Exploring Assessment Processes in Specialized Schools for Students who are Visually Impaired

Abstract

In this qualitative study, various professionals in specialized schools for students who are visually impaired provided information on assessment tools; how information was used to plan Individualized Education Programs; and their opin ions on the reliability, validity, and usefulness of various measurements. The impli cations of the findings for policy guidelines and high-stakes decisions are explored. Relevant literature BACKGROUNDDespite the mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 1997, which requires special

Haptic-2D: A new haptic test battery assessing the tactual abilities of sighted and visually impaired children and adolescents with two-dimensional raised materials

“…The usability of such instruments in persons with impaired vision is therefore subject to debate (Reid, 1995(Reid, , 2002. Evidence of major dissatisfaction among professionals with current assessment procedures of cognitive abilities in visually impaired persons has been provided by several American surveys (Bauman & Kropf, 1979;Hannan, 2007;Miller & Skillman, 2003). Today, psychologists mostly use the verbal subscale of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-IV-R; Wechsler, 2005) to assess the cognitive functioning of visually impaired children (see Atkins, 2011).…”

Applying a Response-to-Intervention Model to Literacy Instruction for Students who are Blind or have Low Vision

“…Many decisions regarding educational programming continue to be made on the basis of informal data, including anecdotal and subjective information (Ferrell, 2006). Even when statewide assessments occurred annually, Hannan (2007) found that 73% of the teachers in her study thought that standardized tests were not valid, and 61% stated that the scores from these tests were not useful. In the study, the respondents thought that the scores were not relevant to day-to-day educational programming and that testing was a mandatory, procedural event.…”

“…In the field of visual impairment, there has been little emphasis on the use of monitoring progress (Jackson, n.d.). Hannan (2007) found that assessment practices most often occur annually and triannually and that consistent monitoring is not widely practiced. Many decisions regarding educational programming continue to be made on the basis of informal data, including anecdotal and subjective information (Ferrell, 2006).…”

“…Learning media assessments (Koenig & Holbrook, 1995) and functional vision assessments have become widely adopted practices (Hannan, 2007). Hannan found that of the 20 teachers who were interviewed for her study, all conducted both types of assessments "regularly."…”

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“…A problem therefore exists for the valid assessment of children and adults with various types of disabilitiesnamely, those with visual and/or auditory impairments, as well as those with language difficulties. Hannan (2007) discusses the problems of standardized tests and the lack of validity for those with blindness or low vision. This effectively excludes many individuals who need alternative testing procedures.…”