MAKING SENSE OF SCHOOL/PRIVATE EVALUATIONS AND TEST SCORES
A Step-by-Step Approach to Understanding Evaluation Reports and Other Data
One large and very important part of special education is the number of assessments that are conducted for children with respect to eligibility, re-evaluations, assistive technology, functional behavioral assessments and more. And there we are with a whole new set of vocabulary words to learn, along with test scores and numbers that can sometimes make our heads spin.
After trying to read the reports, we often wonder just who they were written for. This course is designed to answer questions about school and independent education evaluation reports, so that we can make sense of the jargon-laden text and 50+ tests scores.
HERE ARE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU
Have you ever wondered why a school or private educational evaluation is sometimes so difficult to understand, or explain? “Mean scores”, “standard deviations”, “percentile ranks”—what are these and what do they mean? How do these terms help us better understand or, even explain, a child’s specific needs and strengths?
THE PROBLEM WITH EVALUATION REPORTS
Evaluation reports are written in a specific jargon that few of us can easily understand. And, since even fewer of us have taken graduate courses in psychometrics or test development, we are not always certain what parts of the reports are useful. That’s why many of us skip right to the end of the report and read the summary—and hope to understand it.
So, then, why does the report contain all that other stuff that we don’t read? Is it really that important? Here’s the thing: It’s all IMPORTANT because each test score is a part of the puzzle of understanding a child’s educational needs and strengths.
SOLVING THE PROBLEM: THERE IS A SOLUTION!
THE SOLUTION:
MAKING SENSE OF TEST SCORES and
HOW TO EVALUATE AN EVALUATION
I have worked long enough to see my fair share of evaluations that have compromised the quality of decisions made by the IEP team. I have also seen excellent reports from which the school team was capable of making good educational decisions. Unfortunately, I have seen far too many instances when, for one reason or another, the school team did not understand the test results. (Just in case you are wondering, I’ve sat in on over 2,000 school meetings.)
So, I decided it was time to help tame this dragon so that the next time you held an evaluation in your hand, you would know how to make more sense of the report and make better educational decisions. This course will do just that for you!
COURSE MODULES
Module I: Evaluations and Reevaluations
Learn about the federal IDEA regulations related to referrals to special education, initial evaluations (initial testing) and reevaluations, Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE), and who is to attend school meetings.
Module II: What’s In An Evaluation?
Learn what components should be found in school and private evaluations in order to determine eligibility as a child with a disability and the need for special education and related services.
Bonus Video: Response to Intervention (RTI)
Understand the concepts behind RtI, why it was put into place, issues with the implementation of RtI, and recent study results evaluating the use of RtI. (Note: RtI is not found as a specific regulation in IDEA.)
Module III: What Do Tests Test?
Learn about the various kinds of tests, their purpose, and what skills they measure.
Module IV: What Do These Test Scores Mean?
Learn the differences among test scores, including standard scores, percentile rank, scaled scores, T-scores, and more.
Understand the meaning of terms, including standard deviations, mean, average, and descriptors.
Module V: How Do I Evaluate an Evaluation?
Learn how to review an evaluation and make meaningful notations and observations.
Learn how to prepare for a school meeting where an evaluation will be discussed and what questions should be asked and why and how to phrase them.
Module VI: How Do I Use the Special Education Decoder System (SEDS) at School Meetings?
Learn how the SEDS program can assist in determining eligibility and in the writing of Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs)
BONUS: FREE access to the Special Education Decoder System ($40 value) (Scroll down to see a video on how to use the SEDS tool.)
NUMEROUS RESOURCES include IDEA regulations related to evaluations and reevaluations, lists of tests of reading, speech and language, cognition, processing, and more.
How to Use the SEDS Tool
COURSE STRUCTURE
This is a 6-week course.
Weekly sessions will be an hour long.
Prior to weekly group discussions, you will watch a video specific to each module.
Each week’s online session is interactive, with time for questions and answers throughout and following the presentation.
To make this course more meaningful and more personalized, it’s best if you have access to a school or private evaluation to use as your “learning” document.
Why is this important?
Because unless we can make sense of these reports, our ability to make good educational decisions for children with disabilities is severely weakened.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for anyone (parents, teachers, school professionals, advocates, and others) who would like to better understand school evaluations in order to make informed educational decisions.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE COURSE
The Special Education Decoder System is a great tool for your advocacy toolkit! I was able to use the graphs to show that my daughter is not the sum of her scores. The school led me to believe that they planned to deny Dyslexia services. I scheduled a meeting with the Dyslexia department and used the graph to point out her strengths and weaknesses in a clear, concise, and easy-to-understand manner using the Special Education Decoder System. It allowed me to show that crucial scores, although not below average, were a relative weakness when compared to her cognitive ability. By the end of the meeting, they agreed that she needed Dyslexia services and thanked me for being so proactive in fighting for my child’s needs. I highly recommend this program to ease the burden of test evaluation for both parents and advocates!
-Dana P., Parent
Does in minutes what used to take me hours to do -- and it's all visual. Now the staff will be able to see it and say "OHHHHHH."
- Y. C., Parent/Educator/Advocate
Evaluating evaluations was always time consuming for me, looking at scores on individual tests, trying to see where they all fit together and what they revealed about a student. Having to present this information clearly to teachers and parents in a way that was understandable was, at times, an additional challenge. Using the decoder has simplified all of this. It instantly provides an overall view of a student's test scores on a bell chart, facilitating comparisons quickly and easily. This has been highly effective particularly in my role as an advocate and has literally changed the course of a meeting. Teachers have immediately understood a student's challenges and issues when presented with a visual picture of strengths and needs.
- Anne H., Parent and Advocate
This resource will prove to be a game-changer for [educators] parents and advocates. It is what we've needed for years - showing with clear visuals the strengths and weaknesses of our children. I've taken it to numerous team meetings and have had an incredibly positive response (and outcome) at each. Thank you, Vaughn Lauer.
- A.M., Parent/Advocate