Explain the purpose of assessment and evaluation in special education. What is the process of disability determination?

There are two types of assessments first is the initial disability determination then there are instructional assessments.

Disability determination is the process to see if a child meets legal requirements for a disability. There are two criteria in order to qualify for a disability. The first being a disability, the student must have some type of disability. The second criteria are that the disability will impact the students learning. Each student is assessed based on the disability defined by the law with their definition of the disability to determine the student’s eligibility.

The purpose of instructional assessment is to see if a student has met an objective. An assessment answers whether the student learned the materials intended. The goal for special education assessments is to improve students learning. Assessments are generally based on the curricular goals for the grade level along with the IEP goals. A teacher must assess a student to know whether to move forward with the intended curriculum or to revisit the current material for clarification. Teachers can assess student performance through dialogue, portfolios, written work, journals or test. Assessments measure permanent learning. It gives a clearer picture of the child’s abilities.

There is a difference between evaluation and assessment. Evaluations occur at the end of a task. Weekly test or quizzes are evaluation methods. A child may receive high scores on evaluations due to memorization of materials but have no ability to use the information in other situations. Assessments give us a more accurate reading of the child’s abilities.