Chapter 8 Learning Aptitude

Purposes for Assessing Learning Aptitudes Identification of level of intellectual performance Evaluation of adaptive behavior Determine if students meet requirement for services for mental retardation Determine if there is average to above average intellectual functioning

Issues and Trends Intelligence testing is controversial Misplacement of students from diverse groups in special education PL provided safeguards against testing abuses

Current Practices Individual intelligence tests are currently used in special education Adaptive behavior measures rely on informants

Sources of Information About Learning Aptitude School Records Group intelligence test results Individual intelligence test results Developmental and school histories Students Individual test of intellectual performance Current adaptive behavior is observed

Sources of Information About Learning Aptitude Teachers Observations of learning aptitudes adaptive behavior Parents Developmental histories Observations of learning aptitudes Information about behavior outside of school

Group Tests of Intellectual Performance Rely heavily on reading skills Use a multiple choice format Tend to be low estimates of actual abilities Should only be used for screening purposes

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC–IV) Most commonly used test One global score: Full Scale IQ Four composite scores Verbal Comprehension Perceptual Reasoning Working Memory Processing Speed

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC–IV)

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability Cognitive factors assessed are: Comprehension-Knowledge Long-Term Retrieval Visual-Spatial Thinking Auditory Processing Fluid Reasoning Processing Speed Short-Term Memory

Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Ability

Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) Norms available only to age 12 Cognitive factors assessed are: Sequential processing Simultaneous processing Achievement

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fifth Edition Arranges subtests in skill areas rather than by age Cognitive factors assessed are: Fluid Reasoning Knowledge Quantitative Reasoning Visual-Spatial Processing Working Memory

Hamill Multiability Intelligence Test (HAMIT) Special version of Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude–4 Results in three composite quotients: General intelligence Verbal intelligence Nonverbal intelligence

Nonverbal Measures of Intelligence Raven Progressive Matrices Leiter International Performance Scale– Revised Tests of Nonverbal Intelligence (3rd ed.) (TONI–3)

Nonbiased Assessment of Learning Aptitude System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) Rescores WISC–R based on socio-cultural factors Includes a measure of adaptive behavior Dynamic Assessment Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) Uses a test-teach-test format Results are primarily descriptive

Adaptive Behavior Measures AAMR Adaptive Behavior Scale-School (2nd ed.) ABS-S 2 Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Scales of Independent Behavior–Revised (SIB–R) Weller-Strawser Scales of Adaptive Behavior for the Learning Disabled Adaptive Behavior Evaluation Scale– Revised (ABE–R)

AAMR Adaptive Behavior Scale-School (2nd ed.) ABS-S:2

Answering the Assessment Question Types of procedures Group or individual intelligence testing Adaptive behavior is assessed through: Interviewing Questionnaires to informants Direct observation The nature of tasks affect results Learning aptitude must be documented for all mild disabilities