Special Education Assessment Scenarios

Step 1

Select appropriate assessments from the IED III. Some programs choose to administer assessments specific to a student’s needs or strengths, basing the assessments on prior information from formal assessments or student performance to establish a current present level of performance (PLOP) or present level of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statement.

Because the IED III is much too extensive to administer in its entirety, choose the assessments that are most relevant to the student’s current development or academic area of concern.

When deciding which specific assessments to administer, keep the following questions in mind:

• Which assessments are most relevant to the immediate concern or reason for a referral?
• Which assessments are more likely to yield the most valuable information within the time allowed?
• Which assessments can best be conducted in a particular setting?
• Which assessments meet program needs and requirements?

TIP: Once you have identified the assessments you will administer, mark them in the inventory (e.g., flag the pages with sticky notes).

Step 2

Select the item with which you will begin. Many assessments in the IED III span several years of development, and it is not always necessary or desirable to begin with the first item in a skill sequence.

In the IED III, developmental age notations are useful in determining the skill with which to begin assessment. These developmental age notations are the superscripted numbers before skills, indicating the age at which that skill typically emerges. A developmental age notation at the end of a skill sequence indicates the age by which all previous skills have typically been mastered.

TIP: In the student’s Record Book, use a highlighter to identify the assessment(s) and items with which you will begin. Using the color-coded system in the Record Book will allow you to identify mastered skills and instructional objectives and monitor progress over time.

Step 3

Identify any necessary accommodations and adapt assessment procedures accordingly. The criterion-referenced inventories are designed to be flexible in use, allowing for individual differences while still obtaining the most valid results. Accommodations during assessment enable students to more accurately demonstrate their knowledge. Accommodations permit alternate test settings, testing formats, response formats, timing, and test scheduling, all of which serve to demonstrate a student’s true mastery of a skill.

When evaluating students with special considerations, use the following general strategies in addition to the specific strategies provided.

• Keep a record of the accommodations implemented.
• Be aware of the test items and the way in which certain accommodations may impact performance and results.
• Be aware of the student’s strengths that will support reliable responses or those behaviors that may hinder reliable responses.
• Use information from families to identify what may act as a motivator to facilitate the student’s optimal performance.

TIP: Refer to the Evaluating Students with Special Considerations page in the Introduction section of the inventories.

Step 4

Use the information gathered from the assessments to identify PLAAFP. Because the skills within each assessment are sequenced from the earliest-mastered skills to more difficult ones, the student’s PLOP and PLAAFP can be pinpointed along the skill continuum.

Step 5

Identify developmentally appropriate skills that will meet the student’s needs as instructional objectives. The skills immediately following those mastered in a skill sequence are logical skills to be identified as goals and objectives for a student’s annual IEP.

TIP: Each assessment provides a stem for writing compliant goals and objectives, which can be individualized for each student.

Step 1

Select appropriate assessments from the IED III. Because the IED III is much too extensive to administer in its entirety, choose the assessments that are most relevant to the student’s current development or academic area of concern.

When deciding which specific assessments to administer, keep the following questions in mind:

• Which assessments are most relevant to the immediate concern or reason for a referral?
• Which assessments are more likely to yield the most valuable information within the time allowed?
• Which assessments can best be conducted in a particular setting?
• Which assessments meet program needs and requirements?

TIP: Once you have identified the assessments you will administer, mark them in the inventory (e.g., flag the pages with sticky notes).

Step 2

Select the item with which you will begin. Many assessments in the IED III span several years of development, and it is not always necessary or desirable to begin with the first item in a skill sequence.

In the IED III, developmental age notations (i.e., superscripted numbers that come before or after skills) are useful in determining the skill with which to begin an assessment. A developmental age notation that precedes a skill statement indicates the age at which that skill typically emerges. A developmental age notation at the end of a skill sequence indicates the age by which all previous skills have typically been mastered.

TIP: If administering assessments that are specific to a student’s needs or strengths, for easy reference, mark the assessment(s) you will use and the items with which you'll begin in the student's Record Book. Using the color-coded system in the Record Book will allow you to identify mastered skills and instructional objectives and monitor progress over time.

Use the color-coding system to set instructional objectives for the next instructional period aligned with your district’s progress monitoring schedule. Using pens or pencils of different colors to record assessment data develops a color-coded record that is ongoing, graphic, and easily interpreted. The first page of each Record Book provides a chart with the color pen to use for each assessment period. Refer to Step 3: Record Results in the Record Book found in the Step-by-Step Assessment Procedures section in the Introduction of each inventory.

Refer back to the Record Book and areas of assessment periodically to look for an indication of:

• Length of time needed for skills mastery
• A student possibly having plateaued in skills development
• The next skill in a developmental or academic area needing to be assessed

TIP: If you need to measure progress in smaller increments, consult the Comprehensive Skill Sequences of the IED III for a more detailed sequencing of developmental skills, including both milestone skills (i.e., primary skills as seen in each assessment) and intermediate (i.e., secondary, between milestones) skills.

Step 3

Identify any necessary accommodations and adapt assessment procedures accordingly. The criterion-referenced inventories are designed to be flexible in use, allowing for individual differences while still obtaining the most valid results. Accommodations during assessment enable students to more accurately demonstrate their knowledge. Accommodations permit alternate test settings, testing formats, response formats, timing, and test scheduling, all of which serve to demonstrate a student’s true mastery of a skill.

When evaluating students with special considerations, use the following general strategies in addition to the specific strategies provided.

• Keep a record of the accommodations implemented.
• Be aware of the test items and the way in which certain accommodations may impact performance and results.
• Be aware of the student’s strengths that will support reliable responses or those behaviors that may hinder reliable responses.
• Use information from families to identify what may act as a motivator to facilitate the student’s optimal performance.

TIP: Refer to the Evaluating Students with Special Considerations page in the Introduction section of the inventories.

Step 4

Use the information gathered from the assessments to identify the student’s PLOP and/or PLAAFP. Because the skills within each assessment are sequenced from the earliest-mastered skills to more difficult ones, the student’s PLOP and PLAAFP can be pinpointed along the skill continuum.

Step 5

Plan instruction based on assessment results. Identify developmentally appropriate skills that will meet the student’s needs as instructional objectives. The skills immediately following those mastered in a skill sequence are logical skills to be identified as goals and objectives for a student’s annual IEP.

TIP: Each assessment provides a stem for writing compliant goals and objectives, which can be individualized for each student.

Once initial assessment has been conducted with the IED III and an IEP has been written detailing a developmentally appropriate instructional plan, the inventory can be used to monitor student progress, showing progress a student has made from one evaluation period to the next. Assessment can be conducted as needed (or as required by a school/program) at appropriate intervals throughout the year. An appropriate interval can differ from student to student or from program to program. In general, this interval may be defined by the amount of time needed for instruction and learning to take place, or it may be defined by program requirements (e.g., early, mid, and late year; to align with report cards).

Step 6

Based on the student’s IEP, select appropriate assessments from the IED III for your next evaluation. Choose the assessments that are most relevant to the student’s IEP or to the student’s current development or academic area of concern.

When deciding which specific assessments to administer, keep the following questions in mind:

• Which assessments best reflect skills set by the student’s IEP?
• Which assessments are most relevant to the immediate concern?
• Which assessments are more likely to yield the most valuable information within the time allowed?
• Which assessments can best be conducted in a particular setting?

TIP: Once you have identified the assessments you will administer, mark them in the inventory (e.g., flag the pages with sticky notes).

Step 7

In each assessment you plan to administer, select the item with which you will begin. The skills immediately following those identified as mastered by the student in the initial evaluation are logical skills to begin with.

TIP: In the student’s Record Book, use a highlighter to identify the assessment(s) and items with which you will begin. Using the color-coded system in the Record Book will allow you to identify mastered skills and instructional objectives and monitor progress over time.

Step 8

As with the initial evaluation, identify any necessary accommodations and adapt assessment procedures accordingly. Because the inventories are criterion referenced, they are designed to be flexible in use, allowing for individual differences while still obtaining the most valid results. For example, directions may be rephrased when using the criterion-referenced inventories.

TIP: Refer to the Evaluating Students with Special Considerations page in the Introduction section of the inventories. Keep a record of accommodations implemented.

Step 1

Determine if you will administer the full battery of age-appropriate assessments or the age-appropriate assessments in only specific domains of concern.

• Some programs choose to administer the full battery to derive normative scores (i.e., standard scores, percentiles, and age equivalents) across all key domains.
• Other programs choose to administer the age-appropriate assessments only within specific domains (e.g., Language Development or Mathematics).

Step 2

Compute the student’s rounded chronological age to ensure administration of the age-appropriate assessments. Determine which assessments are applicable for the age of the student you will assess. If using the IED III Standardized, refer to Appendix D: Assessments to Administer by Age Range in the examiner’s manual.

TIP: Once you have identified the assessments you will administer, mark them in the examiner’s manual (e.g., flag the pages with sticky notes).

Step 3

Determine the age- or grade-appropriate entry point for each assessment and mark that item in the skill sequence in the Standardized Record Book. The entry point for the assessment is found on the examiner pages in the examiner’s manual and in the IED III.

TIP: In the student’s Record Book, use a highlighter to identify the assessment(s) and items with which you will begin.

Step 4

Determine if any accommodations are necessary. See the Evaluating Children/Students with Special Considerations section in the Introduction of your examiner’s manual.

TIP: Remember that accommodations and modifications are not the same things. Accommodations are designed to reduce the effect of language limitations and other disabilities and, therefore, increase the probability that the same target construct is measured for all children. Accommodations provide fairness, not advantage, for children who have disabilities so the child is assessed on a level playing field with other children. Appropriate accommodations used should always be recorded in the student’s Record Book. In contrast, modifications are changes to the actual content of the assessment (e.g., changing the phrasing of a question). Modifications cannot be used under any circumstances when standardized scores are required. Modifying the assessment content undermines the standardization process and comparability of performance, thereby invalidating normative scores for a child.

Step 5

Administer the assessments, marking the student’s responses in their Record Book. (Refer to the Step-by-Step Assessment Procedures in your examiner’s manual.) Administration does not need to be completed in one setting. You must use the Directions on the examiner pages exactly as they are written in order to report valid results.

Step 6

After the assessment:

• Tally the raw score for each assessment in the IED III Record Book.
• Next, write the raw score for each assessment on the IED III Standardized Scoring Sheet, located in the appropriate Record Book.
• To convert raw scores for the IED III, go to Free Tools page and enter the raw score for each assessment into the IED III Scoring Tool. Be sure to print the report—the Free Scoring Tool does not save results.

Step 7

Evaluate the results and decide on next steps. Refer to the IED III Standardization and Validation Manuals for information on interpreting normed scores.

There may be a need to provide more in-depth assessment than is found in the standardized (i.e., norm-referenced) version of the IED III. Many programs use the IED III Standardized as a normed measure to derive normative scores and then use the criterion-referenced assessments in the IED III to determine even more specific information about the breadth and acquisition of a student’s skills. The criterion-referenced assessments can be used to identify which prerequisite skills a student has mastered and which will require additional instruction or time for mastery. These assessments provide a more detailed sequencing of developmental skills, which can also be used for planning instruction, writing IEPs, and tracking individual growth and progress.

Step 1

Select appropriate assessments from the TSI. Assessments in the TSI are age-appropriate and cover a broad range of knowledge and skills important for successful transition into adult life. Key skill areas are clustered within four domains: Academic Skills, Post-Secondary Opportunities, Independent Living, and Community Participation. Selecting assessments from each of these skill areas align with IDEA guidelines for Indicator 13.

• Some programs choose to administer assessments specific to a student’s needs or strengths, basing the assessments on prior information from formal assessments or student performance to develop a current present level of performance (PLOP) or present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statement. Present levels should also focus on transition service needs.
• For students with severe cognitive delays, a combination of assessments from the TSI and the IED III may be more appropriate. (See the BRIGANCE document: A Guide to Supporting Transition Plans for Students with Severe Cognitive Delays.)

When deciding which specific assessments to administer, the examiner should keep the following questions in mind:

• Which assessments are most relevant to the needs of the student?
• Which assessments are more likely to yield the most valuable information within the time allowed?
• Which assessments meet program needs and requirements?
• Which assessments can best be conducted in a particular setting?

TIP: Once you have identified the assessments you will administer, mark them in the inventory (e.g., flag the pages with sticky notes).

Step 2

In each assessment you plan to administer, select the item with which you will begin. Some of the assessments in the TSI have several skills or a range of grade levels, and it is not always necessary or desirable to begin with the first item in a skill sequence.

TIP: In the student’s Record Book, use a highlighter to identify the assessment(s) and items with which you will begin. Using the color-coded system in the Record Book will allow you to identify mastered skills and instructional objectives and monitor progress over time.

Step 3

Identify assessment method and necessary adaptations to assessment procedures. Because the TSI (as well as the IED III) is criterion referenced, it is designed to be flexible in use, allowing for individual differences while still obtaining the most valid results. Most assessments in the TSI provide directions for multiple assessment methods.

TIP: Refer to the Evaluating Students with Special Considerations page in the inventories. Keep a record of accommodations implemented.

Step 4

Use the information gathered from the assessments to identify PLOP and PLAAFP. Because the skills within each assessment are sequenced from the earliest-mastered skills to more difficult ones, the student’s PLOP and PLAAFP can be pinpointed along the skill continuum.

Step 5

Identify skills that are age appropriate and pertinent to the student's transition goals as instructional objectives. The skills immediately following those mastered in a skill sequence are logical skills to be identified as objectives for achieving annual goals.

TIP: Each assessment provides a stem for writing compliant transition goals and objectives, which can be individualized for each student.

Step 6

Select lesson plans and activities in the TSA based on individual and group assessment results. Following assessment with the TSI, different skills will likely be identified as areas of focus for the student to build skills related to his or her post-secondary goals. You can then use activities from the corresponding lesson plans in the TSA to reinforce those identified skills.

• Each lesson plan corresponds with or expands upon one or more assessment(s) found in the BRIGANCE TSI. The alignment to the TSI is explicitly called out on the first page of each lesson plan. In addition, the Linking the Transition Skills Inventory to the Transition Skills Activities chart in the Appendices of the TSA can be used to link every lesson plan with its aligned assessments in the TSI. In some cases, one lesson will tie to a single TSI assessment. In other cases, a lesson may tie to multiple, related assessments.
• Each lesson is designed so the activities can occur in large or small group formats. Though all activities have been written to address a group of students, they can easily be modified to work in multiple environments, such as small group learning or one-on-one sessions with individual students.
• The activities within each lesson plan increase in difficulty, including more complex skills as the lesson progresses. The first activity in a lesson plan is intended to support students with limited knowledge of the basic concepts addressed by the lesson. Activities later in the lesson plan are intended to support students who are more proficient, helping them to gain new skills and reinforce skills they have already acquired.
• The activities are easily adapted to provide instruction for students with varied abilities. Select activities in each lesson include modifications to ensure teachers can support a wide range of student functional levels.
• Each activity is designed to stand alone. Not all activities within a lesson plan will be necessary for every student. If there are specific skills you wish to reinforce, the lesson plans are designed so you can deliver just those relevant activities without having to administer an entire lesson plan. If you wish to use an activity toward the end of the lesson plan for higher-functioning students, there is no need to go through all of the preceding activities.

TIP: See the Linking Chart in the Appendices section of the TSA to align assessments from the TSI to TSA lesson plans.

Step 7

Use the Check for Understanding questions. These questions are designed to help determine whether or not each student understands the concepts addressed in the lesson.

Step 8

Evaluate understanding and skill mastery through ongoing assessment.

• Use the TSI as an ongoing assessment tool in conjunction with the activities and lesson plans in the TSA. The two products are designed to work in tandem as a model of balanced instruction and assessment throughout the school year.
• Use these activities along with informal observation and regular IEP meetings to determine the progress of an individual student’s particular skills related to the student’s post-secondary goals.
• Use the results of these assessments to inform instructional methods and help the students continue to strengthen their skills.