Reflection
Reflection
Article 1: “Considerations for Special Education Assessment Systems."
Special education involves students with some physical or mental complication that requires special attention from their teachers. Such students are given specific attention as compared to normal students because their conditions affect their understanding and performance in general.
Information Gathering
The article “Considerations for special education assessment systems” was published by the National Center of Educational Outcomes 2014. The article was presented as a clear assessment of student inventory for school districts by the school district leaders whereby they sought to deal with the concerns about the magnitude of student testing, which is conducted through the assessment inventory process. The school district leaders embark on responding to the concerns of families, teachers, and other stakeholders in the education sector about the testing process for special education programs. The school district leaders acknowledge that special students with disabilities need to be exposed to a special set of assessments to ascertain the extent of testing required for this particular group of students (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014). The article provides guidance and recommendations for the inclusion of a comprehensive assessment system, which avoids too much testing for students with disabilities who are entitled to receive special education services.
The reading relates to the TExES Educational Diagnostician Standards and the Council for Exceptional Children Standards. The assessment process for students with special education needs is based on accountability whereby the procedures safeguard the evaluation process such that all the students who might be in need of special education services are identified and evaluated for the services. It is consistent with the Educational Diagnostician Standard, which acknowledges the eligibility criteria and procedures for identification of students with disabilities and determination of the presence of the educational. The article also recognizes the need for parental consent before the special education teachers begins the initial stages of evaluating the students for special education services, before the provision of the services and before the re-evaluation process for the continued need for such services by the student need (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014). It relates to the Educational Diagnostician Standard III that advocates for the development of collaborative relationships with families, educators, the school, and the entire community concerning evaluation and offering special education services to students.
Besides, the provision of this article relates to the standards set by the Council for Exceptional Children concerning the evaluation of students in need of special education services. The author of the article recognizes the need for the special education teachers who are responsible for the evaluation of the children requiring special education services to provide the relevant academic, functional, and developmental details about the specific areas where the student portrays learning disabilities need (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014). This argument relates to the standard set by the Council for Exceptional Children that the evaluators should use evidence, research information, and professional knowledge to choose the beneficiaries of special education services.
Evaluation
The arguments presented in this article on considerations for special education assessment systems are very insightful as they have influenced my personal and professional growth through the impact of the findings in my life. The approaches presented in the article that are geared towards the development of a comprehensive assessment system provide the basic guideline upon which I should embrace in all my undertakings as an assessment professional. The approach of inclusion of the special education personnel in the discussion about the development of a comprehensive assessment system ensures that a broader team of stakeholders is involved in analyzing the available information and making recommendations (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014). The approach of ensuring that the comprehensive assessment systems used for assessing special education students are of high quality is a key approach that influences my professional growth. The presentation of high-quality assessment systems boosts the reputation of the systems in the minds of the teachers involved in the real evaluation.
Another approach that is presented in this article is that the parents of the students being evaluated should be well informed about the entire process before its commencement. It will enable the parents to feel free to share any information with the evaluators having fully educated about the entire process and purpose of the evaluation. These approaches have changed my thinking about the whole idea of developing a comprehensive assessment system because previously I have been making a lot of assumptions about the entire process (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014). However, upon learning all these approaches from the reading, I have gained more knowledge on the best way to undertake the process of developing a comprehensive assessment system. Such systems serve the purposes of helping special education teachers in identifying and evaluating the students with special needs who require special education services.
Goal Setting
Based on the knowledge learned from the first three reflection steps for the article on considerations for special education assessment systems, I can cite some approaches presented in the article that I believe can be quite instrumental in shaping my skills as an assessment professional. I intend to apply the knowledge learned about the involvement of all the stakeholders in the process of developing the comprehensive assessment system by incorporating the opinions of all the stakeholders in the education sector in my future engagements. I believe this will be of great help because I will be able to get the perception of all the people involved and integrate their opinion in the final comprehensive assessment system which I believe will bear better results than before (National Center on Educational Outcomes, 2014).
Reference
National Center on Educational Outcomes. (2014). Consideration for special education assessment systems: Student assessment inventory for school districts. N.p
Article 2. “Teacher Biases in the Identification of Learning Disabilities: An Application of the Logistic Multilevel Model."
Special students are given specific attention as compared to normal students because their conditions affect their understanding and performance in general. Therefore, the special education systems need to be assessed in detail to ascertain whether they meet the standards required by the special education syllabus
Information Gathering
The article entitled "Teacher biases in the identification of learning disabilities: An application of the logistic multilevel model" was written by Georgios, Faye, and Susana, who lecture at the University of Crete, University of Thessaly and University of Thessaly respectively. The article was published by Sage Publications, Inc. in the year 2008 as Volume 31. It focuses on evaluating the role of teachers in the identification process of students with learning disabilities and examining any possibility for the presence of bias on them. The teacher’s bias may influence the assessment process of the student performance as the special education teachers may fail to clearly understand the nature and extend of disability in students (Sideridis, Antoniou & Padeliadu, 2008). The authors of the article acknowledge the important role played by the special education teachers in identifying, classifying, and assessing the extent of learning disability possessed by these students.
Alignment
The article specifically looks into the existence of any indication of teacher biases concerning the identification of the students with learning disabilities; hence, in need of special education services. The Educational Diagnostician Standard II insists on the need for ethical and professional practices by the special educators who are responsible for identification and evaluation of the students with learning disabilities. This standard relates to the provisions of the article, which disregards any form of biasness by the special education teachers by gender, social class or any other disparity. According to the findings of the studies conducted concerning the issue of teacher biasness in identifying and evaluating students with disabilities, the age of the teachers and their experience working with the students with special needs influences their judgment (Sideridis, Antoniou & Padeliadu, 2008). It relates to the standards provided by the Council of Exceptional Children on professional competence and the work experience of the teachers involved in the entire process of identifying and evaluating the students with learning disabilities who require special education services.
Evaluation
The article discusses the biasness of the teachers who are involved in the identification and evaluation of students with learning disabilities is also quite insightful as it changes my perception about the stakeholders involved in the entire process. Several questions that arise from the findings of the study include the effect of teacher's gender, the teacher's age, the teacher’s experience, and the children’s gender in influencing the biasness of the teacher in identifying and evaluating children with learning disabilities. The knowledge helps me to understand better the factors that affect the transparency of the student evaluation process and the possible ways of mitigating these factors (Sideridis, Antoniou & Padeliadu, 2008). As an assessment professional, I got to understand the nature of the teachers who need to be directly involved in the identification and selection process of students with learning disabilities for offering them special education services.
Upon reading through the entire article, I have been challenged to help the special students educators embrace integrity, transparency, and accountability in their undertakings. It is the only sure way of ensuring that the comprehensive assessment systems used by the teachers involved in the evaluation process are effective. Such knowledge has been boosted by professional growth as I have clearly understood the challenges involved in the process and the possible ways of dealing with the challenges. I have also been enlightened on the measure to take as an assessment professional to deal with the cases of biasness among the teachers in the process of identifying and evaluating the students with disabilities who are eligible for the special education services (Sideridis, Antoniou & Padeliadu, 2008). The recommendations of the three Ph.D. holders in special education and psychology who are the authors of this article have influenced my personal and professional growth in this field.
Goal Setting
The article discussing the teacher’s biasness in evaluating students with special needs also provides special knowledge which I can use to improve my skills as an assessment professional. I intend to use the factors presented in the article while selecting the teachers for implementing the comprehensive assessment systems in identification and evaluation of special students. The age of the teacher, their experience in working with students with disabilities, and the gender to the teacher will form the basis of my selection of the teachers responsible for implementing the system in schools. It will eradicate instances of biasness in identification and evaluation of students with learning disabilities who are eligible for receiving special education services (Sideridis, Antoniou & Padeliadu, 2008).
Reference
Sideridis, G. D., Antoniou, F., & Padeliadu, S. (2008). Teacher biases in the identification of learning disabilities: An application of the logistic multilevel model. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31(4), 199-209.
