Educational Assessment and Planning

Assessment and planning are the essential groundwork in the education of students with multiple disabilities. Assessment means evaluating the child's abilities and needs; planning means selecting an educational approach and goals that suit the student. This section offers a wealth of information about these critical first steps.

Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities, U.S. Office of Special Education Programs
http://osepideasthatwork.org/
Aimed at families and educators, the "Tool Kit brings together the most current and accurate information … designed to improve instruction, assessment, and accountability for students with disabilities."

Thoughts on the Assessment of the Student with the Most Profound Disabilities, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/archive/thoughts.htm
Robbie Blaha offers "some questions and background information to consider when planning" for students with severe multiple disabilities, and discusses how assessment information can be used to develop programming strategies.

Learning Disabilities and Visual Impairments Workshop: Assessment of Learning Disabilities in Students with Visual Impairment, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/ld-vi-workshop.htm
This document outlines some key points to consider in the assessment of learning disabilities in students with visual impairment, including issues that may impact learning and development.

Suggested Techniques for Individual Assessment, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/assessment-techniques.htm
Nan Bulla offers a list of techniques for individual assessment, including suggestions for establishing rapport, providing optimal conditions, materials, and administration and scoring.

Collaborative Assessment for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired, Including those with Additional Disabilities, Pennsylvania Training & Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)
http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/resources/request.aspx?UniqueID=01430
"Collaborative Assessment is designed to help school psychologists, … teachers, and allied professionals to understand the impact of visual impairment on the assessment process…." Written by the assessment team at the California School for the Blind, this PowerPoint is accompanied by a transcript of the training session.

Classroom Observation

Guidelines for Classroom Observation of Students with Visual Impairments (Especially for Those with Multiple Disabilities), Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/observation.htm
Cyral Miller provides a list of indicators to consider while observing students with visual impairments and additional disabilities, with guidelines for the environment and classroom activities.

Observation Guidelines, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/observation-guidelines.htm
Cathy Cowan lists key assessment elements: evaluating classroom functions, evaluating an activity, observing student functioning, observing teacher behaviors, and observation tips.

Alternate Assessment

Education and Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities: Implications for Educators, Education Policy Analysis Archives
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v12n16/
Mary Zatta and Diane Pullin describe the impact of "alternate assessment as part of standards-based education reform." They review state efforts to implement alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities, with a focus on Massachusetts' solution.

Web-based Organizations and Internet Resources

Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities, National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)
http://cehd.umn.edu/nceo/TopicAreas/AlternateAssessments/altAssessTopic.htm
The NCEO website provides information about alternate assessment, including state policies, publications and other resources, and a section on alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Assessment Tools and Checklists

Assessment Compendium, Lighthouse International
http://www.lighthouse.org/medical/childrens-vision/childrens-vision-education/assessment-compendium/
The Assessment Compendium is "a guide to assessment instruments that are available to clinicians who evaluate students with visual impairment or multiple disabilities." The instruments were researched and evaluated for their merit and utility.

Home Talk: A Family Assessment of Children who are Deafblind, Bringing It All Back Home Project
http://www.designtolearn.com/pages/HomeTalk.pdf
This 39-page document is "an assessment tool for parents and care providers of children who are deafblind and who have other disabilities. Its purpose is to help you participate in the planning of your child's educational program."

Web-Based Organizations and Internet Resources

Including Students with Disabilities in State & District Assessments, National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
http://www.nichcy.org/resources/largeassessments.asp
The NICHCY website offers information about assessment requirements, test accommodations, and alternate assessment.

Psychological Assessment

Psychological Testing of Blind and Visually Impaired Children, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/psych-test.htm
School psychologist Carol Evans discusses the best practices in psychological testing of children who are blind or visually impaired.

PHASES: Psychologists Helping to Assess Students Educational Strengths, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
http://www.nationaldb.org/ISSelectedTopics.php?topicID=955&topicCatID=1
Harvey Mar and Karen Goehl present the PHASES Project, an approach to the assessment of students with deafblindness that emphasizes evaluation in natural contexts and situations.

Psychological Evaluation of Children who are Deaf-Blind: An Overview with Recommendations for Practice, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
http://www.nationaldb.org/NCDBProducts.php?prodID=40
Harvey Mar provides an overview of psychological evaluation of children who are deafblind. He defines several assessment approaches, answers common questions, and advises psychologists on preparing for the assessment.

Biobehavioral States

Assessment of Individuals who are Deafblind and Have Multiple Disabilities, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
http://www.nationaldb.org/dish/biobehav.pdf
Catherine Nelson and Jan van Dijk list cues for identifying and understanding a child's communication and behavior.

Biobehavioral States: When Are They Ready to Learn, Deafblind Intervention Strategies for the Home (DISH)
http://www.nationaldb.org/dish/biobehav.htm
This article introduces two ways to classify states of awareness in "individuals with profound disabilities."

BioBehavioral States, Hunter College
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/i/a/1719_NYSTAPResourceBioBehavioralStates.pdf
In this 11-page document, Sam Morgan describes biobehavioral states and explains why they are important when working with students with profound disabilities.

Assessment of Biobehavioral States and Analysis of Related Influences, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/biobehavioral.htm
Millie Smith and Stacy Shafer tell teachers how to recognize the biobehavioral states of children with multiple disabilities, and how to manage the environment to foster learning.

Example Form: http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/vmi/bioform.htm. This sample form helps to analyze events and conditions that may influence a student's state of alertness.

The Plastic Brain, Center on Disabilities and Human Development, University of Idaho
http://cydb.idahocdhd.org/Articles/The%20Plastic%20Brain%20-%20Article.pdf
Gloria Rodriguez-Gil explores brain plasticity and its implications for educators. In this 9-page article, she discusses biobehavioral states, the multisensory approach, and the importance of allowing time for children who are deafblind to process information.