CHAPTER 11 Assessing Academic Achievement General Strategies Assessing

CHAPTER 11: Assessing Academic Achievement: General Strategies Assessing Students with Special Needs Fifth Edition John J. Venn University of North Florida © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Overview • • • Definition Curriculum-Based Strategies – Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA) – Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) – Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) Norm-Referenced Tests Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -2

Overview • Measuring academic learning is a central aspect of teaching students with learning problems. • Teachers use a diverse array of tools, techniques, and strategies to assess student achievement. • Widely used assessments include informal, curriculum-based strategies and formal, standardized tests. Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -3

Definition • Academic achievement is student performance after instruction • Includes reading, mathematics, and written expression • Academic areas subdivide into specific skills – Reading includes word identification, word attack, comprehension, and oral reading skills Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -4

Definition Why Do We Assess Achievement? • To screen students who may have deficits • To identify students with disabilities • To determine present levels of academic performance • To develop IEPs • To plan instructional programs and develop intervention activities • To evaluate student progress • To monitor program effectiveness Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -5

Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA) • A variety of approaches for measuring performance based on student progress in the curriculum • Also referred to as authentic assessment or performance assessment • Relies on teacher-made tests, checklists, rubrics, classwork, homework assignments, and teacher impressions Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -6

Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA) • • Directly links assessment with instruction Examples – Tests, exams, quizzes – Portfolios – Games – Presentations – Rubrics Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -7

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS) • Helps determine what students think about a class and how well they are learning the material • Focus on the effectiveness of the curriculum rather than student performance • Examples – Chain notes – Exam evaluations – Minute papers – Student-generated test questions Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -8

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) • • Repeatedly measures student progress in meeting instructional objectives Key characteristics – Quick and easy to give; accurate – Brief probes (tests) given often (e. g. weekly) – Uses standardized probes with benchmarks – Graphing of data to show progress over time and to help make instructional decisions Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -9

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) Progress Monitoring Steps (1 -3) 1. School-wide screening (3 times a year) 2. Identifying at-risk students who need progress monitoring 3. Ongoing progress monitoring for at-risk students Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -10

Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) Progress Monitoring Steps (4 -6) 4. Review data and make assessment decisions 5. Implement instructional changes 6. Continue to monitor progress Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -11

Sample Progress Monitoring Graph Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -12

Norm-Referenced Tests • Hundreds of available tests including – Group screening tests and individual diagnostic tests – Multiple skill (e. g. reading, math, and writing) and single skill (e. g. reading only) tests • Common characteristics – Fixed set of test items – Standardized administration and scoring protocols – Norms developed from representative groups of students Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -13

Norm-Referenced Tests Group tests • Brief screening tests for groups of students • Results provide an overview of achievement • Usually machine scored, multiple-choice tests • May be difficult for students from diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -14

Norm-Referenced Tests Individually-Administered, Multiple-Skill Tests • Frequently used by teachers, diagnosticians, and psychologists with students from kindergarten through high school • Widely used tests include the – Peabody Individual Achievement Test— Revised/Normative Update (PIAT-R/NU) – Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition (KTEA-II) – Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-II) Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -15

Norm-Referenced Tests • PIAT-R/NU – Measures general information, reading recognition, reading comprehension, mathematics, spelling, and written expression • KTEA-II – Measures reading decoding, reading comprehension, spelling, mathematics computation, and mathematics applications • WIAT-III – Measures oral language, reading, written expression, and mathematics Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -16

Summary • One of the most important and diverse elements of assessing students with special needs • Includes – Assessment of students from kindergarten through adulthood – Three major strands: reading, math, written language – Large assortment of available assessment procedures and tests ○ Informal, curriculum-based and formal, norm-referenced • Students with disabilities – Often have difficulties learning academics – Require a variety of measures to meet individual and unique learning needs Venn. Assessing Students with Special Needs, 5 e. © 2014, 2007, 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved 11 -17