Assessment basics
What is the primary role of assessment in special education?
Name three alternate names for the proactive intervention model used in local schools.
RTI, RTII, MTSS
Who typically receives universal screening and how often is it usually done?
Universal screen is for all students 3x/year
Using trial scores below, calculate the baseline oral reading fluency:
Trial1 65 words, 7 errors;
Trial2 71 words, 6 errors;
Trial3 67 words, 5 errors.
67 - 6= 61wpm
What is reliability?
Reliability is how consistent a test is; like if the student took the test today and then took another form of it on Friday, their scores would be similar if the test was highly reliable.
Define the difference between an assessment and a test.
A test measures a single isolated skill; assessment is typically a broader sweep with more components
Briefly state one key difference between the proactive intervention model and the traditional IQ–achievement discrepancy model.
The RTI model is proactive, catching students when they begin to show difficulty. The traditional model typically waits for failure before intervention is assigned.
What is progress monitoring and how often should it occur for students?
Students at risk at screening get ProgMon as often as needed.
Using the Digits Correct series below, identify a single baseline score from the three baseline points: 27, 31, 33. Explain your choice.
31- the median
What is validity?
Test validity is how accurately the test measures what it is SUPPOSED to measure.
Give two ways to establish rapport with an unknown student prior to testing.
May include ask about hobbies, provide a compliment, tell a silly story, ask about their pet, etc.
A general educator insists one observation will show “everything you need to know about Joey.” Explain the problem with that assumption.
One observation is not enough to allow for the fuller picture.
Describe how universal screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment relate to one another in a MTSS framework
Universal screening ensures no one os falling through the cracks; it identifies the students who may need progress monitoring. If interventions are not successful as evidenced by progress monitoring, the student may be a candidate for a diagnostic assessment.
Graph interpretation
Baseline scores 27, 31, 33
Intervention: 32, 36, 42, 55. Make one data-based observation about trend and level change
The level of the data is increasing. It is trending upwards- intervention may be working.
What is a basal?
The number of consecutive items correct to continue testing.
Explain, succinctly, why multiple assessment methods (e.g., standardized tests, observations, curriculum-based measures) are used for eligibility decisions.
No one test can tell the whole picture!
Describe how intervention fidelity and dosage influence interpretation of intervention outcomes.
If the intervention is not provided in the way it was designed, and with the appropriate group size and length of time each week, it will not have the anticipated success.
For ORF (oral reading fluency), what is the traditional way to set/determine baseline before beginning intervention?
Identify the median words attempted and median errors made to get a media rate of reading. (attempts- errors= rate)
Why do we convert raw scores to scaled scores?
raw scores just tell us how many items a student got correct. Scaled scores allow us to compare students of various ages and talk more broadly about their performance.
What is a ceiling?
The rule for discontinuing- typically a set number of consecutive items incorrect.
Provide a parent-friendly explanation for what it means when a child scores at the 15th percentile on a standardized measure.
This student is performing as well or better than 15% of students their same age who also tested.
Propose a brief plan (3 steps) for collaborating with a general education teacher to select observational times that yield representative behavior data.
<answers will vary>
Given a student with a Winter benchmark of 28 WPM and 10 weeks until Spring — state a reasonable Spring ORF goal (WPM) if the ROI is 0.8.
0.8 x 10 = 8
28+8= 36wpm
If an intervention is showing a decreasing trend after 4 weeks, what would you recommend doing next?
This could go a couple ways....increase the duration of intervention sessions; decrease the group size for intervention period; try a new intervention
What happens if a basal is not established because we are already at Item #1?
The data won't be valid. You can try another test that measures the same skills or continue with caution noting that a basal was not established. (You may do this is your school has no other math assessments, for example)