Assessment Tools.

Running Head : ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Assessment Tools

[Name]

[University]

[Professor]

[Class] Assessment Tools

The selection of the most appropriate assessment tool is an important step in determining the current performance level of the student and subsequently the identification of his educational needs . Its importance is such that the Council for Exceptional Children had set professional standards for special educators which calls for the possession of a common core of knowledge and skills related to assessment (McLoughlin Lewis , 2005 ,

. 60 . This would ensure that the assessment abuses of the

past will not be as prevalent or even educators will now be trained to understand the theories and practices of measurement and would be able to extract reliable and valid interpretations in accordance wit laws and ethical principles

There is not one assessment tool that can be universally used to assess all students . The circumstances , characteristics , background and needs of the students vary and therefore , the tools should also vary . This fact was acknowledged in 1975 under the Education for All Handicapped Individuals with Disabilities and strengthened by IDEA or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which was passed in 1997 Also known as federal statute PL105-17 , it includes guidelines for the selection and conduct of the tools and process and therefore , certain conditions must be met for the tool to be acceptable namely that it is non-discriminatory against race , culture language and disability , that it focuses on the educational needs , that it is comprehensive and covers all important areas affecting performance , that the tests are technically adequate and administered by trained professional and that the students ' and parents ' rights are protected (McLoughlin Lewis 2005 ,

. 62-64

It is important to select the most appropriate tool and to do this one should always take into consideration the purpose of the assessment and the content and scope of the measure . As a guideline , McLoughlin and Lewis (2005 ) have itemized several questions that need to be asked

Is the tool appropriate for the student

Is the tool appropriate for the tester

Is the tool technically adequate

Is the tool an efficient data-collection mechanism (p . 65-66

Among the tools that are available , according to McLoughlin and Lewis (2005 ) are norm-referenced tests which commonly utilize raw scores such as age and grade equivalents , percentile ranks , stanines , standard scores , and so forth (p . 74 . Raw scores record the number of correctly answered items . These are then converted into derived scores and the students ' test performance is then compared with a norm group Norm-referenced tests compare an individual 's performance with an outside influence or standard .with a norm group (that ) serves as the outside reference (p . 68-69

First , the norm group has to be selected after considering factors such as age , grade and gender , size of the group , date the test was administered on the precept that the more recent it is , the better and the last factor is that population sampling is a true representation of all the important sections of the population (McLoughlin Lewis , 2005...