This article describes the pilot study of an informal assessment, the "Student Transition Questionnaire" (STQ). The STQ is a 38-item assessment designed to elicit student perspectives on transition-related topics. In this mixed-methods study, we piloted the STQ with 186 participants, and then conducted focus groups with various…

Accurate spelling is a complex act that requires cognitive and linguistic knowledge of the phonological, morphological, syntactical, and semantic principles of our language. Students with disabilities frequently exhibit spelling difficulties related to language learning disorders and inefficient cognitive processing. These difficulties often are…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates that students with disabilities graduating or aging out of the P-12 school system be provided with a summary of academic achievement and functional performance (SOP). The SOP should provide the student with one document that summarizes available formal and informal…

Informal assessment can make a valuable contribution to the assessment process in special education. Informal procedures are characterized by their ability to be tailored to the needs of specific assessment situations and are especially useful in student evaluation for this reason. (Author)

An undergraduate special education course at the University of Alberta is designed to prepare students to evaluate, select, administer, and interpret appropriate assessment instruments. The course reviews measurement concepts and formal and informal assessment with a practicum experience. Demonstration videotapes and a test library are additional…

Naturalistic inquiry is an alternative to traditional assessment and experimental methodologies for measuring the effects of early intervention programs with young handicapped children. Discussion focuses on (1) the inductive nature of the naturalistic method; (2) potential strengths and weaknesses; (3) procedures for data collection. (Author/JW)

The paper stresses the importance of informal assessment of spelling, describing both quantitative and qualitative implications. Stages of word knowledge are reviewed and examples of student errors are cited to illustrate needed instruction. (CL)

The gifted handicapped student is discussed in terms of developing staff sensitivity, formulating an identification process, and developing a transdisciplinary team approach to create an individualized educational program for each child. Within the identification process a major new element is the Teacher Observational Item (TOI) list. (Author/SB)

The authors present an informal assessment strategy format to aid teachers in meeting the needs of the handicapped student. The format includes an assessment sequence, how to analyze assessment results, and how to interpret results. (CT)

The article presents a rationale for naturalistic assessment of young handicapped and nonhandicapped children in the classroom. Observation of such areas as cognitive activity, materials use, sustained activity, activity variation, adaptive environment, and classroom structure are encouraged. Four alternative assessment procedures are presented,…

Current spelling assessment practices are reviewed. Six individually administered standardized tests presently available to special educators and diagnosticians are examined. Informal procedures (inventories, criterion-referenced tests, and error analysis) are analyzed in terms of advantages and disadvantages. Finally, two particularly promising…

Stresses problems related to diagnosing public school students as handicapped. Problems center around inadequate testing procedures, overload of problem children sent to psychologists for diagnosis, and the competition for the dollar between parents of normal and handicapped children. (DB)

This article discusses the development of an assessment instrument for measuring handwriting ability and determining assistive technology needs. It includes a sample needs assessment that could be used to assist in the matching of a device to an individual who requires modification for the purpose of graphic output. (CR)

The limitations of informant assessment of problem behaviors was investigated across seven situations and three participants (ages 11-18) with cognitive impairments. Informant hypotheses about the function of problem behaviors were validated by subsequent functional analyses only when informants identified their hypotheses as involving situations…

Existing research indicates that there is a disproportionate number of students with cultural and linguistic differences, English Language Learners (ELL), who are misidentified as learning disabled when their problems are due to cultural and/or linguistic differences. As a consequence, these students do not receive appropriate services. With the…