Iinstitution Name
Children in a school setting may often act out in the classroom. They may not comprehend their curriculum and can get distracted easily. When this occurs, it is up to the teacher to determine if the child is acting out or has a learning or behavioral problem. A teacher who is concerned may try and help the student by offering a learning plan to better assist the student. If the teacher’s learning program had not been helpful for the child, another measure may need to be taken. The child may need to be evaluated for an assessment to determine if special needs educational services are needed for the child.
If a child is in need of an assessment for further testing the parent would need to consent for this to happen. “When a psychologist is going to conduct an assessment of a child to determine if an individual education program (IEP) is needed, several factors need to be considered” . The first factor is to take into consideration the age of the child. The reason is that the testing should be age appropriate for the child to determine if there is a need for special education. Curriculum given for the child’s assessment will be given at the appropriate age and grade of the student. The scores will be reviewed and compared with other students of the same grade and age level to determine if there is disability present.
It is more difficult to get information from younger students because of age, lack of maturity, and comprehension. Younger children who are approximately age eight and younger will need a full valid testing assessment. “The testing should include motor skill assessment, social development, emotional development, physical well-being assessment, language skills, cognitive development, and general knowledge” . This type of assessment should be carefully administered and evaluated for accurate results. A child should not be misconstrued or not properly evaluated because it could harm their educational learning in the future. The evaluation of the age appropriate assessment will need to be reviewed based on the same age and
The psychologist will need to consider the child’s issues when testing and assessments are given. The child may have problems acting out in class, concentrating on school work, distracting other children from learning, talking in class, problems reading and comprehending information. Accommodations will need to be met for the child because of these learning issues that are being expressed.
The testing accommodations that would need to be implemented is to read the questions and answers to the child. The reason is to help assist in the comprehension of the questions due to issues with reading and comprehension. Doing this will ensure the child is able to take the assessment accurately without having difficulties due to the learning issues the child has been experiencing. The psychologist may also explain directions for each assessment in short sentences to help the child understand what is expected for each test. “The accommodations that a child may need to take the assessment will not change the test itself” . It is an assistance to help the child better understand the test for more valid results.
An accommodation is not offering an easier version of the test, but to keep the equality of the test. A child who has learning disabilities will not be able to equally take the assessment without the assistance of accommodations. The results of the assessment would not be completely valid if the child had difficulty understanding the instructions of the test they were taking.
The assessment accommodations are categorized according to the child’s needs. For example, the child may need to mark answers on the test instead of using a separate answer key. This is not requiring a change to the assessment, but is allowing the answers to be put on the same sheet of the test. A child may also need more breaks than other kids because of behavior or learning issues. The frequent breaks may help the child focus better when taking the assessment. It is not impacting the validity or equality of the assessment. It does assist the child in their performance while taking the test.
An impact that accommodation can have on the results of an assessment can be positive. A child who needs accommodations may do better on the assessment because they are able to understand and comprehend what they are supposed to do. When deciding what type of accommodations, a child needs, depends on the child’s problems with learning and behavior. A child who is having difficulty in reading and comprehension would not do well on a test that dealt with reading and comprehension.
An accommodation that would be offered is to have the test read to the student and allow the student to verbally express the answer. This would help the student understand the questions and answers without having difficulty reading or understanding it. “This would allow the child to perform the best on the assessment with the use of accommodations; instead of having a limitation due to the potential disability” . Not offering accommodations to a child who needs them, would not give an equal opportunity for the child’s test results. The child would have an unfair advantage against other children who did not have limitations or disabilities. Accommodations would not deter the results of the assessment. It would give the child a chance to do their best with assistance.
The test format that would meet the needs of the child would educational and psychological. An educational test would need to be conducted as a one on one assessment. The child and the psychiatrist would need to be the only people involved in the process. It would be beneficial for the validity of the educational test to have an individual assessment performed. If the child was with other students taking the assessment she would be distracted due to her disabilities shown in the classroom. She would do better with less distraction and have the ability to take more time that may be needed for each academic assessment. Each academic assessment would show the psychiatrist what curriculum she understands and what subjects she is struggling with.
The psychological assessment would be used to determine if there were behavioral disabilities also associated with the child’s learning problems in the classroom. She could have Attention Deficit Disorder or another form of the behavioral disorder. This could also be linked to the learning disorders, she is experiencing with certain subjects like reading and comprehension. A psychological assessment would also need to be given in an individual setting to help the child focus on the test and not any distractions from other children.
The decisions that the psychologist has made to extend accommodations to the child has changed over the years. In early years’ children were not given special accommodations for testing. The child would have been labeled as a misfit and the results of her grades would have reflected that bad behavior. The special needs or disability testing is required in today’s era for children who represent characteristics of this type of disability.
A child who had shown reading and comprehension problems in the classroom would have been punished for this and not considered to be a psychological or learning problem. Kids who now show signs of these types of learning and behavioral problems are taken seriously in the school system.
Children are to be given the opportunity to have a positive education with assistance from the school system. This will improve the future of children who have their disabilities acknowledged, and assessed to improve their learning experience. One hundred years ago the school system would not have taken the initiative to explore the root of the problem to help the child improve their learning and behavior ability. They would have struggled through skill or quit attending altogether. It is nice to know that the assessment process is available to allow students to have a chance at an education.
Reference
Bagnato, S. (2005). Early Childhood Assessment. Pennsylvania’s Departments of Education and Public Welfare , 1-39.
Elliott, J. (1998). Testing students with disabilities, practical strategies for complying with district and state requirements. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, Inc.
Jennings, D. (2014). Evaluating Children for Disability. Center For Parent Information Resources, 1-6.
Sireci, S. G. (2001). The Effects of Test Accommodation on Test Performance. University of Massachusetts Amherst , 1-100.
