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Assessment in Special Education: A Practical Approach

Fourth Edition

Roger Pierangelo

Long Island University

George A. Giuliani

Hofstra University

• Recommendation : The recommendations concerning educational placement and program that need to be made to the school,teachers, and parents

1.2 PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment takes place when students experience difficulty meeting the demands of the general education curriculum and are referred forconsideration for special education services (McLoughlin & Lewis, 2008). As will be discussed in great detail throughout this book,following a referral for a suspected disability of a child and with written parental or guardian permission, an individual multidisciplinaryand comprehensive assessment is conducted. This means that formal tests, observations, and numerous assessments will be given. Theresults help to determine if special education is needed and whether factors unrelated to disabilities are affecting a child’s schoolperformance.

Assessment should be an active, ongoing process that has a clearly specified purpose (Taylor, 2009). Assessment results provideinformation useful for determining or modifying a child’s program, if necessary. The decisions that use assessment information are variedand complex, and they occur in and out of classrooms (Salvia & Ysseldyke, 2007). Assessment plays a critical role in the determination of siximportant decisions (National Information Center for Children and Youths with Disabilities, 2000):

• Evaluation decisions: Information collected in the assessment process can provide detailed information of a student’s strengths,weaknesses, and overall progress.

• Diagnostic decisions: Information collected in the assessment process can provide detailed information of the specific nature of thestudent’s problems or disability.

• Eligibility decisions: Information collected in the assessment process can provide detailed information on whether a child is eligible forspecial education services.

• IEP development decisions: Information collected in the assessment process can provide detailed information so that an individualizededucation program (IEP) may be developed.

• Educational placement decisions: Information collected in the assessment process can provide detailed information so that appropriatedecisions may be made about the child’s educational placement.

• Instructional planning decisions: Information collected in the assessment process is critical in planning instruction appropriate to thechild’s special social, academic, physical, and management needs.

1.3 LANDMARK COURT CASES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

The first federal laws designed to assist individuals with disabilities date back to the early days of the nation. In 1798, the Fifth Congresspassed the first federal law concerned with the care of persons with disabilities (National Information Center for Children and Youth withDisabilities, 1996). This law authorized the Maine Hospital Service to provide medical services to seamen with disabilities or those whowere sick. By 1912, this entity had become known as the Public Health Service. However, prior to World War II, there were relatively fewfederal laws authorizing special benefits for persons with disabilities. Those that existed were intended to address the needs of warveterans with service-connected disabilities. This meant that, for most of our nation’s history, schools were allowed to exclude—and oftendid exclude—certain children, especially those with disabilities.

In 1948, only 12 percent of all children with disabilities received some form of special education. By the early 1950s, special educationservices and programs were available in school districts, but often undesirable results occurred. For example, students in special classeswere considered unable to perform academic tasks. Consequently, they went to special schools or classes that focused on learning manualskills such as weaving and bead stringing. Although programs existed, it was clear that discrimination was still as strong as ever for thosewith disabilities in schools.

Legislation and court cases to prevent discrimination in education first came to notice in 1954 with the famous case Brown v. Board ofEducation of Topeka, Kansas. In Brown, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal practice under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S.Constitution to arbitrarily discriminate against any group of people. The Court then applied this principle to the schooling of children,holding that a separate education for African American students is not an equal education. In its famous ruling, separate but equal wouldno longer be accepted (347 U.S. 483).

Brown set the precedent for future discrimination cases in education. People with disabilities were recognized as another group whoserights had been violated because of arbitrary discrimination. For children, the discrimination occurred because they were denied access toschools due to their disabilities. Using Brown as their legal precedent, students with disabilities claimed that their segregation and exclusionfrom school violated their opportunity for an equal education under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—the EqualProtection Clause. If Brown prohibited segregation by race, then schools should not be able to segregate or otherwise discriminate byability and disability.

In the 1960s, parents began to advocate for better educational opportunities for their children. Around the same time, many authoritiesbegan to agree that segregated special classes were not the most appropriate educational setting for many students with disabilities. By theend of the 1960s, landmark court cases set the stage for enactment of federal laws to protect the rights of children with disabilities andtheir parents. Some of the most significant court cases in special education, in their order of occurrence, include:

HOBSON v. HANSEN (1967).

In Hobson v. Hansen, a U.S. district court declared that the District of Columbia school system’s tracking system was invalid. However, specialclasses were allowed, provided that testing procedures were rigorous and that retesting was frequent (Sattler, 2008).

DIANA v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (1970).

In Diana v. State Board of Education, California was mandated by the court to correct bias in assessment procedures used with ChineseAmerican and Mexican American students. Diana had three very important holdings that would later influence the enactment of federalspecial education laws:

1. If a student’s primary language was not English, the student had to be tested in both English and his or her primary language.

2. Culturally unfair items had to be eliminated from all tests used in the assessment process.

3. If intelligence tests were to be used in the assessment process, they had to be developed to reflect Mexican American culture (Diana v.State Board of Education, C-70: 37RFT, N.D. Cal., 1970).

PARC v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA (1972).

A U.S. federal court in Pennsylvania ratified a consent agreement ensuring that schools may not exclude students who have been classifiedwith mental retardation. Also, the court mandated that all students must be provided with a free public education. Both of these holdingswould play a fundamental role in the enactment of future federal special education laws (PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 343 F.Supp. 279, E.D. PA 1972).

WYATT v. STICKNEY (1972).

In Alabama, a federal court ruled that mentally retarded children in state institutions had a constitutional right to treatment (Wyatt v.Stickney, 344 F. Supp. 387, M.D. Ala 1972).

GUADALUPE v. TEMPE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (1972).

In Arizona, a U.S. district court agreed to a stipulated agreement that children could not be placed in educable mentally retarded classesunless they scored lower than two standard deviations below the population mean on an approved IQ test administered in the child’s ownlanguage. Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School also stipulated that other assessment procedures must be used in addition to intelligencetests, and that parental permission must be obtained for such placements (Sattler, 2008).

MILLS v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (1972).

This case set forth future guidelines for federal legislation, including the rights of students with disabilities to have access to a free publiceducation, due process protection, and a mandated requirement to provide special education services regardless of the school district’sfinancial capability (Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia, 348 Supp. 866, CD. DC 1972; contempt proceedings, EHLR 551:643CD. DC 1980).

PASE (PARENTS IN ACTION ON SPECIAL EDUCATION) v. JOSEPH P. HANNON (1980).

In this case regarding bias in IQ testing, the judge (Judge Grady in Illinois) found that on the IQ tests he examined, only 9 of the 488 testquestions were racially biased. Consequently, IQ tests were found not to be discriminatory. Furthermore, Judge Grady indicated that clinicaljudgment also plays a large role in interpreting IQ test results. He stated: “There is no evidence in this record that such misassessments asdo occur are the result of racial bias in test items or in any aspect of the assessment process currently in use in the Chicago public schoolsystem.” Therefore, the decision in PASE resolved some of the controversy about the use of IQ tests for special education classification. As aresult, the use of intelligence tests was acceptable in psychoeducational assessment as long as they followed all other proceduralsafeguards under federal law (PASE v. Joseph P. Hannon, No. 74 C 3586 N.D. Ill. 1980).

LUKE S. AND HANS S. v. NIX ET AL. (1982).

In the state of Louisiana, all evaluations had to be completed within a 60-day time period. The plaintiffs in this case argued that thousandsof students were not being appropriately evaluated within this time period. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and informed the stateof Louisiana that greater prereferral assessment should be done before a referral is made (Luke S. and Hans S. v. Nix et al, cited in Taylor,2009, p. 9).

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF HENDRICK HUDSON SCHOOL DISTRICT v. ROWLEY (1982).

The parents of Amy Rowley, a deaf student with minimal residual hearing and excellent lip-reading skills, sought the services of a full-timeinterpreter in her regular classes. Amy had been provided with an FM trainer (a teacher of the deaf) for 1 hour per day and speechtraining for 3 hours per week. Even though Amy was missing about half of what was being discussed in class, she was very well adjusted,was performing better than the average child in the class, and was advancing easily from grade to grade.

Based on these facts, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson School District v. Rowley that Amy wasreceiving an “appropriate” education without the sign interpreter. In reaching this opinion, the Court concluded that the obligation toprovide an appropriate education does not mean a school must provide the “best” education or one designed to “maximize” a student’spotential. However, the program must be based on the student’s unique individual needs and be designed to enable the student to benefitfrom an education. In other words, the student must be making progress (Hager, 1999, p. 5).

JOSE P. v. AMBACH (1983).

Plaintiffs filed suit against New York City, complaining about the inappropriate delivery of services. The plaintiffs argued that many studentsin special education were not receiving services in an appropriate time frame. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and stated that fromthe time of referral to evaluation a maximum of 30 days can elapse. The court informed the defendants that all evaluations must be “timelyevaluations” (Taylor, 2009, p. 10).

LARRY P. v. RILES (1984).

In this California case, using IQ tests as the assessment measure for placing African American students in special education as mentallyretarded was found to be discriminatory. Schools in California were mandated by the court to reduce the disproportionate representationof African American students in special education. In Larry P. v. Riles, the court determined that IQ tests were discriminatory against AfricanAmericans in three ways:

1. IQ tests actually measure achievement rather than ability. Because African Americans throughout their educational history have beendenied equal educational opportunities through schools segregated by race, they will inevitably have achievement scores lower than thenorms and thus be discriminated against in testing.

2. IQ tests rest on the plausible but unproven assumption that intelligence is distributed in the population in accordance with a normalstatistical curve (bell-shaped), and thus the tests are artificial tools to rank individuals.

3. IQ tests lead to the classification of more African American students than white students in dead-end classes for students with mild tomoderate disabilities [(No. C-71-2270 RFP (1979) and No. 80-4027 DC No. C-71-2270 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit(1984)].

GEORGIA STATE CONFERENCE OF BRANCHES OF NAACP v. STATE OF GEORGIA (1984).

In Georgia State Conference of Branches of NAACP v. State of Georgia, a U.S. court of appeals ruled that African American children schooled inthe state of Georgia were not being discriminated against solely because there was a disproportionate number of them in classes for lowachievers. The court explained that there was no evidence of differential treatment of African American and other students.Overrepresentation of African American children in classes for the mentally retarded by itself was not sufficient to prove discrimination(Sattler, 2008).

DANIEL R. R. v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (1989).

Daniel R. R. is one of the crucial cases opening the door to increased inclusion of children with disabilities in regular education classes. Thecourt noted that Congress showed a strong preference favoring mainstreaming—that is, educating the student in the regular educationclassroom with supports. Ironically, the court determined that it was not appropriate to include the child in this case in full-time regulareducation. However, the court’s analysis of the least restrictive environment requirement, especially its interpretation of what is meant byproviding supplementary aids and services in the regular classroom, has been followed by a number of other courts (Hager, 1999, p. 6).

In determining whether it is appropriate to place a student with disabilities in regular education, the student need not be expected to learnat the same rate as the other students in the class. In other words, part of the required supplementary aids and services must be themodification of the regular education curriculum for the student, when needed. The court in Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education noted,however, that the school need not modify the program “beyond recognition.” Also, in looking at whether it is “appropriate” for the child tobe in regular education—in other words, whether the student can benefit educationally from regular class placement—the school mustconsider the broader educational benefit of contact with nondisabled students, such as opportunities for modeling appropriate behaviorand socialization (Hager, 1999, p. 6).

GERSTMEYER v. HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS (1994).

Although Howard School District had been told that a child needed an evaluation before entering the first grade, the evaluation was notdone prior to the child’s entering the first grade. The parents sent their child to private school and the evaluation was only done 6 monthsafter the initial referral. The parents sued the district for the costs of private schooling and tutoring caused by the delay. In Gerstmeyer v.Howard County Public Schools, the court ruled in favor of the parents and made Howard School District reimburse them for all associatedcosts (Taylor, 2009, p. 10).

1.3 LANDMARK COURT CASES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

HOBSON v. HANSEN (1967).

DIANA v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (1970).

1. If a student’s primary language was not English, the student had to be tested in both English and his or her primary language.

2. Culturally unfair items had to be eliminated from all tests used in the assessment process.

3. If intelligence tests were to be used in the assessment process, they had to be developed to reflect Mexican American culture (Diana v.State Board of Education, C-70: 37RFT, N.D. Cal., 1970).

PARC v. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA (1972).

WYATT v. STICKNEY (1972).

In Alabama, a federal court ruled that mentally retarded children in state institutions had a constitutional right to treatment (Wyatt v.Stickney, 344 F. Supp. 387, M.D. Ala 1972).

GUADALUPE v. TEMPE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (1972).

MILLS v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (1972).

PASE (PARENTS IN ACTION ON SPECIAL EDUCATION) v. JOSEPH P. HANNON (1980).

LUKE S. AND HANS S. v. NIX ET AL. (1982).

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF HENDRICK HUDSON SCHOOL DISTRICT v. ROWLEY (1982).

JOSE P. v. AMBACH (1983).

LARRY P. v. RILES (1984).

GEORGIA STATE CONFERENCE OF BRANCHES OF NAACP v. STATE OF GEORGIA (1984).

DANIEL R. R. v. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (1989).

GERSTMEYER v. HOWARD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS (1994).

1.5 INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) an evaluation of a child with a suspected disability must bemade by a multidisciplinary team or groups of persons including at least one teacher or specialist with knowledge in the area of thesuspected disability. These professionals must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional anddevelopmental information, including information provided by the parent that will assist in determining whether a child has a disability asdefined under federal law (Cohen & Spenciner, 2011). The members of the multidisciplinary team often include the following (Pierangelo &Giuliani, 2009):

• General education teacher

• School psychologist

• Special education evaluator

• Special education teacher

• Speech and language clinician

• Medical personnel (when appropriate)

• Social workers

• School/guidance counselor

• Parents

• School nurse

• Occupational and physical therapists

The roles that each of these people play in the assessment process are discussed thoroughly in Chapter 8.

1.6 CLASSIFICATIONS UNDER IDEA 2004

IDEA 2004 lists separate categories of disabilities under which children may be eligible for special education and related services. Childrenare eligible to receive special education services and supports if they meet the eligibility requirements for at least one of the disablingconditions listed in P.L. 108-446 and it is determined that they are in need of special education services (Gargiulo, 2008).

According to IDEA 2004, Sec. 602(3)(A), a child with a disability is a child

1. with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments, seriousemotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disability;and

2. who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services

The definitions of the 13 disabling conditions under IDEA 2004 are listed below:

Autism : A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evidentbefore age 3, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagementin repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusualresponses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected because the childhas an emotional disturbance.

Deaf–blindness : Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and otherdevelopmental and educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children withdeafness or children with blindness.

Developmental delay : For children ages 3 through 9, a state and local education agency (LEA) may choose to include as an eligible “childwith a disability” a child who is experiencing developmental delays in one or more of the following areas:

• physical development

• cognitive development

• communication development

• social or emotional development

• adaptive development

It must also be determined that, because of the developmental delays, the child needs special education and related services. Developmentaldelays are defined by the state and must be measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures.

Emotional disturbance : A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a markeddegree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors

• An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers

• Inappropriate types of behaviors or feelings under normal circumstances

• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression

• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems

The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they havean emotional disturbance.

Hearing impairment : An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s performance butthat is not included under the definition of deafness in this section. ( Deafness : A hearing impairment so severe that the child is impairedin processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educationalperformance.)

Mental retardation : Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behaviorand manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s performance.

Multiple disabilities : Concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation–orthopedic impairment) the combination of which causessuch severe educational problems that the problems cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of theimpairments. The term does not include deaf–blindness.

Orthopedic impairment : A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includesimpairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis,bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that causecontractures).

Other health impairment : Having limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems, such as a heartcondition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes,that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Specific learning disability : A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or usinglanguage, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or domathematical calculations. The term includes conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia,and developmental aphasia; it does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; ofmental retardation; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. Under IDEA 2004, whendetermining whether a child has a specific disability, a local education agency shall not be required to take into consideration whether achild has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability.

Speech or language impairment : A communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or avoice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Traumatic brain injury : An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functionaldisability or psychosocial impairment or both, and that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term applies to open orclosed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstractthinking; judgment; problem solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; informationprocessing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative or to brain injuries induced bybirth trauma.

Visual impairment : An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The termincludes both partial and total sight blindness.

1.7 HOW STUDENTS ARE IDENTIFIED FOR ASSESSMENT

There are normally three ways a student may be identified for assessment of a suspected disability (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2009):

1. School personnel may suspect the presence of a learning or behavior problem and ask the student’s parents for permission toevaluate the student individually . This may have resulted from a student scoring far below his or her peers on some type of screeningmeasure and thereby alerting the school to the possibility of a problem.

2. The student’s classroom teacher may identify certain symptoms in a child within the classroom that seem to indicate the presenceof some problem . For example, the student’s work is below expectations for his or her grade or age, or the student’s behavior is sodisruptive that he or she is unable to learn. Further, attempts at intervention strategies suggested by professional staff members havemet with little or no success.

3. The student’s parents may call or write the school or the director of special education and request that their child be evaluated .The parents may feel that the child is not progressing as expected or may notice particular problems in how their child learns. Whenparents note a problem and request an evaluation, the school must follow through on the assessment process. This is the parents’ legalright.

1.8 PARENTAL CONSENT AND THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

To protect the legal rights of parents and their children, IDEA 2004 (sec. 300.300) mandates that a school must obtain written permissionbefore any school evaluation for a suspected disability is undertaken. Request for consent for evaluation should not be misinterpreted asa decision that a child has a disability. Rather, it is a means of ensuring that parents have both full knowledge of school actions andinvolvement in the decision-making process. It is important that parents fully understand the reasons for an individual evaluation so thatthey feel comfortable with the decisions they must make. This process of parents’ rights is discussed in great detail in Chapter 8.

1.9 COMPONENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT

An evaluation for special education should always be conducted on an individual basis. When completed, it is a comprehensive assessmentof the child’s abilities. Under IDEA (sec. 614(2)(B)), no single measure or assessment is used as the sole criterion for determining anappropriate educational program for a child. Further, the child must be assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including,where appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status,and motor abilities. In light of these mandates, a comprehensive assessment should normally include many of the following:

• An individual psychological evaluation including general intelligence, instructional needs, learning strengths and weaknesses, andsocial–emotional dynamics

• A thorough social history based on interviews with parents and student

• A thorough academic history with interviews or reports from past teachers

• A physical examination including specific assessments that relate to vision, hearing, and health

• A classroom observation of the student in the current educational setting

• An appropriate educational evaluation specifically pinpointing the areas of deficit or suspected disability including, but not limited to,educational achievement, academic needs, learning strengths and weaknesses, and vocational assessments

• A functional behavioral assessment to describe the relationship between a skill or performance problem and variables that contributeto its occurrence

• The purpose of a functional behavioral assessment is to gather broad and specific information in order to better understand thereasons for the student’s problem behavior

• A bilingual assessment for students with limited English proficiency

• Auditory and visual discrimination tests

• Assessment of classroom performance

• Speech and language evaluations, when appropriate

• Physical and/or occupational evaluations, when indicated

• Interviewing the student and significant others in the student’s life

• Examining school records and past evaluation results

• Using information from checklists completed by parents, teachers, or the student

• Evaluating curriculum requirements and options

• Evaluating the student’s type and rate of learning during trial teaching periods

• Evaluating which skills have been and have not been mastered, and in what order unmastered skills need to be taught

• Collecting ratings on teacher attitude toward students with disabilities, peer acceptance, and classroom climate

This information can be gathered in a variety of ways. These may include, but are not limited to norm-referenced tests, informal assessment,criterion-referenced tests, standards-referenced tests, ecological assessment, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-basedmeasurement, dynamic assessment, portfolio assessment, authentic/naturalistic/performance-based assessment, task analysis, outcome-based assessment, and learning styles assessment (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2009). All of these are discussed in detail in Chapter 2 of thistextbook.

CONCLUSION

Assessment is a complex process that needs to be conducted by a multidisciplinary team of trained professionals and involves both formaland informal methods of collecting information about the student. Although the team may choose to administer a series of tests to thestudent, by law assessment must involve much more than standardized tests. Interviews of all key participants in the student’s educationand observations of student behaviors in the classroom or in other sites should be included as well. To develop a comprehensive picture ofthe student and to develop practical intervention strategies to address that student’s special needs, the team must ask questions and useassessment techniques that will help them determine the factors that are facilitating—and interfering with—the child’s learning.

It is also important that assessment be an ongoing process. As you will see as you read through this book, the process begins even beforethe student is referred for formal evaluation; his or her teacher or parent may have noticed that some aspect of the student’s performanceor behavior is below expectations and, so, requests an official assessment. After eligibility has been established and the IEP developed forthe student, assessment should continue, through teacher-made tests, through ongoing behavioral assessment, or through other methods.This allows teachers and parents to monitor the student’s progress toward the goals and objectives stated in his or her IEP. Thus,assessment should not end when the eligibility decision is made or the IEP is developed; it has continuing value in contributing to the daily,weekly, and monthly instructional decision making that accompanies the provision of special education and related services.

A thorough and comprehensive assessment can greatly enhance a child’s educational experience. The assessment process has many stepsand needs to be appropriately done. Furthermore, no one individual makes all of the decisions for a child’s classification; it is done by amultidisciplinary team. As future special educators, it is your professional responsibility to understand the laws, steps, and variousassessment measures and procedures used in the special education process so that when you enter the school systems, you can have asignificant and positive impact on all those with whom you are involved in special education.

Vocabulary

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Federal antidiscrimination legislation for people with disabilities enacted in 1990.

Analysis: The processing and understanding of patterns in a child’s educational, social, developmental, environmental, medical, andemotional history.

Assessment approach: The way information is collected for making an educational decision.

Assessment: A process that involves collecting information about a student for the purpose of making decisions.

Autism: A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evidentbefore age 3.

Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson School District v. Rowley: In Rowley, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the obligation toprovide an appropriate education does not mean a school must provide the best education or one designed to maximize a student’spotential.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas: In Brown, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal under the FourteenthAmendment of the U.S. Constitution to arbitrarily discriminate against any group of people.

Collection: The process of tracing and gathering information from the many sources of background information on a child, such as schoolrecords, observation, parent intakes, and teacher reports.

Consent for evaluation: A means of ensuring that parents have both full knowledge of school actions and involvement in the decision-making process.

Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education: One of the important cases that opened the door to increased inclusion of children withdisabilities in regular education classes.

Deaf–blindness: Simultaneous hearing and visual impairments.

Deafness: A hearing impairment so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information, with or without amplification.

Determination: The determination of the presence of a suspected disability using knowledge of the criteria that constitute each category.

Developmental delay: Experiencing delay in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development,communication.

Diana v. State Board of Education: In this case, California was mandated by the court to correct bias in assessment procedures used withChinese American and Mexican American students.

Due process: The right to an impartial hearing if parents do not agree with the decisions made about their child in the assessment process.

Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EHA): The federal law that set forth procedural safeguards for children with disabilities andtheir parents.

Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986: Amended P.L. 94-142, requiring states to provide a free and appropriatepublic education to children with disabilities ages 3 through 5.

Eligibility and diagnosis: The determination by assessment whether a child is eligible for special education services and what classificationthe child will receive.

Emotional disturbance: A disability whereby a child of typical intelligence has difficulty, over time and to a marked degree, with variousemotional and behavioral issues.

Evaluation: The evaluation of a child’s academic, intellectual, psychological, emotional, perceptual, language, cognitive, and medicaldevelopment in order to determine areas of strength and weakness.

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): The federal law that gives parents and eligible students the right to examine thestudent’s personal file.

Fourteenth Amendment: The equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that all people must have equal protectionunder the law.

Georgia State Conference of Branches of NAACP v. State of Georgia: A U.S. court of appeals ruled that overrepresentation of AfricanAmerican children in classes for the mentally retarded by itself was not sufficient to prove discrimination.

Gerstmeyer v. Howard County Public Schools: Here, the court ruled that when a school district delays an evaluation for 6 months, parentscan sue for costs associated with the delay and be reimbursed for all associated costs.

Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School: In Arizona, a U.S. district court agreed to a stipulated agreement that children could not be placedin educable mentally retarded classes unless they scored lower than two standard deviations below the population mean on an approvedIQ test administered in the child’s own language.

Hearing impairment: An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating.

Hobson v. Hansen: A U.S. district court declared that the District of Columbia’s school system’s tracking system was invalid.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act): Federal law requiring a timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary evaluation.

IDEA ’97 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997): Federal law that strengthened parents’ roles and the least restrictiveenvironment mandate.

IDEA 2004 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act): The federal law that guarantees a “free and appropriateeducation,” including special education and related service programming, to all children and youth with disabilities who require it. IDEA2004 also ensures that the rights of children and youth with disabilities and their parents or guardians are protected (e.g., fairness,appropriateness, and due process in decision making about providing special education and related services to children and youth withdisabilities).

Individualized education program (IEP): The document that sets forth the short-term and long-term goals of each child who is classifiedin special education.

Informed consent: The rights of parents to know exactly what will happen to their children in the process of assessment.

Instructional planning: One of the primary purposes of assessment whereby a plan is developed that is appropriate for a child in specialeducation. The plan should focus on social, academic, physical, and management needs.

Jose P. v. Ambach: The court in this case ruled that evaluations in or for special education services must be “timely evaluations.”

Larry P. v. Riles: In this California case, using IQ tests as the assessment measure for placing African American students in special educationas mentally retarded was found to be discriminatory.

Least restrictive environment (LRE): The idea that all children with disabilities should be educated in an environment that is leastrestrictive, ensuring to the extent possible that they will receive their education with children without disabilities.

Luke S. and Han S. v. Nix et al.: A Louisiana court case in which the court ruled that greater pre-referral assessment should be done beforea referral is made.

Mental retardation: Significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior.

Mills v. Board of Education of District of Columbia: This case set forth future guidelines for federal legislation, including the rights ofstudents to have access to a free public education, due process protection, and a mandated requirement to receive special educationservices regardless of the school district’s financial capability.

Multiple disabilities: The manifestation of two or more disabilities (such as mental retardation and blindness), the combination of whichrequires special accommodation for maximal learning.

Native language: The language that is the primary language for the child and/or his or her parents.

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB): With passage of No Child Left Behind, Congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary EducationAct (ESEA). In amending ESEA, the new law represents a sweeping overhaul of federal efforts to support elementary and secondaryeducation in the United States. It is built on four commonsense pillars: accountability for results, an emphasis on doing what works basedon scientific research, expanded parental options, and expanded local control and flexibility.

Nondiscriminatory assessment: Objective and fair testing practices and procedures for all children.

Orthopedic impairment: Physical disabilities including congenital impairments, impairments caused by disease, and impairments fromother causes.

Other health impairment: Having limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems (e.g., diabetes, asthma,hypoglycemia, attention deficit disorder).

PARC v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: In this case, a U.S. federal court in Pennsylvania ratified a consent agreement ensuring thatschools may not exclude students who have been classified with mental retardation.

PASE v. Joseph P. Hannon: Here, the court found that the use of intelligence tests was acceptable in psychoeducational assessment as longas schools followed all other procedural safeguards under federal law.

Reauthorization: The act of amending and renewing a law.

Recommendation: The recommendations concerning educational placement and programs that need to be made to the school, teachers,and parents.

Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act: A civil rights law created to prevent discrimination against all individuals withdisabilities in programs that receive federal funds, as do all public schools.

Specific learning disability: A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in usinglanguage, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematicalcalculations.

Speech or language impairment: A communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voiceimpairment.

Transition services: Services and programs to help students in special education make the transition from high school to college orvocational career.

Traumatic brain injury: An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functionaldisability or psychosocial impairment or both.

Visual impairment: An impairment in vision (including blindness) that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educationalperformance.

Vocational Education Act of 1984 (Perkins Act): Law authorizing federal funds to support vocational education programs.

Wyatt v. Stickney: In Alabama, a federal court ruled that mentally retarded children in state institutions had a constitutional right totreatment.

Zero reject: All students have the right to a public school education and cannot be excluded because of a disability.

• Determination : The determination of the presence of a suspected disability using knowledge of the criteria that constitute eachcategory