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Assessment

Our Thoughts on Assessment:

When considering assessment for individuals with autism, we view it as a necessary evil in some ways.  Assessment is significant for determining a baseline of achievement, and to understand and monitor progress of student learning.  However, as Albert Einstein profoundly stated, “...if you just a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”  Multiple forms of assessment can avoid this type of self deprivation, and will also allow for you to see what it is that a student with autism truly understands.  

 

One type of assessment can not, and should not, be utilized to assess all students, as each individual has many different ways of genuinely expressing his or her understanding - the same is true of individuals with autism.  It is significant to always remember that lack of performance does not mean lack of knowledge, which can only be understood through multiple forms and variations of assessments.  As Kasa-Hendrickson (2013) said, “...ability and performance [should be] seen as dynamic and contextual” (p. 66), as well as a teacher’s perception of that students ability and performance.  We advise to consider multiple forms of assessment, as well as ongoing, and dynamic assessment on a continuum for all of your students, particularly your students with autism.  There is no “one-size-fits-all” for teaching, for learning, and for expressing what it is an individual knows, which is from where we base our ideas about assessment.

SANDI - Student Annual Needs Determination Inventory

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  • Summative assessment for students with significant needs used nationally and internationally

  • Provides access to grade-level state standards aligned to instructional skills

  • Assists teachers and IEP teams in identifying areas of need and thus guides IEP goal writing

  • Gives teachers insight into the following subject areas:

    • ​Reading

    • Writing

    • Communication

    • Math

    • Fine Motor

    • Gross Motor

    • Vocational Education and Community 

    • Adaptive Daily Living

    • Science

  • Uses Universal Design for Learning to increase accessibility among student and also illuminates students' "preferred mode of communication"​

  • Deepens parent understanding of child's learning needs and goals

ABLLS-R - Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills 

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  • Used as an assessment tool, curriculum guide, and system to track developmental skills of students with autism or developmental disabilities, especially those with language impairments

  • Usually assesses younger children

  • Guides teachers' instruction of  language and critical learning skills

  • Reviews 544 skills from 25 skill areas (language, social interaction, motor skills, etc.) 

  • Develops new skill areas for students as they master old ones

  • Parent-friendly

  • Fairly lengthy but comprehensive

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Writing Continuums:

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  • Here is an example of a writing continuum rubric that can be used to assess students' writing skills, addressing the specific aspects of student writing that can be objectives for students with disabilities:

    • Intent 

    • Organization

    • Voice

    • Vocabulary

    • Sentence fluency

    • Mechanics

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Click the image below for a larger view of the PDF:

DRA - Developmental Reading Assessment

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  • Allows students to determine a student's instructional level in reading divided into 3 skills sets:

    • Phonemic awareness​

    • Alphabetical principle/phonics

    • Fluency

  • Students read a passage and retell the story

  • Can be administered multiple times throughout the year to track progress of student

  • Includes benchmarks of Emerging, Early, Transitional, Extending Readers

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FAST - Formative Assessment of Standards Tasks

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  • Formative assessment that is included in annual subscription of SANDI, and can be used in conjunction with SANDI 

    • SANDI data analysis allows teachers to choose among FAST's three levels of difficulty 

  • Short-cycle assessment that teachers can use to monitor students' learning progress through regular assessment twice a year

  • Creating benchmarks (Benchmark 1 and Benchmark 2) to focus on six skills aligned with NYS standards

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Click below to see a sample of the

ADOS - Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule ​​

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  • Play-based assessment - structured and semi-structured tasks for the student administered and observed by examiner

  • Focus on social interaction and behaviors typically associated with autism

  • Includes four modules—one of which is chosen to administer based on the student’s expressive language level and chronological age: phrase speech to oral fluency, children and adults.

  • Qualitative observations are combined and categorized to yield quantitative scores ​

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Watch a short clip of Module 4 of ADOS below:

AFLS - Assessment of Functional Living Skills

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  • Assesses functional, practical, and essential skills of everyday life. 

  • An extended assessment that exists on a continuum spanning throughout a learner’s life in home, school, and community settings. 

  • Creates unifying themes and overarching goals for "maximizing a learner’s freedom, independence, and opportunities.”

 

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Early Childhood Assessment for Mathematics

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  • A New York City DOE assessment for teachers of students grades K-2

  • Allows teachers to identify mathematical understandings of students, especially those “at risk in mathematics”

  • Formatted as a one-on-one interview where students show teachers mathematical tasks and then expound on their process and thinking orally to examiner.

  • Includes three assessments:

    • Counting

    • Numeration

    • Addition and subtraction

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Click here for a PDF of the ECAM manual.

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