Table Of ContentQuestions ASSESSMENT STEPS Decisions
What general education
interventions should be
tried on a short-term basis?
Is there a possibility that the
Response to Screening Teacher Parent
student has a disability and
Intervention Activities Questions Concerns
needs further assessment?
Student is referred
Decision Not referred
or is not referred.
Who are the teachers, therapists, or other
professionals who should be involved?
Referral
What assessment approaches or procedures
are indicated?
Identify individuals responsible for
Decision assessment and identify assessment
approaches and procedures.
Does the student have a disability?
What disability does the student have?
Determining Eligibility
Does the student meet the eligibility
criteria for special education services?
The student does or
Not
Decision does not meet the
eligible
criteria for eligibility.
Assessment of
Children and Youth
with Special Needs
F I F T H E D I T I O N
Libby G. Cohen
University of Southern Maine
Loraine J. Spenciner
University of Maine at Farmington
Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River
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Vice President and Editorial Director: Cover Designer: Karen Noferi
Jeffery W. Johnston Cover Art: Zhu Qing
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Editorial Assistant: Andrea Hall Media Project Manager: Noelle Chun
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Senior Art Director: Jayne Conte Cover Printer: Moore Langen
T ext Designer: Aptara®, Inc. Text Font: StoneSerif
Credits and acknowledgments for materials borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in
this textbook appear on the appropriate page within the text.
Every effort has been made to provide accurate and current Internet information in this book. However, the
Internet and information posted on it are constantly changing, so it is inevitable that some of the Internet
addresses listed in this textbook will change.
Photo Credits: Quanlin Huang, p. iii (top) Zhu Qing, cover, p. iii (bottom); Kali9/E+/Getty Images, p. 3 ;
Dragon Images/Shutterstock, p. 1 8 ; Robert Kneschke/ Shutterstock, p. 3 5 ; Monkey Business Images/
Shutterstock, pp. 5 1 , 73 , 211 Zurijeta/Shutterstock, p. 8 5 ; ZouZou/Shutterstock, p. 1 03 ; Lisa F. Young/
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Copyright © 2015, 2011, 2007 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohen, Libby G.
Assessment of children and youth with special needs/Libby G. Cohen, University of Southern Maine,
Loraine J. Spenciner, University of Maine at Farmington.—Fifth edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-13-357107-3
1. Psychological tests for children. 2. Child development—Testing. 3. Youth—Psychological testing.
4. Adolescence. 5. Behavioral assessment of children. 6. Behavioral assessment of teenagers.
7. Educational tests and measurements. I. Spenciner, Loraine J. II. Title.
BF722.C638 2015
371.26—dc23
2013045250
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 10: 0-13-357107-6
ISBN 13: 978-0-13-357107-3
THE COVER IMAGE, Holding the Umbrella for You, is a watercolor and an accompanying poem which is part of a series of one hundred
paintings and poems that were completed by Zhu Qing over a period of one hundred days, painting a picture each day. Zhu Qing is
a senior student at Beijing University of Technology in Beijing, China. She hopes that through her paintings the world will become a
little bit more kind.
Original text in Chinese
Translated:
Holding the Umbrella for You
It’s raining
Umbrellas in the street
Large and small
But I have the confidence
To make you see easily
The one umbrella
I am holding for You
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Preface
New to This Edition
The purpose of the fifth edition of A ssessment of Children and Youth with Special Needs is to
present future and experienced educators and other professionals with an up-to-date under-
standing of contemporary perspectives on the assessment of children and youth. This edition
expands previous coverage of both traditional and contemporary assessment approaches.
The text explains various assessment approaches in detail that can be implemented by teach-
ers and other professionals and discusses individual tests at length
New to this edition is:
• To enhance affordability and portability, this exciting new edition is available as a
Pearson eText. With the eText students can easily take and share notes, highlight, and
search for key concepts.
• A pedagogical strategy to assist the reader in understanding and reflecting on the
content material was added. Pause and Consider sections, embedded within the chapters,
provide thought-provoking questions, encouraging the reader’s active involvement.
These s ections also support the reader’s use of suggested resources to discover additional
information.
• The Snapshots features reflect increased diversity in schools, relevance, and the readers’
involvement.
• In addition, this edition includes a new classroom-based assessment cycle, including the
characteristics of classroom assessment and the approaches that teachers use.
• Expanded discussions of classroom assessment practices will assist the reader in devel-
oping a greater understanding of the role of the special educator in inclusive settings
and in response to intervention (RTI) schoolwide assessment practices, which are imple-
mented to assess and monitor all children’s academic work, behaviors, and progress.
• Furthermore, a new section on interpreting assessment information (Chapter 7) pro-
vides the reader with numerous examples of how to interpret class-room assessment
approaches, observations, and standardized assessments.
• Each chapter now includes the latest information on assessment tests, tools, measures,
techniques, and approaches with an emphasis on assessment approaches, such as curric-
ulum-based assessment and informal tools that class-room teachers can use.
Upon completing this textbook, the reader should have acquired knowledge, under-
standing and skills related to the special education assessment process, including referral for
special education services, response to intervention, assessment timelines, eligibility require-
ments, monitoring, and evaluating student progress. The reader should be able to discuss
various approaches to assessing academic and behavioral concerns and be able to compare
and contrast specific approaches and implement them. Given assessment information, the
reader should be able to interpret the assessment results and explain the results to peers. The
reader should be able to describe how to use and interpret assessment information, write as-
sessment reports, tailor interventions, and evaluate students’ progress.
Major topics covered in this edition include the following:
• Response to intervention This chapter (C hapter 2 ) describes the essential compo-
nents of response to intervention (RTI). The reader follows examples of the use of RTI for
v
vi
Preface
students who experience difficulty in literacy (reading, written language, and/or spelling),
mathematics, and b ehaviors. The chapter discussion includes examples describing when RTI
becomes a prereferral for special education services.
• In-depth considerations of recent research on assessment practices Becoming a
professional involves understanding how special educators and other school personnel use
research findings to inform assessment practices. Many of the chapters in this new edition
contain summaries of important research findings. For example, in C hapter 2 , we learn that,
based on the research, curriculum-based measurement is a highly effective assessment prac-
tice for monitoring and evaluating progress for students with disabilities.
• Universal design and assistive technology Universal design concepts applied to
assessment practices hold much promise, allowing many children and youth with disabilities
to demonstrate what they know and can do alongside peers without disabilities. For other
students, the use of assistive technology devices allows access to the same assessment mate-
rial as their peers without disabilities. Throughout this new edition, various chapters embed
discussions of how special educators are applying universal design, accommodations, and
assistive technology in practice.
• Accommodations and modifications This edition expands previous discussions of
the use of accommodations and modifications in assessment activities. C hapter 1 includes
examples of typical accommodations and modifications used during the assessment process.
• The role of families in the assessment process Enhanced emphasis on the role of
families in the assessment process helps the reader understand both federal mandates and
best practices. Chapter 4 provides an expanded discussion of professional activities and the
importance of being responsive to the diversity of families. The reader is encouraged to con-
sider relevant research such as parent involvement and the perception of special education
services. Chapters 10 , 1 1 , and 1 4 describe contemporary approaches to assessing reading,
writing, spelling, and mathematics and suggest ways that educators can share this informa-
tion with peers and family members and implement approaches that help to assess aca-
demic progress.
• Students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds Following the lead of
previous editions, the fifth edition of A ssessment of Children and Youth with Special Needs con-
tains strands that run through most chapters. The reader will find that the responding to
diversity strand has been expanded and updated to include best practices. C hapters 2 and
3 provide up-to-date information on implementing a range of assessment approaches in
schools. C hapter 1 3 discusses the changing demographics of the school population and the
new challenges of assessing oral language skills when students are learning English as a sec-
ond or third language.
• Contemporary approaches to the assessment of mathematics and literacy Readers
will be able to explain and implement various approaches to the assessment of reading, writ-
ing, spelling, and mathematics. Readers will be able to convey ways in which standardized
achievement tests, curriculum-based assessment, curriculum-based measurement, progress
monitoring, and performance-based and informal approaches can be used in the assessment
of literacy.
• Standardized instruments, with the latest updates Each content area chapter, in-
cluding reading, written language, oral language, and mathematics, includes updated stand-
ardized assessments. Additional chapters on topics including cognitive development, behav-
ior, young children, and youth in transition also provide the reader with descriptions of the
most recent editions of relevant assessment instruments.
• Curriculum-based assessment and curriculum-based measurement The fifth
edition provides the reader with an in-depth foundation of curriculum-based measurement
(CBM), beginning in C hapter 2 . Chapters 1 0 , 11 , 12 , and 14 illustrate the use of these assess-
ment approaches in various areas of the curriculum.
vii
Preface
• Interpreting tests and writing reports Interpreting assessment information is a key
skill for special educators and other professionals working with children and youth with dis-
abilities. C hapter 7 provides an expanded discussion of interpretation, with new examples of
assessment information and Web-based resources.
• Assessment of young children Chapter 1 7 in this edition contains a complete up-
date of standardized instruments appropriate for screening young children and determining
eligibility for services. The chapter includes a new section on contemporary assessment ap-
proaches and discusses how parents are involved in the assessment process a nd ways that
parents provide information to team members.
• Transition assessment The transition chapter, Chapter 18 , has been revised and
updated to include recent research. Readers should be able to explain the purposes of transi-
tion assessment and ways in which students’ transition needs and preferences are assessed.
Person-centered planning and self-determination are emphasized.
Organization
Several themes appear throughout the book. Each chapter begins with a set of objectives. We
hope that the reader will use these objectives as guideposts in learning. Each chapter con-
tains an O verview section that discusses theories, perspectives, and conceptual frameworks.
Features called T ests-at-a-Glance provide brief information about specific standardized assess-
ment instruments; S napshots examine individual students and teachers so that the reader
may deepen understanding and involvement in the examples. R esearch-Based Practices de-
scribe research findings, P ause and Consider involve the reader in understanding and reflect-
ing upon the material, and R esponding to Diversity considers issues of sensitivity and respon-
siveness to students and the uniqueness of their families. Key points from each chapter are
summarized.
Acknowledgments
We dedicate this book to current and future teachers—we admire and respect you for your
dedication to improving the lives of children and youth. We extend our sincere apprecia-
tion to the many people who helped and supported us in the development of this book.
Thank you to our reviewers, who provided thoughtful and insightful reviews for the fifth
edition: Jeanette W. Farmer, Marshall University Graduate College; Merridi Haskell, Arizona
State University; Kathryn Klingler Tackett, George Mason University; and Joel Shapiro, Green
Mountain College.
Special thanks to colleagues, educators, and friends at the National Institute of Educa-
tion, Singapore, and the University of Maine at Farmington, who have shared their passions,
skills, and knowledge with us. We appreciate the comments by Mel Christensen and her
commitment as a future educator. We greatly fully acknowledge the assistance from G uanglei
Chen. Deep thanks to Ann Davis and Kerry Rubadue for their support of this fifth edition.
We are especially grateful to our families, Les, Seth, Gaby, Jay, Amy, Dave, Dina, Ben,
and Marina. We appreciate your continued support and good humor.
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