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Assessment
Assessment can be used for a variety of purposes and can include both formal and informal processes. For example, in-school assessment can be carried out as part of the cycle of planning for the individual pupil with special educational needs and can encompass information-gathering, planning, intervention and review. Such assessment can assist the teacher in identifying areas of learning difficulty, in measuring and recording attainment, in measuring pupil progress, and in indicating intervention measures.
Assessment methods may include a range of activities relevant to the pupil such as teacher observation, questioning and discussion, completion of checklists, samples of work, portfolios, projects, tasks and class-designed tests, diagnostic assessment, and data collected as part of school screening (such as results of standardised tests in reading and mathematics or attendance records).
The SESS have compiled a Glossary of Assessment Terminology in order to assist with familiarity of the language associated with assessment.
Schools should choose carefully when selecting assessment tools and guidance is available from a range of sources, including the following:
- Assessment in the Primary School (NCCA), along with other documents from the NCCA
- Circular 0138/2006
- Special Educational Needs: A Continuum of Support - Guidelines for Teachers (NEPS, 2007)
- Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs: Post-Primary Guidelines (DES, 2007)
- Learning-Support Guidelines (DES, 2000).
- Tests approved for use in 2009/2010 for guidance and/or learning support in post-primary schools (MS Word, 224 Kb)
Assessment tests should be used judiciously as their interpretation may require professional special needs insight. Assessment may also include the gathering of information from the pupil and his/ her parents. Other professionals that might be involved in assessment include educational psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists. However schools should not defer individual planning for significant periods on the basis that these specialist assessments are not yet available. Rather, schools should proceed with planning for the pupil on the basis of the comprehensive assessment information already available.
A Glossary of Terminology that Relates to Assessment can be found here [PDF 132 KB]
Categories of Assessment Tests
The following are some of the available categories of assessment tests.
Literacy Assessment
- Download Dolch List [PDF - 73KB]
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Reading Assessments
| Title / Age range | Skills Assessed | Administration | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phonological Awareness Test 5-9 years | Rhyming, Segmentation, Phoneme Isolation, Compound/Syllable Deletion, Substitution, Blending, Phoneme/Grapheme Association, Decoding and Invented Spelling | Individual and group screening. Norm-referenced with standard scores and percentiles | Lingui Systems |
| The Phonological Abilities Test 4-7 years | Rhyme Detection, Rhyme Production, Word Completion (syllables & phonemes) Phoneme Deletion (beginning & end sounds) Speech Rate, Letter Knowledge | Individually. Norm-referenced. Use as a screening measure with children aged 5+, also as a diagnostic tool with older pupils | The Psychological Corporation |
| LARR Test of Emergent Literacy 4 yrs - 5 yrs 3 mths | Assesses ability to differentiate reading and writing from other cognate activities. Also assesses understanding of linguistic terms used in early reading and writing | Administered to small groups of not more than 4. Norm-referenced. Can also be administered indivdually to older children with SEN. | NFER-Nelson |
| Aston Index: Sound blending 5-14 years | Assesses ability to blend orally and identify the word produced from a set of sounds presented sequentially | Individually administered. Diagnostic, recording, programme planning | LDA |
| Group Reading Test (Young) 6 yrs 4 mths - 12 yrs 10 mths | Assesses both picture-word matching and sentence completion | Group administration, also suitable as a screening device. Norm-referenced. Parallel forms | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Aston Index: Schonell Graded Word Reading Test 6 yrs - 12 yrs 6 mths | Assesses word recognition using a series of graded words | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | LDA |
| Rain Sentence Reading Test Sen. Inf. - 6th class | Sentence Reading. Allows also for informal observation of child’s fluency and use of context | Individually administered. Norms are presented for class levels – beginning and end of class year as well as half-yearly age norms | Navan Education Centre |
| Neale Analysis of Reading Ability (Revised) 6-13 years | Reading Accuracy, Comprehension, Rate Supplementary Diagnostic Tests Discrimination of Initial and Final Sounds Names/sounds of letters of the alphabet Graded Spelling Auditory Discrimination and Blending | Individually administered. Norm-referenced – standard scores and reading ages. Supplementary Diagnostic Tests. Parallel Forms | NFER-Nelson |
| Quest 2nd edition 6-8+ years | Wide range of reading and maths related skills | Group or individually administered. Can be used as a screening or diagnostic measure | Arnold Wheaton |
Language Assessments
| Title / Age range | Skills Assessed | Administration | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bracken Basic Concept Scale - Revised (BBCS-R) 2 yrs 6 mths - 7 yrs 11 mths | Receptive language for basic concepts – colours, directions / instructions, letters, number / counting, social awareness, size, texture / materials, comparisons, quantity, shapes, time / sequence. | Individually administered. School readiness screening. Norm- referenced, criterion-referenced, curriculum related assessment. | The Psychological Corporation |
| Reynell Developmental Language Scales 1 year - 7 years 6 mths | The purpose of this assessment is to assess skills in young or developmentally delayed children. The verbal comprehension scale measures receptive language skills. Two parallel but separately normed versions are provided - one for children who can respond orally, the other for children who can respond only by pointing. This scale covers ten sections such as single words, attributes and noun phrases. The expressive language scale assesses expressive language skills using three sets of items: strucure, vocabulary and content. The scale is in seven sections such as simple words, past tense, clausal elements and third person. The test uses pictures, toys and finger puppets to help maintain the child's interest. | Individually administered. 134 items. Administrative time 25 - 30 minutes. | GL Assessment |
| Assessment of Comprehension and Expression (ACE) 6 years - 11 years 11 months | The ACE is a comprehensive test of language skills and gives a clear picture of language development. It is suitable for use with pupils who have delayed language including pupils who are deaf. | Individually administered. Administrative time 30 - 45 minutes. | nferNelson Publishing |
| Renfrew Language Scales Action Picture Test – 4th.Ed. 3 yrs 6 mths - 8 yrs 6 mths | Expressive Language - Information and Grammar | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | Speechmark |
| Renfrew Language Scales Word Finding Vocabulary Test 3 yrs 6 mths - 9 yrs | Picture naming | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | Speechmark |
| Aston Index: Picture recognition 5-14 years | Expressive language – ability to use correct vocabulary for everyday events | Individually administered. Criterion-referenced. | LDA |
| Aston Index: Vocabulary scale 5-14 years | Expressive Language – ability to define/explain the meaning of a range of graded spoken stimulus words | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | LDA |
| British Picture Vocabulary Scale 2nd. Ed. 3 yrs - 15 yrs 8 mths | Receptive Vocabulary | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | NFER-Nelson |
| Bankson Language Test – 2nd ed. (BLT-2) 3 yrs - 6 yrs 11 mths | Expressive language skills. Provides diagnostic information about vocabulary, semantics, language structures (morpho /syntax) and pragmatic knowledge | Individually administered. Norm-referenced. | Pro-Ed USA |
| Derbyshire Language Scheme - Revised | Receptive and expressive language skills, recommendations based on assessment results. 2 teaching manuals accompany assessments. | Individually administered, even to those with the most basic levels of language. Not standardised. No age equivalents. | Derbyshire Language Scheme |
| Speech and Language Development Charts Birth - 7 years | Chart oulining expected speech/language development norms/ milestones in areas of phonology, morpho/syntax, semantics, pragmatics and play |
Spelling Assessments
| Title / Age range | Skills Assessed | Administration | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Index: Schonell Graded Spelling Test | Ability to spell words graded in difficulty that are dictated. | Graded word list administered to individual or groups. Spelling age can be calculated from scores. | LDA |
| The Parallel Spelling Tests (2nd Ed.) 6 yrs 4 mths - 12 yrs 11 mths | Ability to spell words graded in difficulty according to age. Spellings are presented in context and are dictated. | Timed group tests presented in two banks of items. Parallel forms. Spelling ages and quotients may be calculated from scores. | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Drumcondra Primary Spelling Test 1st - 6th classes | Assesses spelling ability in different contexts - word spelling as dictated by teacher, sentence or story completion and the identification of common spelling errors | Group Administered. Two forms at each class level. Raw scores, standard scores and/or percentile ranks. | ERC |
Auditory Perception Assessments
| Title / Age range | Skills Assessed | Administration | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westwood's Short-term Auditory Memory Test All age ranges | Assesses short-term memory using the standard procedure of digit-repetition | Individually administered. Tentative age norms provided. | Oliver & Boyd |
| Westwood’s Sentence Repetition Test All age ranges | Ability to repeat accurately simple sentences /statements in response to a verbal stimulus | Individually administered. Diagnostic. Criterion referenced. | Oliver & Boyd |
| Aston Index: Auditory Sequential Memory All age ranges | Assesses auditory memory for a sequence of digits which child reproduces in forward or reverse order | Individually administered. Diagnostic. Criterion-referenced. | LDA |
| Aston Index: Sound Discrimination All age ranges | Level 1: Ability to repeat exactly the words presented. Level 2: Ability to discriminate between minimal pairs and phonologically similar words | Individually administered. Diagnostic, recording and programme planning | LDA |
| Aston Index: Sound Blending All age ranges | Ability to blend orally sets of sounds presented sequentially and at a measured rate | Individually administered. Diagnostic, recording and programme planning | LDA |
Mathematics Assessments
| Title / Age range | Skills Assessed | Administration | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dyscalculia Screener 2003 | Screening instrument to identify dyscalculia and Maths difficulties. | Individual, Diagnostic Digital only | NFER-Nelson |
| Basic Number Screening Test Age 5 - 12 years and with older children experiencing difficulties with number skills | A basic screening test to help identify those pupils whose number attainments are low for their age. | Whole class or individuals | Hodder Murray |
| Basic Number Diagnostic Test Age 5 - 7 years and with older children experiencing difficulties with number skills | Profiles key aspects of developing numeracy - from reciting and writing numbers to simple addition and subtraction. | Individual | Hodder Murray |
| Quest 2nd edition 6 - 8+ years | Wide range of reading and maths related skills | Group or individually. Can be used as a screening or diagnostic measure | NFER-Nelson |
| Group Mathematics Test Test – 2nd. Ed. 6 yrs 5 mths - 12 yrs 10 mths | Oral questions involving an understanding of the language of maths / computation / problem solving, making it easier to identify children whose maths ability is being underestimated because of reading difficulties. | Primarily a group test, but can be administered individually. Parallel forms | Hodder Murray |
| Graded Arithmetic - Mathematics Test 5 - 12 years | Samples a wide range of mathematical skills, and gives a useful assessment of overall mathematical attainment. | Group or individuals | Hodder Murray |
| Spatial Reasoning 5 years - 14 years | Non-verbal spatial reasoning tests measuring pupil’s ability to manipulate shapes and patterns. | Primarily a group test. The test must be strictly timed. | NFER-Nelson |
| Mathematics Assessment for Learning and Teaching (MALT) 5 years - 14 years | Provides dual formative-summative assessment of mathematical attainment. | Group Digital version available | Hodder Murray |
| Progress in Maths 4 years to 14 years | Standarised, diagnostic tests to specific strengths and needs in Maths. | Group Digital version available | NFER-Nelson |
| Mathematics Competency Test 1995 11 years to adult | Measures and profiles mathematics skills including using and applying maths, number and algebra, space and shape, and handling data. | Group | Hodder Murray |