Ms. Carlisi teaches middle school mathematics for students who were retained at least 1 year and who were identified as at risk of failure in mathematics. About half of her class of 14 students has identified learning disabilities and/or emotional and behavioral difficulties. Ms. Carlisi worries constantly that she is not going to be able to help…

Described is a diagnostic-prescriptive model for teacher observation of learning disabled students. It is explained that through observation, teachers should be able to answer questions in seven areas, including the existence of a real learning disability; the student's functioning level in reading, arithmetic, and writing; the student's learning…

Reflects on the discrepancies that exist between the standardized assessment of a fifth grade student and the author's own experiences with the student's language development. Shows how the student's performance in class refuted the results of a clinical evaluation. (MM)

Gathering, interpreting and conveying diagnostic information to parents of multiply handicapped children is an essential first step in the child's development. Assessment should investigate response to materials, teaching methods and reinforcers. Communication with parents can be enhanced through enlisting their participation in the evaluation…

New procedures for assessing the behavior of children in an environmental context are available to the school psychologist. The procedures, which are sometimes called psychosituational or informal assessments, examine the influence of the external environment as setting the occasion for emotional and behavioral problems. (Author)

Discussed are the relative merits of two currently popular models of assessing children--the ability assessment and task analysis models. (CL)

For special education teachers dealing with slow learners or learning disabled students, the paper describes teacher-made diagnostic tasks and settings for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Remediation techniques and strategies for common error patterns and misunderstandings are discussed for each of the major parts of the…

The psychoeducational processes school diagnosticians use in decisions about students were studied. Bogus referral problem information for one of 16 "cases" was provided: assessment data indicated average performance. Fifty-two percent of the subjects recommended special education for the average child; these decisions were a function of referral…

Available from: Council for Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091. The article describes an "ecological" or "total" model for the assessment of learning disabled children and youth which considers the interaction of all relevant factors, including deficits or strengths within the student, teacher variables, the…

Described is a short term (10-12 weeks) diagnostic assessment and teaching class for handicapped children (5-10 years old) intended to provide more valid results of the child's ability by giving him an opportunity to demonstrate his learning strengths and weaknesses. (PT)

The report presents a screening and identification model for use with primary children to identify giftedness. The procedure is designed to be objective and employs multiple selection criteria. The Bayesian approach is used as it applies a probability methodology. The steps in instrument development include, among others, a review of the relevant…

Presented as the outcome of a summer institute involving 30 graduate students are case histories and educational prescriptions for 34 low functioning severely handicapped individuals ages 2 to 26 years. The case histories provide information on identification, reports of previous evaluations, other contacts and assessment of present functioning…

Stresses problems related to diagnosing public school students as handicapped. Problems center around inadequate testing procedures, overload of problem children sent to psychologists for diagnosis, and the competition for the dollar between parents of normal and handicapped children. (DB)

An informal test of word prediction abilities is suggested to aid in diagnostic assessment of reading ability. The test proposed would include evaluation of auditory and visual cloze abilities. The test, given in conjunction with a test stressing abilities to use graphic and phonic cues, should provide improved assessment of a student's abilities.…