Data-Based Decision Making and Accountability · 3 min read
Academic Achievement Assessment · Social-Emotional and Behavioral Assessment · Assessment of Specific Populations
Academic achievement assessment measures acquired knowledge and skills in academic domains. Norm-referenced achievement tests compare student performance to a nationally representative sample, yielding standard scores, percentile ranks, and grade equivalents.
Commonly used achievement batteries include the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-IV ACH), Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-4), Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-3), and Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT5). These instruments assess reading, mathematics, written language, and oral language skills at varying levels of specificity.
Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) provides standardized procedures for assessing academic skills using curriculum materials. CBM offers brief, reliable, and valid measures suitable for universal screening, progress monitoring, and instructional decision making. Key CBM domains include oral reading fluency, maze reading comprehension, mathematics computation, and written expression.
Criterion-referenced assessment compares student performance to predetermined mastery criteria rather than normative samples. Criterion-referenced measures answer questions about what students know and can do relative to specific learning objectives.
Social-emotional and behavioral assessment employs multiple methods including rating scales, interviews, observations, and self-report measures. A multimethod, multisource, multisetting approach strengthens assessment validity and reduces method variance.
Behavior rating scales such as the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3), Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA), Conners Rating Scales, and Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) provide standardized methods for gathering informant perspectives. Rating scales efficiently sample behavior across time and settings but reflect rater perceptions rather than objective behavior counts.
Systematic direct observation provides objective data on behavior frequency, duration, intensity, or latency in natural settings. Observation methods include frequency recording, duration recording, interval recording (whole interval, partial interval, momentary time sampling), and latency recording. Interobserver agreement establishes observation reliability.
Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) identifies the environmental variables that trigger and maintain problem behavior. FBA methods range from indirect approaches (interviews, rating scales) to descriptive analyses (direct observation of antecedent-behavior-consequence relationships) to experimental functional analyses (systematic manipulation of environmental variables). FBA results inform function-based intervention planning.
Assessment of students with suspected disabilities requires comprehensive evaluation addressing all areas of suspected disability. For specific learning disability (SLD) identification, federal regulations permit ability-achievement discrepancy models, response to intervention (RTI) models, or patterns of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) approaches.
Intellectual disability assessment requires evaluation of intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior scales such as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Vineland-3) and Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS-3) measure conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.
Assessment of autism spectrum disorder incorporates developmental history, behavioral observation, and standardized measures. Instruments such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2), Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2), and Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS-3) contribute to diagnostic decision making.
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