1. 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

2. Overview Definition Curriculum-Based Strategies
Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA)
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM)
Norm-Referenced Tests

3. 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.

4. 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

5. Why Do We Assess Achievement?
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

6. 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

7. Curriculum-Based Assessment (CBA)
Directly links assessment with instruction
Examples
Tests, exams, quizzes
Portfolios
Games
Presentations
Rubrics

8. 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

9. 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

10. Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM)
Progress Monitoring Steps (1-3)
School-wide screening (3 times a year)
Identifying at-risk students who need progress monitoring
Ongoing progress monitoring for at-risk students

11. 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

12. Sample Progress Monitoring Graph

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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