assessment of learning disability / kunnampallil gejo john

ASSESSMENT ASSESSMENT OF OF LEARNING LEARNING DISABILITY.DISABILITY.KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN

KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN

A sound educational programme for learning disabled students comprise of 3 important steps;

Assessment Identification Planning instructional intervention.

from the survey works it is somehow easier to identify more severely handicapped children than mildly handicapped ones. but a teaching expert can easily make out any deviation in classroom behavior pertaining to learning disabilities of children.


EARLY IDENTIFICATION.

Early identification & prevention are basic goals of intervention strategy.

Early identification can be done based on 1.developmental lags in children. 2.preschoolers whose characteristics include slow development in motor skills, language &

learning the skill associated with reading & other areas of school curriculum


The skills to be checked in preschoolers include; manipulating objects precisely describing objects carrying on a conversation naming shapes & colors associating sound with letters being able to reproduce sounds counting making appropriate social approaches giving appropriate responses to others


IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURE IN CLINICS

Variety of standardized tests.

Developmental scales that compare the child’s skill to norms.

Standardized instruments.


Domains of Assessment Language: 1. Spoken language: Phonology, morphology, syntax,

semantics, pragmatics2. Reading: Reversals, phonology, syntax, semantics,

gist comprehension3. Writing: Handwriting, spelling, composition.

Mathematics: Numeracy, computational skills, problem solving requiring reasoning about quantities


Domains of Assessment..

Cognition: Field dependence and field independence, Reflexivity and Impulsivity, Short term & long term memory and working memory, Meta-cognitive Skills.

Attention: selective attention, decision making, maintaining attention

Socialization: Externalizing behaviors, Internalizing behaviors


PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFICATION

Assessment is the integral part of educational process. Educational assessment can be defined as the

process of collecting data for the purpose of specifying & verifying problems & for making educational decisions about students.

The assessment procedure can be classified into 2 categories;

I. Informal assessmentI. Informal assessment II.Formal assessment.II.Formal assessment.


I.INFORMAL ASSESSMENT. Although formal assessment is more widely used for

identification of students with learning disabilities ,some of the information on which critical educational intervention is based, is obtained from informal assessment.

Informal assessment gathered through the examination of student product such as papers,tests& presentation& through discussion with students & observation of everyday student behavior .


TYPES OF INFORMAL ASSESSMENT.

1. Curriculum based assessment.

2. Criterion referenced tests.

3. Observation.

4. Interviews.KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN

CURRICULUM BASED ASSESSMENT

It is based on determining instructional needs by directly assessing specific curriculum skills

Curriculum based assessment can be used to describe a variety of assessment techniques that measure the student achievement in curriculum

This approach uses direct observation & recording of students performance in a local school curriculum as a basis of gathering information to make instructional decisions.

curriculum based measurement,response & error analysis ,task analysis & teacher made tests are widely used type of curriculum based assessment.


CRITERION REFERENCED TEST.

It is another form of informal assessment. Criterion referenced tests are defined as an

assessment that rate how thoroughly the students have mastered a specific skill or areas of knowledge.

It is different from norm referenced tests,in norm ref tests it compare the performance of one student against the performance of others.

These tests are either commercially available or teacher made tests.


OBSERVATION Naturalistic observation is defined as the process of

observing & recording behaviors in naturalist environment.

This method facilitates a broader look at behavior as well as factors affecting behavior.

This method is the most convenient & practically the foremost technique to identify learning disabled children.

This can be done in either simple or controllable conditions.


INTERVIEWS,QUESTIONNAIRES,& CHECKLISTS.

These can be effectively made use of for informal assessment by the teachers. Interviews and questionnaires and effective informal data collection procedures that provide an opportunity for the teacher to ask questions and obtain reactions that assist in determining areas for further assessment.

The interview allows for a face-to-face interaction. It can either be structured (psychometric) or partially structured (explanatory Method).

While following this interview method for informal assessment, the teacher should ensure that his bias or prejudice not distort the information obtained. KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN

INTERVIEWS,QUESTIONNAIRES,& CHECKLISTS….

In situations where face-to-face interactions are not feasible, written responses can be obtained through questionnaires

Checklists on the other hand contain lists of descriptive statements of traits, characteristics, behaviors, interests, skills or knowledge concepts.

Checklists take less time to administer than interviews and can be used to assess a greater number of students


II.FORMAL ASSESSMENT. A single assessment instrument or person cannot

identify LD; the basic diagnostic process is the same regardless of the disability.

Formal assessment usually employs a individually administered tests that have been standardized, in that they consist of a set of tasks given with uniform directions and compare performance to an identified standard.

These tests are norm-referenced tests.


FORMAL ASSESSMENT…. There are quiet a number of tests employed in formal

assessment for identification of LD.

The tests are given under three headings: 1. Measures of intelligence 2. Measures of academic functioning 3. Measures of certain cognitive areas


MEASURES OF INTELLIGENCE. Measures of intelligence are very essential to verify

that a child is or is not disabled. Intelligence tests are designed to provide a general indication of individuals aptitude in many areas of intellectual functioning.

The following are widely used intelligence test for identifying LD.

· Termon-Merrill scale · Weschler-Intelligence scale · Slosson intelligence test for children and adults · Kaufman assessmernt6 Battery for children.


MEASURES OF ACADEMIC FUNCTIONING

LD children will have discrepancy between potential to learn and actual level of functioning is required to establish the existence of a LD.

Besides we must know as much as possible about the students disabilities in all academic areas in order to plan meaningful educational intervention.

Hence we should utilize tests that will establish students academic levels.


MEASURES OF ACADEMIC FUNCTIONING….

The tests widely used for this purpose are: The Wide Range Achievement test (WRAT) The Peabody individual achievement test The Brigance Diagnostic inventories Reading Readiness Test (RRT) Early Reading Skills (ERS) Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT-R) PPVT


MEASURES OF COGNITIVE AREAS

A wide variety of tests are used for the purpose of identifying LD as well as planning education intervention for them.

They are provided to give the readers the concept of the variety of tests that can be used in identification of and programmed planning for students with LD.


MEASURES OF COGNITIVE AREAS…..

Few of tests are: Auditory discrimination tests Bender visual motor gestalt test Basic concepts inventory Clinical evaluation of language function Developmental test of visual motor integration. Quick neurological screening test


Team approach for Assessment Neurologist

Audiologist

Speech & language pathologist

Psychologist

Teacher KUNNAMPALLIL GEJO JOHN

assessment of learning disability / kunnampallil gejo john

Documents

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assessment procedure

identification of students

educational process

learning disabilities

educational decisions

sound educational programme

computational skills