Assessing Children with Disabilities
Narrator: Many of our reasons for ongoing child assessment for children with disabilities are the same as for all children. We use the data to keep track of children's progress. We use the data to inform our teaching. The data help guide us as we plan lessons and make modifications. We share our observations and other data with families to get a better picture of the child's progress.
And for children with disabilities and other special needs, we also share our observations and data with specialists, like the consulting teacher or therapist. Teachers work together with the specialists to help them know how the child is doing in between visits.
Kelsey Milne: OK, so I've been looking over the results of the evaluation, and it looks like vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, so being able to pull out specific words and use them, is really an area of need. So that can be something that I think we can really focus on in the classroom.
Narrator: Planning for assessment for children with disabilities may take some extra effort and may involve suggestions from the specialist. Sometimes, the IEP or IFSP or other individual plan has annual goals that are just too big to be meaningful to everyday teaching. The teacher and specialist can work together to break down the annual goal into smaller intermediate steps that lead to the goal. Take data on the steps to keep track of the child's learning and progress toward the goal.
Often, it will be necessary to collect data more frequently, weekly, or even daily, to truly gauge the child's learning and the effects of teaching, particularly more specialized teaching. So, make a plan. Gather information in ways that are feasible and informative, and organize and summarize the data in ways that show families and specialists how the child is learning. Now, use the information to make adjustments to teaching. If the child is making progress, keep doing what you've been doing.
If the child is not making progress, make a change. Break down the skill into even smaller steps or adjust the teaching approach. And, if the child has accomplished the goal, celebrate and move on to a new goal.
Hear from educators about their approaches to assessing children with disabilities. This video is part of the Ongoing Child Assessment to Support Learning module, one of several EarlyEdU Alliance Higher Education Learning Modules.
