Assessment

Assessments are designed to determine the student's abilities and needs in relevant aspects of the curriculum and instruction. Educators need this essential tool to guide day-to-day instruction. The range of assessments may range from classroom assessment practices all the way to district and statewide assessment programs. Regular progress monitoring provides valuable information on teaching effectiveness, and is the basis for informed instructional decisions.

Students who are deafblind should be assessed across a variety of settings, times, and situations. Assessments that provide information about a student's strengths and abilities as well as their needs translate into strategies and recommendations that teachers and families can use. Some important assessment information resources for students who are deafblind are summarized below.

The Functional Assessment of Sensory Status in Children who are Deafblind (FASSCDB)  provides a framework to integrate information about how the student learns and communicates into the student's written educational plan. Individualizing the educational program includes addressing the student's unique way of learning about his or her world. There are three parts to the FASSCDB, including a review of formal evaluations, a phase of observation and discussion, and a summary profile

Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (COACH): A Guide to Educational Planning for Students with Disabilities is an assessment and planning tool designed to identify the content of a student's educational program and strategies for implementing this program in general education settings and activities. It is targeted to students with significant disabilities, including deafblindness. The age range is from preschool through school age. COACH is divided into two major parts: Determining a Student's Educational Program, and Strategies and Processes to Implement a COACH-Generated Educational Program. COACH manuals are available from PaTTAN's Short Term Loan program and from local IUs.

Dimensions of Communication: An Instrument to Assess the Communication Skills and Behaviors of Individuals with Disabilities targets all ages, but is more applicable to preschool-age children and older students who usenon-conventional or non-symbolic communication, or early symbolic communication skills. It is an assessment instrument designed to help teachers, educational specialists, speech-language therapists, psychologists, and other service providers evaluate the communication skills of persons with multiple disabilities, including severe or profound mental retardation and deafblindness. Part I addresses developing a communication profile and Part II addresses designing an intervention plan. It was developed from an observational study of 103 children and adolescents with severe cognitive disabilities, ages three years to fifteen years. The instrument is available from: Harvey H.Mar, Ph.D., St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, 703 Main Street, Xavier6, Paterson, NJ 07503, hhm1@columbia.edu. A PaTTAN teleconference in March 26, 2004 described the draft version of this tool, and a videotape of this conference is available.