The assessment of students is a key, if not essential, component to delivering an appropriate special education. As Masters and Mori (1986, p. 77) have stated, &dquo;Appropriate instruction in special education is always preceded by appropriate assessment.&dquo; The functions of assessment usually focus on two tasks: (1) placing students in special programs and (2) deciding how these students will be educated (Helton, 1984). It would be extremely difficult for individualized education to be designed without proper assessment as a prerequisite.Whereas traditional assessment models are geared toward immediate placement and educational needs, an appropriate assessment model for adolescents with mild handicaps should encompass postsecondary needs as well. The plight of these youths after they leave school has been well documented. Biklen and Bogdan (1978) found that 85% of adults with handicaps had annual incomes of less than $7,000, and 52% earned less than $2,000 per year. Bowe (1978) discovered that two-thirds of the population of adults with handicaps was at, or near, the poverty level.
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