than typical static language measures for predicting readiness for change in children with language disorders” (Long & Olswang, 1996)

– Guides intervention

When to use dynamic assessment?

• Over time• During intervention• During comprehensive assessment

School Based Assessments

• Directed by IDEA and must include all aspects related to educational environment:– Physical and motor– Intellectual – Achievement– Language – English proficiency as well as

language abilities• Timelines

– 90 days from date of referral

IDEA Eligibility Categories• Auditory Impairment (AI)• Autism (AU)• Specific Learning Disability (LD)• Mental Retardation (MR) (ID)• Orthopedically handicapped (OH)• Other health impairment (OHI)• Speech Impairment (SI)• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)• Visual impairment (VI)

Teacher Referral• In public schools: A rule-governed process based on

protections of IDEA– IDEA now requires evidence of RTI program in

which child has not shown adequate progress before a referral for assessment

– Must fail to respond to intervention (RTI)– For those students who may have a specific

learning disability• May need to provide information for teachers on the

role of language skills in academic success – Checklist or specific criteria for concern – data collection – Pragmatically oriented discourse analysis to be used as

teacher referral form– Classroom communication checklist

RTI – Response to Intervention

• Avoids “wait to fail” with having to have “gap”• Multi-tiered program, includes

– Universal screening– Progress monitoring– High quality instruction– Further assessment/intervention based on

response

– Schools may use up to 15% of federal funds for children who are not categorized as special education

IDEA: Response to Intervention

• Must demonstrate child has not shown positive response to intervention prior to making a referral for special education.

• Tiers of intervention: (settings)– Tier I: classroom instruction– Tier II: small group, focused intensive

instruction– Tier III: one-on-one instruction, referral to

special education

RTI and AssessmentProgress monitoring assessed

through:• Dynamic assessment • Portfolio assessment

What happens after RTI?

• When child fails to show adequate response to intervention at level II, referral can be made to special education for determination of existence of a disability.

• Mandates eligibility for services only if:– Child must demonstrate a disability– Child must have educational need – each

LEA (Local Education Agency) has criteria– Must need specialized services of SLP

• TEA Eligibility Manual– Developed to provide consistency across

districts

IDEA – Individual with Disabilities Education Act

IDEA DefinitionAccording to Texas State Board of Education rules a

student with a learning disability is one who:– Has been determined through a variety of

assessment tools and strategies to meet criteria for a specific learning disability as stated in CFR 34

– Does not achieve adequately for the child’s age or meet state approved grade-level standards in:

• Oral expression• Listening comprehension• Written expression• Basic reading skill• Reading fluency skills

IDEA continued– Reading comprehension– Mathematics calculation– Mathematics problem solving

When provided appropriate instruction, as indicated by performance on multiple measures or a process based on the child’s response to scientific , research based intervention, does make sufficient progress

Exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both relative to age, grade-level standards, or intellectual ability

DSM-IV Definition– Individual’s achievement on individually

administered standardized tests in reading, mathematics, or written expression is substantially below that expected for age, schooling and level of intelligence. The learning problems significantly interfere with academic achievement or activities of daily living that require reading, mathematical, or writing skills.

– Substantially below – more than 2 standard deviations

– Reading disorder, mathematics disorder, disorder of written expression, learning disorder NOS

Learning Disabilities• 50% to 80% of SLP caseload• Approximately half of children diagnosed

with LD have language and language-related disability– Reading – Spelling

• Usually listed as SI– Oral comprehension– Oral expression

Learning Disabilities• 50% to 80% of SLP caseload• Approximately half of children diagnosed

with LD have language and language-related disability– Reading – Spelling

• Usually listed as SI– Oral comprehension– Oral expression

Cross Battery Assessment Plan

• A method of analyzing test data across domains

• Integration of information• Based on Cattell-Horn theory of

intelligence• Consistent with best practice• Requires more in-depth process than

previous assessment models

Continued• Child is assessed in all areas related to

suspected disability• Evaluation is sufficiently

comprehensive• ARD committee determines eligibility• For LD, must include classroom

observation by someone other than teacher and must have had RTI

Cross-battery Assessment“Looking at the G’s”

• Fluid intelligence – Gf• Quantitative Knowledge – Gq• Crystallized Intelligence – Gc• Reading and Writing – Grw• Short-term Memory – Gsm• Visual Processing – Gv• Auditory Processing – Ga• Long-term storage & retrieval – Glr• Processing Speed – Gs• Decision/reaction Time/Speed - Gt