High-quality early childhood programs aim to foster children's learning through developmentally appropriate practices and environments. Early childhood assessments, when well designed and well implemented, can support developmentally appropriate early learning experiences by providing information to guide instruction and support whole child…

This article draws on previously employed methods for conducting fidelity studies and applies them to an evaluation of an unprescribed intervention. We document the process of assessing the fidelity of implementation of the Math Recovery first-grade tutoring program, an unprescribed, diagnostic intervention. We describe how we drew on recent…

The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE, 2005) defines response to intervention (RTI) as the practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention based on a student's needs, changing instruction and/or goals through frequent monitoring of progress, and applying the student response data to important…

Authentic assessment is a growing alternative to conventional testing. This research-to-practice article describes a framework for implementing authentic assessment. The R-E-A-L framework shows how roles, equipment, assessment tools, and location can be incorporated into early childhood practices.

Learning Skills Services, a federally funded student support service program, is responsible for learning disability assessment and provision of a continuum of services at Sonoma State University in Northern California. In response to the perceived lack of assessment and procedures standards for identifying learning-disabled students at the state…

This paper describes the use of a theory-based framework, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM), in evaluating the implementation of three educational innovations in the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools during 1986-87: (1) Project READ, a districtwide alternative language arts program for grades 1-8; (2) Timeline, project management software…

Results of a study concerning 21 children undergoing pediatric-based assessment indicate that the majority of recommendations evolving from the combined, interdisciplinary assessment are implemented and approved by parents and school personnel. Study results support pediatric-based assessments for school problems and demonstrate the advantages of…

Volume I of a four volume series presents a trainers' guide designed for administrators, assessment personnel, and others involved in the development and implementation of individualized education programs (IEPs) for handicapped children in Wyoming. The training content is divided into the following seven topics (with sample subtopics in…

A description and discussion of the design, development, implementation, evaluation and effects of the Individualized Early Learning Program (IELP) are presented in this paper. Implemented in Project Follow Through and other school settings, the IELP gives priority to teaching basic skills and concepts needed for school performance to children in…

This document uses a question-and-answer format in clarifying the meaning and use of the term "informed clinical opinion," which appears in the regulatory requirements for the implementation of Part H of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments 1986 (Public Law 99-457) as an integral part of an eligibility determination. The paper…

The term "informed clinical opinion" appears in the regulatory requirements for the implementation of Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as an integral part of an eligibility determination. It must be included in evaluation and assessment procedures, since it is a necessary safeguard against eligibility…

This paper on assessment in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program for welfare recipients is intended to help administrators of JOBS programs weigh the possible benefits and drawbacks of the assessment choices they must make. Chapter 1 explains why assessment matters to JOBS administrators. Chapter 2 suggests a conceptual framework…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers assessing basic skills through a set of activities for making professional decisions regarding remediation, individualized learning, and program and course improvements and for making status…