In 2005, to address concerns about students who might fall in the "gap" between the regular assessment and the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), the U.S. Department of Education announced that states could develop alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). This article…

Systematic observation of four elementary students at time of referral and one and two months after special education placement revealed considerable variability among students in amount of academic time allocated and engaged in. Changes in instruction and student responding as a function of special education intervention were inconsistent across…

Four groups of educational decisionmakers rated the influence of information regarding the sex, socioeconomic status, and physical attractiveness of the student as having an insignificant effect on educational placement decisions. Assessment data were believed to have a greater influence, with achievement and intelligence scores seen as having a…

Four elementary students referred for special education evaluation were observed systematically for 2 entire days each at three different times within the referral-to-placement process. Data were recorded on 53 variables within six categories in 10 second intervals to examine changes in the nature of instruction and academic responding time as a…

The individual assessment and decision making procedure in cases of handicapped children of 12 individuals were surveyed and described in detail. Four school psychologists, four special educators, and four regular educators were selected randomly from those who had participated in a computer simulated assessment and decision making exercise. The…

Twenty videotapes of placement team meetings were analyzed relative to the kinds of data presented relative to making decisions about learning disability services. The relationship between the final decision and the amount of information presented was positive: greater likelihood of identification was evident at meetings in which more information…

The article looks at the concept of discrepancy between ability and achievement in conceptualizations of learning disabilities. Comparison of ability and achievement scores found generally small average discrepancies, though some wide ranges were evident. Implications of the findings for current and future use of discrepancies as estimators of…

Decision makers and psychologists (N=224) who had previously participated in at least two placement team meetings individually completed a computer simulated decision making program on a child referred for a suspected handicapping condition. Ss were randomly assigned to 16 different conditions varying on the basis of the referred child's sex,…

Describes an observational analysis of 34 special education team meetings, in which characteristics of effective team meetings were evaluated. In general, the meetings tended to be unstructured, nongoal-oriented, and limited to the extent in which individuals participated in decision making. Offers recommendations for improved practice.…

Over 200 professionals from schools in Minnesota participated in a computer simulated investigation of psychoeducational assessment and decision making for handicapped children. Demographic data were collected from each subject; estimates of the incidence of various handicapping conditions and knowledge of assessment was evaluated by a pretest.…

Results of three separate studies were analyzed to ascertain the technical adequacy of tests used by professionals to make screening, placement/classification, instructional planning, and evaluation decisions for handicapped students. In each investigation, the frequency of usage of technically adequate instruments was addressed. The finding that…

Teachers' and psychologists' ratings of children's potential performance in reading and mathematics are influenced by selected information in referral statements read prior to having objective test scores or rating scales for evaluation. (JMF)

The paper integrates results from three studies that examined learning disabled (LD) and regular education students' academic responding time in different instructional arrangements: (1) high, middle, and low reading group placement, (2) regular and resource room placement, and (3) special education service level placement. Sixty-nine second-,…

Because a critical issue in current assessment efforts is the widespread use of technically inadequate tests, the study examined tests chosen by 159 school professionals during a computer simulation of placement decision making about potentially handicapped students. Chi square analysis showed technically adequate devices were chosen…

Educational decision makers (N=224) participated in a computer simulated decision making experience to ascertain the extent to which referral information on a child with a suspected handicapping condition biased classification decisions. Ss were randomly assigned to 16 conditions varying on the basis of the child's sex, socioeconomic status,…