Parent Newsletter Article

Assessments are used for many different purposes in the K-12 educational setting. For example, assessments are used during classroom instruction to measure students’ learning related to the academic content, and different assessments are used to measure students’ overall cognitive, physical, or social-emotional abilities. Regardless of the assessment type, there are specific terms that are often used related to assessments. It is often the responsibility of the special education teacher to explain assessment terminology to families.

Understanding the terminology used in the formal assessment of students who have or may have a disability is a vital first step for collaboration with families. Having such knowledge will assist families in understanding the uses and limitations of specified assessments. Teachers are then able to collaborate and consult with families in a productive manner to inform student-based decision making.

Student assessment results from formal, standardized assessment tools are often statistically based and can be very difficult for families to understand.

Write a 500-750 word article to post on the parent page of the school’s website explaining assessment methods and the basics of statistics used in formal adaptive behavior assessments. The article should be creative and accurately explain how to read and understand assessment results by including the following:

• Purpose, definition, and two examples of adaptive behavior assessments
• Definition of six specialized assessment terms both of a content and statistical nature including an explanatory example of each used in formal adaptive behavior assessments
• Explanation of at least two limitations of standardized assessments, such as bias in questionnaires, subjectivity, utility, psychometric support, etc.
• Description of the consultative role of the special educator in helping parents/guardians understand the process of assessments and related terminology

Use easy-to-understand language and examples of assessment results with graphs, diagrams, and pictures as needed.

Support your findings with 2-3 scholarly resources.