Assessing: Take it One Skill At a Time

   Assessing students with special needs can be a difficult task.  It can seem overwhelming when a teacher looks at all the accommodations and IEP goals. A very important thing to remember when assessing our students is to limit what is being assessed at one time and give the proper supports needed during the assessment.

     Let’s look at math because it is the easiest to see how this works.  When a student is learning a basic arithmetic concept you would not give them a calculator or a multiplication chart, but once a child shows you they understand the concept through manipulative and has solved numerous simple problems.  I would do an assessment to document this knowledge and move on to using either a calculator or multiplication chart.   They will learn their facts as much as they can through repetition.  I would still reinforce through computer flashcards, but I would move forward in skill using available tools.  I teach my students multi digit multiplication using a calculator to do the single digit facts, but they have to do all the steps, once they show me understanding of the concepts, through an assessment, they then use a calculator for all multiplication.  When is the last time you did multiplication long hand?  This is a life skill.  It takes our students longer to acquire these skills. In order to move them forward it is essential to move them to a calculator as soon as they show mastery of the skills.  While doing geometry or other math they always use a calculator.  It is they concept not the arithmetic that is being assessed.

     In history and science try to decide what is being assessed and limit it to one thing at a time.  If you need your students to learn vocabulary great, but having them use vocabulary in a sentence is a very different skill.  That is a sentence writing skill. Having them read a selection aloud as a group is wonderful, but then answering questions is a second skill. I would reread the selection to them to be sure they had the information.  Do not forget in these subjects the repetition of information is just as important as in math and reading.  The concepts will need to be repeated many more times for our students to be able to retain the information than what would be needed for a typical student.  Doing many smaller assessments along the way can be easier than expecting them to retain the information or be able to sort through it at the end of a large unit.

  The most important thing to remember is to keep assessment simple and to the point.  What is it you want them to show you they learned?  Do not complicate it by having them try to show you too many skills at one time.  It is much better to take many smaller assessments that to take one large one where you cannot distinguish what it is that really is the problem.  In my own personal opinion, this is the best way to go when you are dealing with students with more complex learning difficulties. 

For more information you may want to start here:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/what-are-formative-assessments-and-why-should-we-use-them