The findings that certain tests are used in almost every situation and that various professionals employ a large number of technically inadequate measures are discussed in terms of implications for current assessment and decision-making practices. (Author)

The paper considers problems in current assessment and evaluation practices with learning disabled students and discusses forces for change. Among the weaknesses noted are inadequate conceptual and definitional frameworks, practitioner bias, and technical inadequacies of currently used norm referenced tests. The authors outline three factors…

The Minnesota Institute studied the assessment of LD (learning disability) children, including such topics as characteristics of referred children and of those found eligible for special education placement, methods of planning instructional interventions, evaluations of the extent to which children profited from instruction, and of effectiveness…

Describes rationale and model for changing assessment efforts in schools from simple description to integration of information from multiple sources for purpose of designing interventions. Sees analyzing instructional environments for individual students as prerequisite for effective consultation and intervention planning. Suggests school…

The assessment and decision-making practices used by 44 child service demonstration centers, which provide services to learning disabled (LD) children, were investigated in a national survey. Results suggested that assessment and decision making in the field of learning disabilities are characterized by variability and inconsistency. (Author/DLS)

The author traces reasons to support his contention that the state of the art in assessing learning disabled students is not good. Among issues examined are the following: use of tests for purposes other than those for which they were intended; technical adequacy of currently used tests (standardization, reliability, validity); the use of deficit…

A nationwide sample of 49 school psychologists and 30 regular education teachers provided information on assessment for the purpose of instructional planning. School psychologists listed the types of information they collected for this purpose and teachers listed the types of information they considered useful. While some indications of agreement…

The authors suggest that the confusion and controversy over definitions of learning disabilities have been unproductive. They review findings on the assessment decision making process and emphasize the need for a new perspective on assessment and intervention. (CL)

Five years of research findings on assessment and decision making for learning disabled (LD) students are summarized through 14 generalizations. the generalizations deal with five issues: which students to refer for psychoeducational evaluation; which students to declare eligible for LD services; how to plan specific instructional interventions…

Results of three separate studies were analyzed to ascertain the technical adequacy of tests used by professionals to make screening, placement/classification, instructional planning, and evaluation decisions for handicapped students. In each investigation, the frequency of usage of technically adequate instruments was addressed. The finding that…

This report is a summary of a March 1994 meeting to agree on guidelines for making inclusion and accommodation decisions concerning students with disabilities in national and state large-scale assessments. Much of the discussion at the meeting focused on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Factors that lead to the exclusion of…

Assessment of the individual student's instructional environment is critical to comprehensive evaluation of the student's strengths and weaknesses. Through observation and interviews, the Instructional Environment Scale systematically describes the extent to which a student's academic or behavior problems are a function of factors in the…

This paper cites evidence that the word "all" in referring to the education of all children is not being used in the universal sense, and notes that actions have not matched the rhetoric about "all" students. The paper defines the terms "outcomes,""indicators," and "standards." It discusses key issues that arise in talking about outcomes for all…

The authors suggest that efforts to comply with the protection in evaluation procedures provisions of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) have been characterized by attempts to identify a single fair test for use with specific groups of minority children, and that such efforts will not result in improved efforts to…

This document presents a conceptual model of educational domains and outcomes for learners in Grade 8 (or approximately 13 years of age) and possible indicators for each outcome for all students, including students with disabilities or developmental delays. In the model, educational resources (inputs and contexts) influence learning opportunity…