College and career readiness is crucial to success in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. The College and Career Readiness for Transition (CCR4T) assessment is valid and reliable and can assist in transition planning for students with disabilities. The CCR4T assessment was designed for planning with students with and…

The 2017 Supreme Court ruling in "Endrew vs. Douglas County" charged educators to provide evidence toward the attainment of Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals beyond "de minimus" educational benefit. The purpose of this article is to present two methods that may be useful for supporting IEP teams in evaluating progress…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) lists 11 recommended practices for assessment, including "Practitioners report assessment results so they are understandable and useful to families" (DEC, 2014, p. 8). This article examines high-impact practices designed to make meaningful and understandable assessment reports to facilitate…

As a result of the demanding 21st-century workforce, local education agencies are beginning to refocus and retool to ensure students with disabilities have the knowledge and skills to be productive adults and attain positive postschool outcomes. The skills 21st-century transition assessments address are relevant to teachers and students given the…

Often the consideration of assistive technology devices and services during the individualized education program (IEP) process is overlooked. Because the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) authorized this consideration, IEP team members must be keenly aware of the importance they hold in providing this valuable input. Thus, IEP…

Over a relatively short period of time, states and districts across the country have embraced reform surrounding teacher evaluation and compensation. Public concern over teacher evaluations, combined with federal initiatives designed to support teacher evaluation reform, led many states to adopt more comprehensive evaluation systems that draw on…

In an era of standards and norms where assessment tends to minimize or dismiss individual differences and results in punitive outcomes or no action at all, Assessment of Young Children provides teachers with an approach to assessment that is in the best interest of both children and their families. Author Lisa B. Fiore explores a variety of ways…

The aim of this study was to gather information on the tools used by special education teachers for the assessment of severely intellectually disabled students (SID), preparing an individual education plan, and about the methodology used for monitoring their learning progress. The survey included all Finnish special education teachers working with…

This document presents a five-step process for schools, districts, and states to use in monitoring accommodations for instruction and assessment. This document was designed to be a companion to the "Council of Chief State School Officers' Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate Use of Accommodations for Instruction and…

Describes a model, based on the "levels of use" concept, for evaluating individualized education program (IEP) implementation under Public Law 94-142. The model includes three levels: awareness, implementation mechanics, and "evolution" or realization of goals. The model is applied to 30 IEPs in a Florida school district. (RW)

In using the framework, the two main administrative problems encountered are reporting the evaluation to the decision makers and the feasibility of conducting an IEP evaluation. (Author/PHR)

The practicum was designed to increase the usefulness of psychoeducational data provided by the school psychologist for educational decision making concerning handicapped students at the elementary level. The first goal was to provide staffing committee members with psychoeducational data in a more useful form than data provided through…

This report compares the assumptions and values embedded in scoring criteria used in five states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oregon, and Vermont) for alternate assessments of students with significant cognitive disabilities. The five states use different alternate assessment approaches, including portfolio assessment, performance assessment,…

A review of British Columbia (Canada) Education Ministry documents and published research literature examined theory and practice regarding grading of special needs students undertaking modified programs. A lack of equity in reporting progress for these students was found despite professional consensus that students with special needs should be…

The Evaluation and Programming System: Assessment Level I (EPS-I) was evaluated for effectiveness in developing individual education goals among handicapped or at-risk infants and young children. Early interventionists (N=48) used EPS-I and other instruments to develop goals which were compared. Findings indicate EPS-I goals were functional,…