So what is the difference between evaluation and assessment? Over the years, the terms have evolved. In today’s climate, “assessment” most often refers to “high-stakes testing”. Therefore, the term evaluation is now being used when discussing the assessments that are used with students with disabilities.

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“If you do not have reliable and relevant evaluation data in all areas for a given student, then you have no way to base decisions as to what your goals and objectives should be. You will just be guessing if you have not done a thorough evaluation of each student’s strengths, abilities, and needs. A meaningful individualized education plan cannot be developed without good evaluation data. These evaluations should be done by you as the TVI in all areas of the expanded core curriculum, and you should make sure that appropriate evaluations are done in all areas of the general core curriculum Student outcomes is what evaluation is allall areas of the general core curriculum. Student outcomes is what evaluation is all about. There is no way to know what you are doing and why and whether a student is making any progress toward goals and objectives if you do not start out with good initial evaluation data and then do ongoing evaluation to measure progress.” (Dr. Rona Pogrund)

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The FIE includes, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities. Students with visual impairments require unique evaluations including the FVA, the LMA, and O&M assessments (if needed). All 9 areas of ECC should be evaluated initially and at a re-evaluation for all students with visual impairments.

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“The functional vision evaluation (FVE) includes familiar and unfamiliar environments, different lighting conditions, & use of both distance and near vision. Input from both a TVI and a COMS ensures consideration of all aspects of functional use of vision. The FVE must also state whether the student should be referred for an O&M evaluation (it is suggested to always refer for an O&M evaluation. As a TVI, you should not be making the decision alone as to whether a student could benefit from O&M or not.) FVE must also recommend whether the student should be referred for a clinical low vision evaluation to see if any low visionstudent should be referred for a clinical low vision evaluation to see if any low vision devices should be prescribed (this is another decision that the TVI should not make. It should be made by an eye care specialist who specializes in low vision should make that decision). If the IEP committee, based on the recommendation of the FVE results, agrees to the need for a clinical low vision evaluation, it is the legal responsibility of the local education agency to provide this service (and pay for it).” (Dr. Rona Pogrund)

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“One of my big issues about FVE’s (as well as visual efficiency training) is that they need to be very neutral. What a student is able to see or not see should have no “judgmental evaluation” to it- it is not “good” that aWhat a student is able to see or not see should have no judgmental evaluation to it it is not good that a student can see a specific object. It just “is.” I have seen too many TVI’s and COMS who unconsciously put a value judgment on a student’s vision (“good job” in seeing that sign). Either you can or cannot see something-the student should never be made to feel good or bad about what they can or cannot see. Vision is not something that if you just try harder, you can do better (does not mean you cannot work on better strategies to use vision with a student). It is easy to communicate subtly that it is “better” if the child sees more. The student’s self-esteem should never be tied to praise for visual performance. “Tell me what you see” or “describe what the object looks like” is better than asking a student “Can you see this?” or “Can you see that?” By just accepting a student’s response and moving on from there, you encourage the use of vision and honest responses from the student. Words of praise should be used with caution during FVE’s and visual efficiency training. If glasses are prescribed, student must wear them for FVE. 1 Pupillary response (indicates gross light or object perception1. Pupillary response (indicates gross light or object perception2. Defensive blink3. Reaction to light perception, light projection, shadow and form perception, detection of motion (give some

initial indication of visual loss)4. You are seeing if both eyes move in the same way at the same time and in the same direction (eye muscle

problems can affect student’s acuity, tracking, and peripheral vision).5. When acuities are not equal, most students prefer to use better eye (impacts positioning of materials,

preferential seating in class)6. Fixation, convergence & divergence, tracing, tracking, shift of gaze, scanning, eye-hand coordination

(problems here can impact fixating on objects focusing mobility reading copying and visually locating)(problems here can impact fixating on objects, focusing, mobility, reading, copying, and visually locating).7. Normal field of vision is 160-180 degrees from side to side and 120 degrees from top to bottom (including the

central field of vision)- field loss affects travel, placement of materials, detection of objects moving (e.g. in P.E.)

8. Ability to detect full spectrum of colors (important in classroom instruction, daily living, and mobility)9. Ability of eyes to team together to detect depth and dimension (affects safety in travel, eye-hand/foot

coordination).” (Dr. Rona Pogrund)

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“10. Ability to discern an object from its background (causes problems in many classroom activities and affects how materials should be presented and prepared)and affects how materials should be presented and prepared)11. Unusually sensitive to light and amount of time it takes for eyes to adjust to increase of decrease in lighting (Affects mobility, acuity- important to evaluate for students with albinism and retinal disorders like RP.)12. Ability to see differences in the brightness of symbols or in objects against their background (affects ability to recognize faces, decode pictures, letters or works, or to travel safely).13. Measurement of the sharpness of vision as it relates to the ability to discriminate detail at near, far, and intermediate distances. (Determines choices of methods, modifications, materials across all

)areas).14. Ability to read print in texts and in the environment (to determine if modifications, adaptations, of assistive technology are needed).15. Reading Inventory as part of LMA (will discuss next time) (need to know reading level and reading rate for all students).16. Visual fine motor skills (coordination of hands with eyes – reaching, writing and visual gross motor skills-moving body in relation to visual target (affects stacking, copying, etc. and kicking a ball, travel, using steps, P.E.), g p , )17.Visual imitation of movement, identification, matching, sorting, and classifying objects and pictures (can student see demonstrations of movement or gain knowledge through observation?).18. Visual closure, part to whole relationships, pattern recognition, figure-ground discrimination, spatial orientation (sometimes problems with these skills may be related to a learning difference beyond the visual impairment so may need to consult with classroom teacher or O.T. for further evaluation).” (Dr. Rona Pogrund)

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The idea is that the FVE is different from an eye exam which takes place in a clinic. The FVE measure functional vision (practical vision) in real environments under real conditions.

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There are many factors that affect visual acuity.

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Show sample photos with reports.

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Show photos of field losses.

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Similar to determining blind spot.

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Show examples.

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You may do this in conjunction with O&M specialist.

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There are TONS of evaluations. They are for intelligence (IQ) (like WISC-IV, Peabody), Achievement (WIAT, KTEA), Behavior (Vineland), Subject-specific (KeyMath), Disability-specific (FVE, LMA), Social Maturity, Social Skills, ect.

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Here are some examples of VI-specific evaluations.

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